HEY GIRL HEYYYYY! YOU HAVE A SUPER-FAN HERE! :D
I first wanted to provide a quick snapshot of my super lengthy culture lesson below with just some tips and updates:
-YES, THE CHINATOWN FOODCOURT HAS RENOVATED
-GET THE BEEF NOODLE SOUP - CLEAR BROTH!
So I've read about this place and stalked it thoroughly on yelp for photos and reviews and I just could not get myself to go to the Chinatown foodcourt. I'm such a wimp even though I've been there plenty of times growing. But a BIG FYI--THEY HAVE RENOVATED! Yes, the Chinatown foodcourt has renovated and it is sooooooo much nicer!!!! No more sticky floors/chairs/tables/walls/trays/bowls/etc. hahaha. I'm not saying it's super 100% health rating clean, but it's aesthetically pleasing to the eyes with new tables and chairs and walls and beams. Once I found out, I OF COURSE had to visit. Here is what I god and recommend:
-Beef Noodle Soup: So no joke, Lan Zhou is a city in the Gansu Province of China (middle of the country) and I WAS BORN THERE! It's a mostly not-that-great place, cept the food! When people say "omg they have beef noodle soup" my first question is "WHAT COLOR IS THE BROTH??" It's because I spend my life searching for beef noodle soup that is remotely similar to the taste that you can find in Lanzhou/very few places outside of Lanzhou in China. *feel free to do a quick google search of 'lanzhou beef noodle soup' or 'lanzhou la mian' or 'lanzhou niu rou mian' and review google images/recipes/travel blogs/etc* With that said, the beef noodle soup here is pretty darn good for being 7000+ miles away from its origin...THE BROTH IS CLEAR!!!!!! THE BEEF IS SLICES!!!! THE NOODLES ARE HAND PULLED!!!!!! Different than the beef noodle soup from my fellow cantonese and taiwanese versions of this dish, it is not a soy based broth, nor is it a beef stew. While not all the traditional lanzhou beef noodles are met (five main features: clear soup - check, white radish-missing, red pepper-check, cilantro/caraway/green onion-check, red chili/chili oil-check, and chewy noodles-check), it was still very tasty. The soup was on the border of being a tad salty, but the beef was tender and the noodles were chewy. And one of the most important/impressive things was, when I asked if he could make my noodles thin, he responded with.....I CAN MAKE THE THICKNESS OF THE NOODLES TO YOUR LIKING!!!! Similar to the experience you can have in Lanzhou/China, people have different preferences of thick/thinness of noodles--I prefer mine "er xi" (um, so like, a little wider than angel hair). Now, more technicalities, I asked if they had homemade chili oil (versus the sambal and srirachia they had at the their condiment stand) and he said YES! OMGEEEEEEEEESUS!!! *feel free to do another google search on chinese chili oil/hot oil* It's not necessarily the spiciest chili conidment out there, but it adds a numbing/spice/umami to your dishes. So between the clear broth, custom noodles, and home made chili oil (and having chinese black vinegar on hand) SOLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD How seriously awesome is this?! The noodle soup of my dreams! After my many google searches throughout this review, you can look here for a feel of what it looks like in Lanzhou http://houseofhaos.com/2014/01/20/wumule-penghui-beef-noodles-lanzhou-china/
Now that I've given you WAY too much information and homework around Lanzhou Beef Noodle, I'd like to tell you what else I was able to try:
-XLB/Xiao Long Bao: (I'm so sorry I'm going down this path....but here is another lesson on XLB) The dumpling skin on their XLB is too thick and there was not very much soup in them *feel free to google shanghai xiao long bao and take a look at the thin wrapper, juicy pocket XLB* However, I DID think it was a tasty dumpling. I'd get them again.
-Cucumber Salad: be prepared for super garlic breath, but I actually order this a lot--it's like a refreshing crunch to pair with your hot dishes. It's a super simple dish with sliced/smashed chinese cucumber (not sure of the technical name, but the long skinny cucumbers), an obscene about of chopped garlic, and vinegar (and I'm sure salt and oil along the way), but the one here was acceptable, just needed to be mixed better as there were some salty bites along the way.
-Cold Skin Noodles (Liang Ban La Pi, I think was the name in Chinses): I totally made up that name, so I'm sure it sounds terrible, but it's a chewy, clear noodle made from.....potato starch? some sort of starch. Cut thick and mixed with chili oil (I asked for it spicy), vinegar, and cilantro, it was a tasty dish.
I cannot wait to go back for more more more more !!!! read more