This is a perfectly serviceable local place for lunch if you live or work near by. As several other reviews have stated, it doesn't matter if you order thick or thin noodles, they'll give you what they give you. Every time I've ordered thick noodles, and they serve me a mix of thin and thick noodles, with most of them being thin. The noodles are pretty good, but I do think they overcook them a tad. I prefer a heftier chew to my noodles (hence my preference for thick noodles). The broths are a bit too salty, also noted by other Yelpers. The best dishes are #7 (the soup noodles with braised beef) and #11 the stir-fried noodles with vegetables. The sauce for the stir fried noodles is a tad too sweet, but overall, I was satisfied with the dish. Unless you like super spicy food, I would say that you want your dish not spicy. You can add the spice later at the table. They have a jar of chili oil at the table. The broth was pretty much undrinkable by the end when we ordered our soup spicy at our first visit. The restaurant is a very casual place, but popular for lunch. read more

These hand pulled noodles taste so good. There is nothing like fresh noodles. The pickled mustard soup I had with them was so spicy and sour, a must try for anyone who comes here looking for something different. The atmosphere was barebones, but perfect for a quick bowl of noodles. The seasonal appetizer was also very tasty. Two types of cold veggies in a tangy and spicy sauce. They served it with the noodles and it was a nice way to break up the meal. read more

Extremely delicious hand-pulled noodles ready in 10-15min, perfect for cold Calgary winters. What's not to love?

I am so excited that this place is here!!Hand pulled noodles ...for the win. The noodles have the perfect texture the ingredients are very fresh and the broth is incredibly fresh read more

Calan Beef Noodle - Delicious tea - Chinese Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Came here with my picky boys, which likely was a mistake. But from that perspective- the conservative option they chose was yummy, the Beef noodle stir fry- the beef was tasty and noodles were fresh tasting and filling. I ate their veggies - crisp and seasoned enough, not overwhelmed by sauce or seasoning (my preference). As per my kids- A bit of heat overall (despite not being noted as "spicy") but tolerable to my spicy-resistant kids. A great to watch the noodles hand pulled- def entertains the hungry kids while we wait the short wait. read more

Tasty little noodle house serving Lanzhou, Gansu, China foods. About 30 seats, very busy for eat in & take out. Very authentic, highly recommended read more

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We had the beef dish with thin wide noodles. The sauce was amazing, the beef had great flavour and the noodles of course were amazing!!

I don't even have the words to describe this place, a hile in the wall with minimal parking- my fear is that when it becomes well known you'll never get in. The first time I came here it left a good impression, cozy and warm. Kind staff, watching them pull freah noodles is the greatest pre-dinner entertainment. I'm a bug fan of soybean paste. I'll tell you ill be back for #4 hand pulled noodles with soy-bean paste. Its my newest obsession. The menue is easy to navigate and order at the front before you take a seat. Don't forget to pick your noodle, my favorite is wide and flat. If this place ever closes I'd be devastated. read more

Hand pulled noodles, or "lamian", has zero connection to hongshao niurou mian. So disregard anything you read here about it being compared to. Separate regions, separate dishes. Lamian, has a long and cultured history, while the Taiwanese beef brisket noodle it is being compare to is barely 3 decades old. Like ramen, beef brisket noodle is inspired by the century old lamian. Ramen in kanji is in fact the same characters as lamian. History put aside, Calan is so named to attract visitors, prior to this, there was only one other shops offering lamian, a food court stall in Chinatown. It merely advertised as Lanzhou Lamian, and it did horribly business wise. People in the know went, but it's was never hugely popular. So I don't blame Calan Beef Noodle trademarking its business as such. Just know that this small Asian fast food format hole in the wall is legit. I've only had better lamian in New York. 5 stars. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamian read more

