Zhi Wei Cafe

For a Tuesday work lunch I stopped by Zhi Wei at noon. The place was ~2/3 full, so I got seating immediately. Instead of ordering the usual lanzhou noodle with beef, I opted for it with lamb. This cost $16.99 rather than the $14.99 for beef, but was well worth it.The lamb lanzhou noodle soup had the same chewy noodles and radish slices, a richer (but still clear and light) broth, copious amounts of chili oil, a hearty portion of either stewed or braised lamb chunks (in contrast to the normal thin beef slices). Imagine the beef noodle soup but dialed up another 50%. This is what the lamb one is like.

This restaurant is well known for their Lanzhou noodles! They're a bit out of the way since it's outside Chinatown. The restaurant has a fair amount of seating including a big ground floor and a small upstairs with 3 tables. Their menu is extensive with skewer, rice, Lanzhou noodle, hotpot and dumpling dishes. You order from an iPad using Chow Bus. My table all ordered the combo special of their signature beef Lanzhou noodle (spicy or non-spicy) that came with a pair of lamb skewers for $18.99. The noodles were delicious, the beef tender, and the broth was very flavorful to the last drop! This is the best Lanzhou noodles that I've ever had in Boston! The service was good, we got our food within 5-10 minutes of ordering and the waitress was nice. FYI, if you sign up for a new Chow Bus account after you order, you get 10% off. There is one unisex bathroom that's clean.

Great option to satisfy those hot noodle soup cravingsWe ordered twice from here in the span of a week because I loved the hot broth and the texture of their noodles so much. Their takeout containers strategically separate the broth from the noodles so we could add noodles to the broth when consuming to prevent the noodles from becoming overly saturated with broth. I thought both the beef and lamb options were solid although I'm impartial to the beef because it is leaner. If you're a fan of fattier cuts with tendon/silver skin, the lamb would be the right choice for you. Noodles are cooked al dente and the broth stayed hot long after the food arrived. Will have to stop to dine in next time since we only tried them via takeout!

Chewy, thick noodles and a cozy, flavorful broth! I can always count this place for an authentic and tasty bowl of noodle soup In Chinatown

Stopped by after a 5 hour train ride in south station. It's in the heart of the leather district, so parking is a little better than Chinatown. Inside the decor is nice, their branding/packaging are really nice. Their disposable chopsticks are elaborate for disposable cutlery. Food wise, the texture of their noodles are spot on. It's bouncy and has the right chewiness. The Lanzhou noodle was good, a clear broth with hints of schezuan peppercorns. I would order it again. The stir fried house noodle was ok. The noodle and ingredients were good but I didn't care for the stir fry flavor. The hand made pork bun was excellent. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to have soup, but nonetheless something I'd get again. The kumquat tea is something you don't see often so a must get.

Came here for lunch with a friend on a Wednesday afternoon. It's a small restaurant tucked away in a calm street of Chinatown. The staff is friendly. Might be busy during lunch hours but place seems large enough to hard quite a bit of people. We both really enjoyed the pan fried dumplings which were fairly stuff with meat and flavorful. The soup dumplings were alright but didn't have enough broth in them. The broth for the noodle dishes were flavorful, spicy, and comforting. Beef were tender and yummy. The noodles that we had didn't taste the freshest as we had expected it to because we thought these were homemade noodles. Noodles could use improvement, but the broth was the star of the show and made up for that.

Warm and cozy! The beef noodle soup was spicy, but it wasn't overly spicy where your tongue goes numb~ the chicken heart skewers were a bit dry but flavorful with its spices. The soup dumplings were the main reason I wanted to try this place! They were my favorite part of my meal! Wish the order had more than 4 because I was ready to get more servings! The stir fried shrimp noodles were flavorful and delicious. It was filling and you leave this place satisfied. Upon entering this place, it was clean and relatively empty so staff were prompt on serving us. Bathroom is clean too!

Decided to try this place for lunch since we were near boston area and was looking for Chinese restaurant.The place is quite unnoticeable as it's camouflaged along with other building in the area and would probably not notice unless you specifically come to this restaurant or look closely at the sign in front of the restaurant. Inside is very open space with high roofing. There are only few seatings as everything is spaced out and it does have few second floor seatings.I ordered their Lanzhou beef noodle soup, chicken skewers, and soup dumplings. As the place was not too busy at the time orders came quickly.I had never tried Lanzhou beef noodle soup but it was very good. It's a delicate dish consisting of slightly spicy and flavorful broth combined with fatty beef, white radish slices and smooth noodles. Chicken skewers and soup dumplings were also good but was not anything out of the ordinary. Overall I liked the place. Food and service were solid. Lanzhou beef noodle soup was definitely the highlight. Personally I like a bit more punch and flavor in my noodles but it was certainly a delightful dish and hand made noodles were very good. Prices were also reasonable for the most part. Solid place overall.

What a nice hidden gem in downtown Boston! We came on a weeknight and were promptly seated by the friendly staff. The interior decor is simple, clean, and zen. Ordering is made easy via tablet. We got the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup, Mala Beef Tender, and Hand Pulled Lamb Chops Noodle Soup. Everything was delicious! The beef noodle soup was not too spicy and flavorful, and the hand pulled lamb chops were savory and tender. The noodles in both dishes were chewy and al dente. The Mala beef tender was a refreshing cold dish and added a nice kick to our meal. Would definitely come back to try the rest of their items.

Had a cute double dinner date here & ordered family style so we tried quite a few different dishes. Overall, would say that the service was really quick and this is a pretty solid place for various Chinese cuisines. A few items we tried: Golden Fried Buns w. Condensed Milk, BBQ Lam Skewers, BBQ Pork Belly Skewers, Stir Fried House Special Noodle, Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup, Homemade Soup Dumplings & Popcorn Chicken. Out of everything we tried, the noodle plates, especially the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup, are really worth trying! Also, me and my boyf really love the golden buns w. condensed milk in general so we devoured that up multiple times lol