Lam Zhou La Mian - Chinatown
144 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002
The storefront's ambiguous name was no help in confirming we made it to the right place. However, once inside, the yellow and red sign on the wall listed the restaurant's name as well as the menu items, which are essentially all a variation of noodle soup.
As the sign is in traditional characters, it was not until later that I realized something about the name was amiss.
Traditional: 蘭州工手拉麵
Simplified: 兰州工手拉面
The translation/English name listed on the menu is "Lamzhou". However, the Chinese confirms that this is supposed to be Lánzhōu, the capital and largest city of the inland province Gansu.
I don't know if this should make me question the authenticity of the establishment, but I do know that we enjoyed it all the same. Sitting at questionably clean wooden tables looking at open bottles of various half-used sauces I felt like I was back in China. Ordering in Mandarin (given the waitress's shaky grasp of English) also felt like flexing a stiff muscle. And when the enormous ceramic bowl of pulled noodles came out--complete with whole leaves of bok choy and a fried egg--I was reminded of my daily noodle soup lunches in Nanjing. Squirting a bit of vinegar and dropping in dangerously hot flakes of chili added just the right amount of flavor to make you sweat it out on a warm evening.
Just as in China, the noodles curled and twisted with the imperfections of manual labor. As you sit and eat, you can watch a man at the front of the kitchen pull long threads of dough. Every now and again I would flinch when the high-pitched slapping noise of slamming the dough down pierced the restaurant quiet.
The one drawback I would say is their dumplings. As the name suggests, this restaurant's forte is in pulled noodles--which I highly recommend. But if you're looking for authentic, Chinese dumplings, go elsewhere (possibly Prosperity Dumpling a few blocks over).
We took leftover soup home so we had room enough for bubble before departing Chinatown. Next time--and I do expect a next time--I will have to try the lamb pulled noodle soup.
144 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002
The storefront's ambiguous name was no help in confirming we made it to the right place. However, once inside, the yellow and red sign on the wall listed the restaurant's name as well as the menu items, which are essentially all a variation of noodle soup.
As the sign is in traditional characters, it was not until later that I realized something about the name was amiss.
Traditional: 蘭州工手拉麵
Simplified: 兰州工手拉面
Pinyin: LánZhōu Gōng Shǒu Lā Miàn
Translation: Lanzhou Hand-Pulled NoodlesThe translation/English name listed on the menu is "Lamzhou". However, the Chinese confirms that this is supposed to be Lánzhōu, the capital and largest city of the inland province Gansu.
I don't know if this should make me question the authenticity of the establishment, but I do know that we enjoyed it all the same. Sitting at questionably clean wooden tables looking at open bottles of various half-used sauces I felt like I was back in China. Ordering in Mandarin (given the waitress's shaky grasp of English) also felt like flexing a stiff muscle. And when the enormous ceramic bowl of pulled noodles came out--complete with whole leaves of bok choy and a fried egg--I was reminded of my daily noodle soup lunches in Nanjing. Squirting a bit of vinegar and dropping in dangerously hot flakes of chili added just the right amount of flavor to make you sweat it out on a warm evening.
Just as in China, the noodles curled and twisted with the imperfections of manual labor. As you sit and eat, you can watch a man at the front of the kitchen pull long threads of dough. Every now and again I would flinch when the high-pitched slapping noise of slamming the dough down pierced the restaurant quiet.
The one drawback I would say is their dumplings. As the name suggests, this restaurant's forte is in pulled noodles--which I highly recommend. But if you're looking for authentic, Chinese dumplings, go elsewhere (possibly Prosperity Dumpling a few blocks over).
We took leftover soup home so we had room enough for bubble before departing Chinatown. Next time--and I do expect a next time--I will have to try the lamb pulled noodle soup.
Just like the good old days :)
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