Good 'hungsao niew lo mien' (spicey beef noodle soup). As I know a few Taiwanese benchmarks from 15 years ago to the present, and after a 2nd visit, I'd only rate this soup at 3.5. The hand-pulled noodles. Their consistency and quality is decent and bring a solid base to accompany a tasty broth that on the first pass housed somewhat strong-layered accents. But at home and after the 2nd visit, it's plain that they are pasty, and not good enough to eat when most of them dominated the dish on the return visit. Not sure why, but the larger wide noodles in our stir-fried dish were much better (likely store bought). The broth. On the 2nd visit, just not as good. Not sure why, but was more bland even after adding some red sauce. Green onions are added, and as the broth is not too hot, one can add flavour and heat from their condiments to try suiting one's palate. The meat. The sated & marinated small beef chunks are very tasty, and, when get them, the thin beef strips add protein and iron. But on the 2nd visit, the latter were missing. Not sure why. My wife's stir-fried chicken with vegetables was well-flavoured, and the wide noodles tasted better than the hand-pulled (2nd visit). As the portions are big, take home. Sides. When a couple of mild-tasting 'lu dan' (soy-sauced eggs) are added, fairly yummy. The seaweed salad was authentic, and worth the couple bucks. The slightly flavoured cabbage was good, but not a standout. As most of these small sides are free with your main in Asia, we found ourselves reluctant to ever order them again. This restaurant hearkens back to Asian night market fare with the large cauldrons for heating the noodles and making the broths. Eat in their relatively plain dining area and watch the noodle maker pull and press and presto, or take your meal home. Caution: at home re-heat the noodles in the microwave to prevent over-boiling them into mush. As well, one can order a substantial Chinese beef stew or two, other soups, noodle-based salads, and tea. If these match the stir fry, worth returning. Ah, but check out Calan for yourself. Anyone stuck on true Chinese flavours will be somewhat pleased. But after the 2nd visit, I am mixed and much less inclined to return... read more

My first Lan Zhou hand-pulled noodle experience was in New York's Chinatown a couple years ago and I was sold. You can imagine my anticipation when I found out that YYC has opened up their first hand-pulled noodle restaurant. Calan Beef Noodle's small store front (~seats about 25 people) provides a casual fast food style experience where you go up to the cashier to order and pay, and then pick up your dish yourself when they call out your order number. I'm a little unsure if you seat yourself, because when we arrived (we were a party of 4), all the tables were occupied. One of the employees asked how many we had and told us to wait for a larger table to empty out. I have a feeling that you can freely seat yourself if vacant tables are available at arrival. When you are finished with your meal, you just leave your emptied out bowls and utensils as is and the employees will cleanup for you. I ordered the #2 (hand pulled noodle in beef soup with pickled sour mustard) and made it a combo for $15.99 (includes a plate of simmered beef tendon and tea flavoured boiled egg), and opted for the flat and wide noodles. It was a flavourful and acceptable level of spice for the broth. However the broth is super oily due to the spice (chili oil included?) they use, so you will for sure be downing litres of water afterwards. I didn't finish the broth due to the oiliness, however my friend was able to lick his bowl clean (it was that good, but my conscious didn't allow me to do so). You can watch as your noodles are pulled in front of you. Everything was done super quickly, and we got our lunch in no time. I loved the texture of the noodle and how dense it tastes. The flat and wide noodle did however make it difficult to eat as it kept slipping and sliding off my chopsticks (warning: wear a dark shirt to avoid soup splatters), however it was well worth it. I think next time I will try the thick noodles instead. I love my noodles and spaghetti with more texture and surface area, so that I know I am eating it. They give you more than enough noodles, and this was evident by the food coma we all felt after our meal. The portion of meat in the soup noodle was not abundant, however I had no problem with that since I am more of a carb fan than a meat fan, but I can see that being an issue for those who prefer to indulge in meat over carbs. The beef tendon didn't do much for me, not much flavour so I wouldn't order again. The tea flavoured boiled egg was so-so, the tea flavour wasn't very strong but I would potentially order the egg again (since I love eggs) separately without making my meal a combo. Also, they have a stamp card where if you accumulate 10 bowls you can get one for free, so make sure to ask for one in case they forget to offer you the card. I will definitely return again. There are a few more items on their menu that I am looking forward to trying out. Overall this place makes for a great quick and cheap meal. read more

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Well, first all, the noodle is cold and hard, and stick in the bottom of bow, soup is warm not at all! Looks like they pre made the noodle m in the bow and when there is business they just put the soup in it, the soup is so salty and not hot all and lots of msg, I have to drink 3 bottle of water after at that night, it is so awful and won't go there again! read more

