Little Yunnan Restaurant — Restaurant in Victoria

I was excited to try this family owned restaurant in Chinatown in June 2022. I was even more excited to see that they offered several vegetarian and vegan alternatives. I didn't think I'd get to try the Across the Bridge Noodles, but they offer a vegetarian version (can be made vegan if you ask for vegetable broth and don't take the quail egg). We ordered the vegetarian Across the Bridge Noodles, pork ribs noodle soup, and fried fungus (fried then preserved in oil). The food was quite delicious. I was happy to have some hot broth on a cold rainy day. HOWEVER, service was atrocious. The servers were trying hard, but they were clearly inexperienced and lacking service skills. We never got any water nor the tea we ordered. The table next to us at least got glasses, but the man got up and grabbed a water pitcher from the serving station to fill them up himself. My Across the Bridge Noodles broth and ingredients were brought to the table, but they forgot the noodles. I had to ask for them when a server finally passed by, then stop her when she forgot who they were for and walked them past me several times. One server tried to clear our table before we were finished eating (we were not there for a long time, we finished and left before most of the tables who were there before us). The servers turned some customers away at the door saying they were too busy/closing soon, but then said nothing when other customers (tired of waiting to be addressed) sat themselves down. When the bill came, we had to remind them to remove the items they forgot. They were never mean nor rude, just really bad at waiting tables. It's a shame because I wanted to like this place. I would've given it 3 stars for the food alone, but it wasn't delicious enough to compensate for the poor experience (and disappointed boyfriend). N.B. As a Chinese Canadian, I'm used to small village restaurants so I wasn't expecting to be asked how I was enjoying my evening or whether I wanted dessert. This was just bad service. I at least get tea and my full order at the hole in the wall...

I had a chance to taste several dishes at Little Yunnan Restaurant. This is, of course, the Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles🍜, the Handmade Wonton Soup and the Handmade Boiled Dumpling. The broth in the Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles is very rich and yummy. Many more different ingredients are brought to it. Some of them, such as deep fried fungi🍄, tofu skin and wood ear, seemed to me very strange. If you mix all the ingredients, then the portion turns out to be very large. By the way, there is a whole legend about the recipe for this noodles appearance, which can be read on the restaurant wall poster. The Handmade Wonton Soup was great! The Handmade Boiled Dumpling was simply excellent!!! The combination of dough, fresh meat and soy sauce is incomparable. During each of our visits, we drank a green tea before eating. Well, I also want to add a little about the interior. This is a fairly spacious room with lots of tables. Tables and chairs in Little Yunnan Restaurant are traditional Chinese furniture made of dark wood and covered with multy-layer varnishing. Tablecloths also have traditional Chinese pattern and color - a combination of red, black and gold. On the walls there are paintings depicting people figures made in the ink technique, as well as a good luck knot. The ceiling in Little Yunnan Restaurant is also made in Chinese style⛩️, it consist of wooden structures and contrasts with the walls. The entrance and showcase are decorated with Chinese dolls and Feng Shui bells, which, according to the Chinese, attract positive energy and have a calming effect. Our visit to Little Yunnan Restaurant was pleasant thanks to the traditional Yunnan cuisine, spacious room and nice interior, as well as...

Wonderful experience in Victoria’s Chinatown. Visiting from Seattle I found Victoria’s to appear more authentic to actual China. The same attempt towards authenticity is being seemingly made by the staff at Little Yunnan too. I enjoyed seeing a menu being pointed toward a particular Chinese Province.

We tried the vegetarian “crossing the bridge” noodle. It was flavorful but simple and delicate. We also tried the pan fried dumplings and they were absolutely exquisite! The pictures of them are what originally attracted me to try Little Yunnan and I must say that they fully satisfied my excited expectations. The filling of pork and shrimp was also simple and delicate and didn’t have an overly heavy, meaty or rough texture. The pan fried dumpling dough also was proportioned, thicker, which balanced the overall tasting experience. Fantastic.

The only criticism I can give, is the waitress sort of demanded us to add the ingredients to the crossing the bridge noodle, when we had already read their thorough instructions conveniently placed on the table. It was our first time and she probably just wanted to make sure we cooked the quail egg and tofu probably. Regardless of the possible miss-communication, it was definitely still a 5 star experience while visiting Victoria.

The house made fermented drink was also exceptional in its flavor. I had never experienced blueberry crossed with fermentation and it paired exceptionally well. The fermented beverage also serves well to cleanse the mouth for accurate taste and for washing the spice of chili oil.

I’ll be back next time I’m...