Whoa That's Weird: Muslim Noodles
Muslim Noodle (AKA Lanzhou La Mian) restaurants in China actually have a lot in common with Chinese food restaurants in the US. Just like cheap Chinese restaurants in the US, Muslim Noodle restaurants are EVERYWHERE and all serve the exact same dishes. For example, you can walk into any cheap Chinese spot in the states and find a menu that looks pretty much identical to the one below.
Similarly, you walk into any Muslim noodle spot in China and you will see these exact same stock photos on the wall.
And I must say, when I first arrived in China and could only speak 4 words of Mandarin(“Ni Hao Ah Ya”), places like this were a lifesaver. All you had to do was walk in, point to the pictures of the dishes you remembered tasting good, and wait for the for your food to come. As you can see in the video, my ordering technique hasn’t changed much.
When it comes to bang for your buck though, muslim noodle shops have Chinese American restaurants beat. 3 bucks for hand pulled noodles?? The only way a noodle is getting pulled at a Chinese American restuarant is if the place happens to moonlight as a massage parlor/Airplane Hangar and I’ve yet to come across one of those stateside. Muzzie Noods >> Lo Mein.