Happened to be shopping at Lina's and noticed this place across the street. At 12:50pm, not an empty seat in the place! A man behind a glass panel was twisting hand made noodles which was so fascinating to watch! This place is tiny and very makes no more than a dozen items. I ordered #7- noodles with braised beef. The soup was spicy and you can choose the shape of your noodles. Thin, thick, flat, round. Noodle texture was deliciously chewy and the broth was very flavourful without being too salty - my one pet peeve! There's additional hot sauce on the tables if you need more heat. I would have liked a few extra pieces of beef in my soup but other than that, it was a filling and body warming bowl of comfort. I'd like to go back to try the pan fried noodles and a tea egg. read more

Good soup. Went on a Saturday at noon, and it was busy, but not lined up. The noodle pullers were going full speed. Pretty cool process. We ordered a thick noodle with braised beef soup and a flat noodle with pickled mustard. They were both excellent, deeply flavored, and very different from each other. Both noodles were really good too, great texture and chew. Be warned, these are big servings! Order came quick, soup was hot, table was clean. People were waiting once we finished, so we were in and out in 15 minutes. Not the kind of place you linger in anyway. We'll be back, want to try the fried noodles too. read more

Noodles are hand-pulled before your eyes and have a nice chewiness to them. The beef brisket is tender and super flavorful, and they don't mess around with their chili oil. read more

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I had noticed this restaurant come up through my Instagram feed a couple of times and finally decided to check this place out. I'm glad I did! This is another place located in an unassuming location as it is situated in a busy little strip mall. There is limited parking in the lot, so be prepared to find street parking nearby. A friend and I went on a Saturday afternoon and we had to wait about 10 minutes as the place was full. It is a small space with limited seating. The menu is simple with noodle options with or without broth. Here, you get to choose the noodle type (thin, thick, flat&narrow and flat&wide.) I opted for the flat&wide noodles in beef soup with pickled sour mustard. Watching the chefs make the noodles in front of you adds to the experience. It was a cool to see, which actually made me appreciate the noodles even more. The broth was tasty and I thoroughly enjoyed the pickled sour mustard. As this restaurant is known for their hand made-hand pulled noodles, it certainly did not disappoint. The texture of the noodles were great and each mouthful was enjoyable. It was also a good sized portion at the right price point. Be forewarned that you do not come here for the atmosphere or table service as it is essentially self-serve. It's all about the noodles and I will definitely be back! read more

Calan Beef Noodle - Hand pulled noodles in beef soup with pickled sour mustard ($12.49) - Chinese Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

My favourite hand pulled noodle shop. Great selection of various noodle dishes. Noodles are not too soft, not too hard, just right. read more

Calan Beef Noodle - Chinese Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Love the hand made noodles with beef brisket at Calan Beef Noodle! The broth is so rich and tasty. Watching the guy make the noodles was cool! After the noodles were made, he immediately cooked them. Also, ordered the beef tendon and the tea egg. All so tasty! A must is the chilli oil to add to your meals. Also, got the 2 plater of vege - seaweed salad and pickled cabbage. All good! To end the meal, the special fragrant tea was so pretty to look at and so nice and sweet. The special tea has little rosebuds, tea leaves, longans, red dates, & goji berries. This is a order and pick up your food restaurant. The restaurant is pretty small. Parking is very limited in a strip mall opposite Lina's Italian Market. Definitely will be back! read more

Went for the first time last night and what a meal it was simply amazing! Great price great combo Noodles were so good and the broth as well. First but definitely not the last! read more

Anyone In Calgary area and needing a warm hot noodles soup, you must come in to try this place. It's a hidden gem in Calgary with spicy beef noodles soup. What makes their noodles soup so special? The noodles are made fresh to order , and made from hand pull from the chef itself. Noodles are chewy, soft and delicious. A must must try!!! read more

Went in the early afternoon and was not very busy. The best part about this place? The noodles are made right in front of my eyes!!!!! A few choices for the thickness, too. Downside, I found this place a bit on the pricey side since the bowl was full of noodles but not many pieces of beef or other garnish. Soup tastes alright. Simple menu but quite versatile. They prefer cash or debit. Have to pay first after ordering. It's semi-fast food style that I'm not fully used to. In addition, I'd prefer to give the tips post my meal. Giving tips before the meal feels as if the price of the noodle went up automatically. Overall not a bad experience. read more

