Walk into almost any restaurant in Nepal and "chowmein" means one thing: soft noodles tossed hot in a wok with vegetables, soy sauce and often a little chilli. It is one of the most-ordered dishes in the country. But it is not the same as the chow mein you would be served in Guangzhou, and it is a different dish again from lo mein.
The distinction is entirely about what happens to the noodle.
Chow mein — 炒面, literally "fried noodles" — means the noodles themselves are fried. In the Cantonese tradition they are par-boiled, drained, then pressed into a hot oiled wok and left alone until the underside crisps. The result is a noodle cake: crunchy at the edges, tender in the middle, with the sauce and topping spooned over.
Lo mein — 捞面, "tossed noodles" — is the opposite approach. The noodles are boiled fully, drained, then tossed off the heat with sauce and cooked ingredients. Nothing crisps. The noodle stays soft and slippery and carries the sauce rather than resisting it.
Nepali chowmein sits closer to lo mein in texture but is cooked like a stir-fry, usually with more vegetables, a heavier hand with soy and vinegar, and frequently egg or chicken worked through. It is genuinely its own dish now, and a good one — it just is not the Cantonese original.
What we cook
Our noodle section is northern-Chinese in character, which means the dough is hand-pulled in our kitchen rather than cut by machine. Pulling develops the gluten differently: the strand ends up chewier and springier, and it holds up in soup without going soft.
Chicken Fried Noodles at Rs. 315 is the closest thing to what most people in Nepal mean by chowmein, cooked properly and without the sugar. Mixed Fried Noodles at Rs. 335 brings chicken, pork and vegetables together. If you want something that tastes nothing like what you expect, order Dandan Noodles at Rs. 390 — a Sichuan bowl with minced pork, preserved vegetable, sesame paste and chilli oil, served with very little liquid so you toss it yourself at the table.
For soup noodles, Beef Noodle Soup and Pork Rib Noodle Soup are both Rs. 315.
How to tell a good one
The test is the wok, not the noodle. Real stir-frying happens fast over very high heat, which produces a faintly smoky character the Cantonese call wok hei — "the breath of the wok". You cannot get it from a domestic burner and you cannot fake it with sauce. If a plate of fried noodles tastes only of soy and sugar, the pan was not hot enough.
The full noodle and rice section is on our menu page, with current prices.