Lanzhou Noodle Intermission
Lanzhou noodles from LanFeast
Lanzhou beef noodles are way too underappreciated. You probably know them as just another Chinese dish, if you’ve even heard of them before. But here’s what’s interesting to me: this one bowl of soup tells the entire story of how food travels, how it adapts, how it survives.
There’s an old saying that Lanzhou has three treasures: “lucky gourds, sheepskin rafts, and beef noodles”
Hundreds of years ago, Lanzhou sat right on the Silk Road—this crucial stop between everywhere and somewhere far. Traders, travelers, merchants, all passing through to Chang’an (modern day Xi’an). And they’re hungry. But here’s the thing: not everyone eats the same food. Some people are Muslim, some aren’t. Some have money, some don’t. Some are staying for weeks, some are just passing through for a night.
So what does a man named Ma Baozi do? He creates something that works for everyone. A broth that’s halal. Ingredients that are cheap and easy to get. Noodles that fill you up. It’s not fancy. It’s practical. It’s survival food for people on the move—the ones that need it the most.
And then this humble traveler’s meal becomes so essential that even centuries later, when China is racing toward modernity in the 90s and everyone wants fast food, they don’t abandon their beloved beef noodle soup. They don’t replace them with burgers and fries. They turn them into fast food. Right alongside Peking duck and bao buns, these three ancient dishes get the full McDonald’s treatment. Because sometimes the old thing, done quicker, is just what people need.
Now, today, millions of people across China start their morning or end their days with a bowl of characteristically warm and savory Lanzhou beef noodles. The same hearty recipe that fed Silk Road travelers all those centuries ago.
It makes you wonder: what else in our day-to-day is actually ancient solutions to timeless problems, just disguised for modern times?
This may sound cringey, but as I took my first sip of the broth, with pepper flakes and chili oil floating on the surface, I felt like a traveller on a cold day, on a long journey. The noodles struck a perfect in between: spicy enough to make you feel warm, yet never overwhelming the savory broth.
The noodles sat on the firmer side of chewy, giving your mouth something to work with without it beginning to feel like a workout. Great combo.
One of my favorite combinations in food is cilantro & scallion. And in this soup, it was perfectly in place—fresh, so the other spice-filled rich broth had something cutting in between. My favorite part was the radish—thin, white slices floating alongside the noodles like small lily pads. It’s a touch unique to Lanzhou noodles, and suddenly the dish made more sense. The radish provided a textural counterpoint that kept each bite interesting.
Ratings:
Quality: 18/20
Experience: 17/20
Food presentation: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Staff: 10/10
Side dishes: 9/10
Selection: 8/10
Pricing: 10/10
Flavor Forum Rating: 91/100