Pot House on West 41st

Food Quality
Atmosphere / Services
Reasonable Priced
Summary

No, this is not one of those newly legalized cannabis pot house. It is a Cantonese clay pot house called “41 noodle & rice pot house“. I drove by this Kerrisdale restaurants many times on my way to UBC. The red signage captured my attention and their name has been on my list for a long time. 41 noodle & rice pot house is located on West 41st Avenue near Vine Street in Vancouver.

Strength: Authentic no-frill Cantonese restaurant
Weakness: Shattered chicken bones doesn’t go well with charred rice.

Other Cantonese Restaurants

Dim Sum at Lee Garden (3.5 Stars)
Bubble Waffle Cafe (3.5 Stars)
Rainbow Cafe (4 Stars)

Cute exterior with outdoor patio

I think a big part of what captured my attention is the unconventional exterior space. You rarely see a Cantonese restaurant that has a bay window or a outdoor patio. This place has both. We had to go through a shared walkway to get to their front door.

Interior looks simple and conventional

Like most of the Cantonese restaurants I have been to, this place features simple painted walls with little decoration and wood grain veneer for accent.

The bay window is a nice touch

There are two sets of furniture, dark painted wood or red steel. I saw a Caucasian gentleman reading the newspaper in front of the bay window and it added a touch of European to the atmosphere.

ondiments at each table

The most important thing in the condiment station placed at each table is the sweet soy. It is where the majority of the taste for my clay pot rice comes from.

Generic tableware

This is probably the cheapest tableware you can get. They are light weight, and the cup would glide across the table due to heat build up underneath. The owner kindly provided a soup spoon and two metal spoon for clay pot rice.

Cantonese style iced milk tea

41 noodle and rice pot house Cold Milk Tea

Every meal comes with a complimentary soup. You can swap them for hot drink for $1 extra, or cold drink for $1.50 more. A milk tea is an important part of a Cantonese meal. The milk tea served at 41 noodle & rice pot house is not too bad. There is a very pronounced flavour from elaborated milk. The tea tastes somewhat dry. There is not too much sugar added, which I appreciate.

Cracked cup

My tea was serve really full, and I thought they spilled the drink. I started wiping the table because every time I pick up my cup to have a sip, there is a ring mark left on the table. Eventually I realized the cup is cracked to the side.

Discounted bubble waffle

41 noodle and rice pot house Bubble Waffle Top

The bubble waffle’s normal price is $4, but only cost $2 when ordered with carb. This is similar to Bubble Waffle Cafe but more expensive. I can’t really blame them because they have a storefront to maintain.

Bubble Waffle is served beautifully

41 noodle and rice pot house Bubble Waffle Side

It is served quite beautifully while being functional. Bubble waffle need time to cool to get the crisp texture. If left on the plate, the point of contact would become soggy from the steam. Our bubble waffle was very crispy on the outside.

Chewy interior for the bubble waffle

41 noodle and rice pot house Bubble Waffle Inside

The interior is a little chewy and half filled because of the way it’s flipped. This gives this dessert the chewy and crispy dichotomy. The taste was a little monotone but good enough that I enjoyed it with my meal.

Spring Roll of 6

41 noodle and rice pot house Spring Roll

A normal plate of spring roll is $5 with 8 spring rolls. When ordered with the meal it’s $2 for 6. It made me feel like it’s a good deal, but I may have fallen into a marketing trap. Even so, I believe it’s worth the $2 to put a plate of side on the table.

Hollow interior with veggie

41 noodle and rice pot house Spring Roll Inside

This is vegetarian spring rolls. The outside is deep-fried to a good crispiness, but does not have a lot of flavour. I enjoyed the sauce in the middle of the plate.

Pork and sausage clay pot rice

41 noodle and rice pot house C3 Rice pot specialty with preserved dried pork and sausage $12.95

The clay pot rice took about 10 minutes to arrive, but that’s just normal for clay pot rice. It is served in an actual clay pot within an aluminum foil wrapped basket for protection This is very thoughtful. The dried pork and sausage option is the basics of clay pot rice you can get. It arrives unseasoned, and it is up to the customer on how much sweet soy to add to it.

Timing is important for stirring

41 noodle and rice pot house Charred rice at the bottom

We added some of the soy sauce and heard some sizzling sounds immediately. I use the steel spoon to start separating the bottom from the bowl because I didn’t want the bottom to overcook. This varies from people, so feel free to wait longer if you enjoy the charred taste of rice. They use jasmine rice that are less sticky so they come off the clay pot quite easily.

Free-Range Chicken clay pot rice

41 noodle and rice pot house C10 Rice pot specialty with free range chicken & dried mushroom $12.75

I ordered the free-range chicken with mushroom. This is not as conventional, but also quite popular for clay pot rice. The chicken was very chewy and the meat are quite firm. It was quite a sturdy chicken. The cartilage connected the bones well, and the skins have a lot of collagen.

Chicken bones can be sharp

41 noodle and rice pot house Shattered chicken bones

I wasn’t enjoying my chicken clay pot rice to the fullest because there were many sharp bones from the chicken. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem for me. However, the charred rice has a very hard, crispy texture. It was very hard to pick out these small pieces of sharp bones. Noted that the bones were crushed maybe partly because the dense bone structure of a free-range chicken, I would not order clay pot rice with bone-in chicken.

604 Food Critic Assessment

41 noodle & rice pot house is a no-frill Cantonese restaurant. Where they lack with non-glamorous decor, cheap tableware, and broken cups are picked up by authenticity, food quality and value. I had a very frustrating dining experience picking out sharp shattered chicken bones from the hardened charred rice, but the food was still very tasty. I would recommend this restaurant. Just don’t get the chicken.