After months of searching, I finally got to try an authentic Noodle soup with a vegetarian broth thanks to Aruns review.
I would always be so tempted by the delicious waft of a warming soup bowl from the various places downtown filling the air but whenever inquiring on whether their vegetarian soup bowl uses an actual vegetarian broth, I would get a negative answer.
By chance, I happened to pass by Nouilles de Lan Zhou one bitter-cold Friday evening. It was absolutely freezing (-22) and despite not being hungry, we needed a place to quickly warm up so we could continue to our destination. Seeing the fresh noodles being hand made in front of my eyes through the restaurant window, I was pulled in and decided to order a small vegetarian noodle soup to try. It was my first time at such a place and I was not accustomed to the ordering system. Thankfully, the server was extremely friendly and guided me through the ordering process. He explained all the noodle types and thicknesses and confirmed that the broth was vegetarian. As we were eating in, he also brought us each a small cup of hot green tea.
Within 5 minutes my order arrived and I was instantly taken aback by the portion size! The bowl was huge for a small-size and I wasn't even hungry! Still however, I managed to gobble it down and enjoyed it very much with the chilli oil. The flavours were very fresh and the noodles were perfect.
The interior is very basic with cramped seating in a very small space. There is also an escalator leading down to a grocery store which I found very unusual and random. If it was closer, I would probably grab a takeaway as I wasn't too comfortable inside. However, still a great first- time experience - will definitely be back