We visited 1915 Lanzhou Beef Noodles for some hearty lunch as the cooler autumn weather came around.
According to Wikipedia:
Lanzhou beef noodle soup is a Chinese Muslim style of beef noodle soup, also known as clear-broth or consommé-stewed beef noodle. It often uses halal meat and contained no soy sauce, resulting in a lighter taste that may be flavoured by salt and herbs.
These are the Lamb and Onion Fried Dumplings ($13.90). The skin was reasonably thick, while the innards were juicy with a well-balanced flavour without being overly gamey.
This was D’s Lanzhou Braised Beef Noodles ($13.90, normal spiciness). He’s not a usual fan of wide noodles, yet the noodles here were perfectly al dente and carried the satisfying depth of flavour in the broth with every bite. The spiciness brought an enjoyable numbing heat while still allowing the beef broth and the seasoning herbs to shine. The braised beef was tender, and again, carried the flavour well.
This variation was the Pickled Beef Soup Noodles ($13.90, less spiciness). With minimal chilli, the soup was much less red, but the soup continued to carry the briefest hint of numbing spice that was just enough to give a kick to the broth, which was otherwise the same as D’s. The slices of beef were generous and tender, while the addition of the pickled mustard greens gave the broth an enjoyable gentle acidity.
Overall, we were quite satisfied with our noodles at 1915 Lanzhou Beef Noodles. The overall experience tasted like a Chinese equivalent of Vietnamese phở but with the added chilli component of bún bò huế.
1915 Lanzhou Beef Noodles is located at 168A Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134.