Dunhuang food is northwest Chinese — lamb, hand-pulled noodles, flat breads, cumin — with strong Hui Muslim influence and a few signature local dishes that don't appear anywhere else. The most famous is lvrou huangmian, donkey-meat yellow noodles: a chewy hand-stretched yellow noodle topped with stewed donkey and a black-bean sauce, often eaten with a side of cold-mixed greens. Other staples are xinjiang dapanji (big-plate chicken with potatoes and wide noodles), grilled lamb skewers, and a thin sweet apricot juice sold cold from street stalls.
The Shazhou Night Market, two minutes east of Reservation Square, is where most travellers eat at least one meal. The donkey-meat restaurants on Yangguan East Road are a step up and worth the short walk.