Restaurant - Lanzhou Lamian(兰州拉面)

Lanzhou Lamian, or Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Noodles, is a famous Chinese dish from Lanzhou, Gansu Province. Known for its hand-pulled noodles, it features a rich beef broth, tender beef slices, chili oil, and fresh herbs like cilantro. The noodles are made fresh, with a signature smooth and chewy texture. It’s praised for its “one clear, two white, three red, four green, five yellow” traits: clear broth, white radish, red chili osil, green herbs, and yellow noodles.

These restaurant are named after the dish name, you’ll see at least one of these restaurants while walking on the street. Their signs usually have white text on a green background with a Halal(清真) symbol. The text is often “兰州拉面”, sometimes with prefixes like “马记” which shows the owner’s family name, Ma—a common surname among Hui people.

Notes:

• Do not bring any food or alcohol when you go to a Halal restaurant
• If you like spicy food, add some chili sauce. Every restaurant puts a lot of effort into it—it’s the soul of the Lamian.
• Besides Lamian, these restaurants also serve many types of Mixed Noodles(拌面) . They use the same noodles as Lamian, but instead of beef broth, they come with various toppings.
• Lamian was spread nationwide by people from a city in Qinghai province, not by people from Lanzhou. Locals in Lanzhou actually call it Beef Noodles(牛肉面) instead of Hand-Pulled Noodles(拉面) . Because of this, and with the Lanzhou government promoting the name across the country, you’ll see both names used.

Signs

The signs vary, but they look similar.

Other Chains

There are some chain restaurants that aren’t as popular as the Lanzhou Lamian mentioned here, but you can easily find them in malls in big cities. Here are a few examples with their signs.

陈香贵

张拉拉

马永记

Dishes