Calan Beef Noodle - Chinese Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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Ordered the stir fried beef and noodles, but discovered maybe 5-6 slices of beef, and one of them was a piece of gristle. Beyond that, nothing that really captivated me about the dish. I may try this place again and order a soup bowl, but first impressions are not that good. read more

Yummy beef noodle soup. The noodles are delicious and the broth is really good. If you get chance go watch them make the noodles and enjoy them in the dining room. It's like dinner and a show. The noodles are all a little similar but the veggie potato noodles are spicy and delicious. Try them too. read more

Amazing little spot. Highly recommended. Fresh noodles and amazing spice. The tea is excellent as well.

Decent place for hand pulled noodles. I got #3 - hand pulled noodles with soy bean paste. The lady taking the order upsold me on making it a combo, which included a tea egg and the simmered beef tendon. Here you can choose your noodle thickness: thin, thick, flat thin, or flat thick. I chose flat thick. My dish was not in a broth - just had the cooked noodles and then poured the soy bean paste sauce over top. The sauce had a mix of ground beef, black beans, chinese mushrooms and chilis, garnished with thin strips of cucumber. The noodles were really good - chewy and soft and was an excellent vehicle for the sauce to cling to. The cucumbers were a nice contrast to the dense sauce. Wish there was a bit more, as I found the sauce to be a bit salty. However, it had a very good spice to it, which I loved. The tea egg was good, but nothing special to write home about. If you bought it separately, it was a $1.00. The simmered beef tendon was surprisingly good. You got about 6 slices and it went really well with my sauce. Not sure if I would pay $4.00 extra for it though. I got it as part of the combo, so saved about a $1.00. Overall, I really enjoyed my food. It's pretty neat to see them make the noodles and you know it's all fresh and made to order. Will have to try their other dishes next time! They all looked really good! read more

Solid authentic Chinese food option. I will say right away that my wife doesn't like meat with pieces of bone, fat, or cartilage, so she could hardly eat any of the meat in any of our dishes. It's not Canadian-style Chinese food (which is why I was interested). I went two nights in a row and ordered 7 dishes in total. The #9 was my favourite (and my wife's) because it had plenty of flavour. Other than this dish, we found most things to be a little bland. Having sampled most of the menu, I'm not sure that I liked anything well enough to take me back again. WARNING: the sesame garlic noodles are served cold! The only other cold noodle dish states it on the menu, but this one surprised us (and they weren't too happy when we asked to swap it for something else). read more

#7 half spicy. Thank you so much. It was exactly what I was hoping for. I went on a Friday right at 11:30am. Still quiet. Food was fast and service is straight forward. read more

I like the hand-made noddle, it is much better than I eat before, as I saw some people want meat more while I love the noodle,haha, so it vary with different people. I will recommend my chinese friends to go there. read more

This is an authentic Chinese hand pulled noodle place. Very good Lan Zhou noodle and other kinds of hand pulled noodle.

Home made noodles, very tasty broth, good portion sizes.great little hole in the wall joint with authentic food that reminds of SE Asia. I so greatly enjoyed my meal I wanted to order another just to try something else but will have to come back to try another time because I was too full. read more

Our go to local noodle spot. The #1 and #8 are my favourite. It is a fun place to go and watch them hand pull the noodles.

I first noticed Calan Beef Noodle from the line-up around the block on its opening day. That definitely sparked curiosity in me, not enough to stop and join the queue but enough to suggest that I try it. The boast on the outside sign is that they've been making "Traditional Lan Zhou Hand pulled noodles" since 1915. I stopped in last night around 7:45 p.m. They close at 8:30 p.m. but a couple of tables were occupied. It's a limited menu of 4 noodle bowls and a choice from 4 types of noodle based on how you like your noodles, whether round and skinny or thick or flat and narrow or wide. You can have beef noodle soup, soup with soy bean paste and noodle with minced beef or noddles with just vegetables. That's basically the extent of the menu and you also have some side dishes such as tea-soaked egg and a couple of other items but most of them were sold out by the time I looked at the table. The chef is behind a glass panel so you can watch the noodles being pulled and then cooked and you can select the side dishes you want from the table beside the noodle table. I had the beef noodle soup and it definitely had a beefy flavour. The noodles were pretty good too but I think the dish would have tasted better had I opted for the flat and narrow noodles. I ordered the wide and they were about 3/4" in width. Texture matters and I think the narrower noodles would have suited this dish better. They have NO TAKE OUT. There is a small lot shared with about 5 or 6 other businesses so depending on time of day it might be busy. I stopped in for lunch today (friday) and that's how I found out there is no take-out and also found parking easily. The noodles could have been a little more al dente. Service was ok, not overly friendly but as I sat eating last night none of the people there (all wearing restaurant uniforms) interacted with much emotion or joy. They seemed very inscrutably chinese, not offering information but happy to answer questions. My bowl of noodles was around $11.50 but it was tasty and very filling without any side dishes. read more

