Chinese cuisine is vast and varied and each dish represents unique cultural and regional characteristics. As a signature dish in northwestern China, the majestic, juicy and refreshing Lanzhou Beef Noodle has gone beyond the food itself to become an important carrier that connects people and carries forward northwestern cuisine thanks to its unique flavors and profound culture. Kong Fu Noodle, a restaurant based in Columbus, introduces the most authentic street food that is accustomed to everybody in Northwest China to the U.S., allowing diners to relish the rich and refreshing fragrance even from a place thousands of miles away. 

Signature Dishes 

Mr. Zhang, the owner of the restaurant, is a native of Lanzhou. With a deeper understanding of Lanzhou Beef Noodle than most business owners in the industry, he has conducted countless adjustments and refinements in terms of ingredient selection, preparation of the base soup and portion of seasonings, and developed standardized operation for every process and detail, eventually reaching a level of perfection in reproducing the authentic flavor of home that he remembers. Its accomplishments like opening a series of franchise stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, getting broad recognition from diners and media and rated as one of the “Best 100 Restaurant in America”, are enough to prove its “extraordinary Kung Fu”. 

Here, everything follows traditional practices from beginning to end to create remarkable tastes. In particular, the signature offering Classic Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup features handmade noodles with different thickness. After rolling and swimming in the beef soup, the noodles are dressed with fragrant, but not brown, chili oil, coupled with the soft white radish slices and braised beef slices, as well as scallion and coriander. All ingredients are sufficiently integrated to give rise to a bowl of delicious and tasty treat with “clear soup, soft and fragrant beef and thin and delicate noodles”. 

The Summer Delight Cold Noodles, a top choice in summer, features tender noodles with freshly shredded cucumber, crispy peanuts, two spoons of chili oil, garlic sauce and balsamic vinegar. Simple as they look, the noodles are quite sinewy and crisp and people just can’t get enough of it.

The restaurant also offers snacks from different regions such as Spicy Wonton with Sichuan Peppercorn Flavor from Sichuan, which are thin-skinned, stuffed with tender, spicy and flavorful meat, and Hand-pulled Dan Dan Noodles which are equally authentic and tasty.

The Craftsmanship Spirit and Sense of Mission 

With a background of quality control, Mr. Zhang has integrated quality control thinking into his brand. The restaurant maintains a sophisticated quality management system, in which the rationing of ingredients and other steps follow established standards, so that every staff member can strictly comply with them and ensure maximum and stable quality. At the same time, the restaurant also has a scientific error correction mechanism, if diners find problems, they can instantly give feedback to get the problems solved and quickly improved. If a problem persists over a long time, the restaurant will initiate a special source tracing procedure to find out possible solution through discussion. 

The cuisine market never stops changing. Mr. Zhang believes that the key to successful Chinese restaurant in the US is not to follow the trend blindly, but to find your own characteristics and try to present them in a refined way. Because there is no single style of Chinese food and it is enough for a restaurant to stand out just by doing well in a single area. 

In the future, Mr. Zhang will continue his mission of delivering traditional Chinese culinary culture by opening more outlets, innovating the menu while maintaining traditions, and sharing the cultural core of Chinese cuisine with a wider audience through “culture + culinary events + community interactions”. “Kung Fu Noodle not only provides a meal to satisfy your hunger, but it also conveys the culinary culture from Northwest China in every bowl of noodles.” This is Mr. Zhang's original intention, as well as his goal and vision for the future!