Magic Noodle Lanzhou ramen review

partial menu

My friend introduced me to this LanZhou Ramen place. Prior to coming here, I had absolutely no idea what LanZhou Ramen (拉麵) was. Basically it is a type of hand made ramen where the master would pull and thrash the dough until it becomes noodles.

Environment
This place is always packed, it is opened 24 hours, and I can see the need to... no matter when you visit this place, it is packed. It is also a really small shop, so do not expect to have "good seats". At most seats, you will find yourself elbowing or being elbowed by others.

better view of menu and prices

I think the prices were a little on the pricey side. The "cheapest" ramen is $6.99. The bowls are big... but compared to other noodle shop places, it is considered a little expensive.

menu

There's a huge selection of ramen as well as side dishes. They also have the slicing type of "noodle" where the chef would shave off pieces into a broth. (I didn't get to try this kind of noodle while I was there).

side dish

I wasn't impressed with the side dishes they offered... my friend and I got this marinated tofu type of side dish and we didn't like it... we didn't even finish it... the seasoning was ok, but we didn't like the tofu.

Lanzhou Ramen with lamb 

ramen impressions:

• very authentic "Lanzhou Ramen
• broth is too oily
• lots of meat

However, I am not sure if this is the traditional taste... the broth reminded me a bit like "Little Sheep's Hot Pot broth" with lots of Chinese herbs.  I found the broth to be too oily though.

There were lots of big lamb pieces, they weren't consistent with one kind... there were several types (e.g. some had bones, some were from the belly, etc).

shredded beef pancakes

Another disappointing side... this was not authentic at all... it was just 2 pieces of Chinese buns holding some meat inside. The meat was not properly marinated and the bun was too oily.

beef brisket Lanzhou Ramen

For this particular visit, I got a beef Lanzhou Ramen (since I felt the lamb ramen was too oily)... unfortunately, this was also oily... the beef brisket was too oily... and the broth was not seasoned well.

Magic Noodle's House Ramen special

I was definitely unimpressed with this House Ramen special... House specials are usually the best choice, but this one was really bad.... they fried everything... if the previous ramen bowls were considered oily, this was considered flat out oil... the chef overcooked and fried the pork chop and eggs; there were hardly other ingredients... I felt like I was drinking oil. DO NOT ORDER THIS!

Verdict:

My suggestion is to stick to their ramen options (specifically their lamb ramen), their side dishes aren't worth the price at all.... I really appreciate the authentic of the ramen (拉麵) but feel they definitely need to improve on their broth and flavouring, next time, I think I will just get the Spring Noodles Broth Ramen (simple broth with Ramen in it's plain form).

score: 5/10

address: 2190 McNicoll Avenue, Scarborough, ON M1V 5M2, Canada
website: no website