Calan Beef Noodle - Beef Noodle Soup - Chinese Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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Took my sister here to confirm its authenticity. U need to go spicy with these noodles. Otherwise u might as well not try them. Little bit pricey for d portion size but once a while should b ok. Wil go back next time with d family. read more

My family and I stopped in for dinner at this Taiwanese noodle house to try out. It's a little restaurant in a strip mall across from the Italian place Lina's on centre street. The parking is tight on a busy day if you have a large vehicle. We parked on the side street around the corner. I enjoyed watching the workers make the fresh noodles behind the glass window work area... kneading the dough, swinging it as the formed and cut specific sized noodles for your order. Kinda cool to watch ! I ordered the # 7 brisket soup and my husband got the stir fried noodle dish. You can get a combo with your order for a couple more dollars for a piece of tendon & a soya egg which we passed... Normally for combo , we are used to a drink and side dish for combo . You can ask for various spicy or non spicy taste levels. We asked for med spice but we aren't used to hot spicy foods and found this was still too hot and had to ask for water! They do have a water dispenser by the pop fridge to help yourself with glasses next to it. I was a bit disappointed that my brisket soup had small sized chunks of meat in it about the size of a nickle and very little veggies. I was expecting some chunks of broccoli or bok Choy or something more than few sizes of radish or thin pieces of turnip ... not sure what was in my soup . My husband ate his noodle dish but not used to spicy level. This place is good if you like spicy! I got the sweet tea and it come in a covered tea bowl with various dried fruit in hot water... goji berri, dried Logan berry, rose buds,... and a thermos of extra hot water to enjoy several cups more. It was pretty and I enjoyed my tea. A friend had a noodle soup and asked for non spicy and was disappointed once she ate the few pieces of veggies & meat, she was left with a bowl of white noodles with no flavoured broth... this is a small restaurant for maybe around 15 to 20 people. Workers and owners were nice but some did not speak much English. You may like this if you like authentic Taiwanese soups or noodles with spice. Place was clean inside. read more

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Really good noodles. Spice is on point. The house tea is a hidden gem. The only criticism is they're a bit stingy on the meat. read more

What can I say about this place other than, "incredible". The restaurant itself is small and simplistic, but the flavours deliver in a huge way. I mean, come on! How can you go wrong with fresh, hand pulled, noodles? The price point is right on the money, and the food is delicious. read more

I don't know whether it's a good or bad sign that Calan Beef Noodle was the highlight of my (albeit brief) trip to Calgary/Banff. Granted, a snow storm put a lot of activities on the back-burner for us, but a big bowl of hand-pulled noodles hit the spot better than anything we could have dreamed. This place isn't anything fancy, but DANG is it good. read more

Very good. My wife and I like this place. Very authentic Chinese northwestern hand stretched noodles.

The noodle was great but the service was confusing. When I fist came in, the cashier told me to sit down at the table and informed me that the menu is on the screen. I sat there, thought that she would come and take my order. Then nobody came to my table so I asked here if I have to order and pay at the cashier and she said yes!!! At least let me know what I have to do. Don't assume that I know everything since it was my first time. And by the way, they kept speaking Chinese to me even though I told them I'm not. The noodle deserves my 3 stars. Not the service read more

Noodles are great. The heat in the dish I had was just amazing. All around great comfort food for a cold day. I have this place 5 stars because it is so reasonably priced compared to all other places in Calgary. For example, a can of pop cost 1.50, and you get a large bowl full of hand pulled noodles for 11 bucks. read more