Beaver Sailor Diner

I should explicitly say my rating is really based on my experience in the restaurant.
I went there frequently every week because my school just near the restaurant. I tried all the food there, most of them are damn delicious. I’ll definitely bring more friends to here.

I went at lunch. No one there… Not a good sign. Ordered one of their specials to go. Braised beef and noodles. Not sure why but it took 15 minutes to get which he didn’t inform me until I paid that it would be at least 10 minutes. Was worried I would get a ticket in the parking lot. The food. It was OK. Not great. The noodles had a good texture but there was not much broth. It was a bit oily and not a lot of taste. The beef was just OK. And there might have been one Chinese green in the dish. Don’t think I will be back any time soon as there are some great Chinese noodle places in town (quinpool) that are better.

I’m not a fan of most Canadian Chinese food places. I appreciate their appeal and place in the history of not just this country but my own family, however they’re not my bag. It might help if I could do some off-​menu ordering or knew anything about real Chinese food, but I don’t really, so I’m stuck in the middle and generally it isn’t something I go for.
Two things that are legitimately Chinese and I very, very much appreciate are noodles and dumplings. Beaver Sailor Diner’s focus falls under the former, with a pretty lean menu with just a few different noodle dishes and sides.
Before we talk about the food, the real reason that this even popped up on my radar: their name. Chinese restaurants can run the gamut from painfully uncreative (the place formerly named «Chinese Food» at Scotia Square), to names that are a little odd and non-​sensical to the casual, Western eye. Beaver Sailor Diner is the latter, but in a whole league of its own. I have a running theory that they put a lot more effort into their name than most other Chinese joints (I’m looking at you, Best Choice). In what I imagine to be their thought process, they wanted to appeal to our Canadian patriotism with a cute national symbol, and also give it a local connection via our naval history here in Halifax. Bam! Beaver Sailor. Whatever was behind it, it sure as hell worked, because it caught my attention enough for me to notice that they’re a noodle shack, and then I had to go.
In between doing some work at the office during the day and starting my night shift, I was looking to try something new downtown, so I figured, «Hey, why not each a bunch of carbs before a 12 hour night shift?». Truthfully, BSD was my back up choice as Elle’s Bistro closed earlier than they did.
Located across from 1801 Hollis in the former Anna’s Café, it’s a small place, with a handful of tables, and a bar running along the window. A cooler and the kitchen run the length of the rest of the restaurant. A couple other tables were occupied at the time, which was nice to see. I was given a menu when I sat down and soon settled on the braised beef noodle soup combo with pickled veggies, and I upgraded my drink to a lime honey green tea.
Given my drink while I waited, it seemed to be the real deal, with melted ice cubes floating at the top, seemingly to cool down the fresh tea. The drink had a really good balance of flavours, and was refreshing.
My hefty bowl of noodles arrived soon after. Topped with bite-​sized hunks of beef, green onion and a thousand year egg, all of it was in a dark, beefy broth. BSD’s noodles are made in house, and they were fantastic — long and with the perfect chew to them, they took on just enough of the broth to get the flavour, without falling apart (they suggest not getting the noodles for take out, however).
The beef was a stand out winner — impossibly tender, I feel like their small size let’s them be more evenly cooked than large chunks of beef, which can end up being chewy. Keeping the trend of good execution going, the broth was hearty and just the right amount of salty, at least for me.
My pickled veggies weren’t particularly impressive, as it was 95% cabbage, but they helped cut through the richness of the noodles.
This was a great meal, and made me glad that they came up with the random, kinda cute, name that they did.

Perfect authentic Chinese noodles! Not like other so-​called Chinese restaurant with Canadian Chinese food. I also love their fried chicken balls and pudding!