#XiAn Biang Biang Noodles

[formeryelpers]

XiAn Biang Biang Noodles, 1039 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Once you’re this deep in the San Gabriel Valley, almost every business is Chinese and most of the people in the area are Chinese. That’s also where you’ll find authentic regional Chinese cuisine, like the new XiAn Noodles. It’s more than a noodle shop. The menu includes local specialties (e.g., pita bread soaked in soup, Chinese hamburgers, lamb haggis soup), cold dishes, noodle soups, Biang Biang noodles, stir-fried noodles, stir-fried dishes, soups, boiled dishes, vegetarian dishes, fried rice, dumplings, and drinks.

Three toppings spicy noodle with pepper oil ($13.99): Even though it’s called spicy noodle, there is no chili pepper next to it on the menu. Oversight? I told the server that I liked spicy food and she recommended the three toppings spicy noodle dish. The three toppings are (1) scrambled eggs and tomatoes, (2) minced braised pork belly, (3) a dark ground meat sauce. I also spotted bok choy, bean sprouts, and chili pepper. The noodles are served dry but in a pool of pepper oil. The handmade noodles were extra wide, long, thick, and very chewy. It didn’t seem spicy to me but I added the house hot sauce. The pepper oil wasn’t too salty…not sure what was it in but it seemed a little tangy (vinegar) and slightly sweet. I’m sure it had soy sauce and some spices. Very tasty. The minced pork varied from almost all fat to very dry and a bit salty – but the other elements weren’t salty so it balanced out. The portion was just right.

The interior looks older (but remodeled) and it’s inside an older mini mall with parking. The kitchen is in the back, so I didn’t see or hear anyone making the noodles. Service was friendly. They take your order using an iPad. You can also scan the QR code and order online. Online ordering is available but some of the menu items are listed in Chinese only.

4 out of 5 stars.

By Lolia S.

[quieteating]

New Post has been published on Quieteating

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Niu

Seems like there is a recent Eastern noodle craze in London.  First there was the ramen joints (Ippudo, Tonkotsu, Kanda-Ya), then udon (Ichi-richi), then Xian (Biang, Biang Biang and Master Wei) and now Taiwanese noodles.

I like noodles as much as the other guy but not as much as some of my friends.  One in particular always yells for soup noodles at every occasion.  That gets rather tiring after a while.  Either that, or as I get older I get more boring and testy.

In any case, when a Taiwanese noodle shop called “Niu” came along, I couldn’t help but be interested.  That is a rather short name for a restaurant and reminded me of what a friend told me was the secret to writing engaging prose.

KISS.  Keep it simple stupid.

Well that at least is sound advice when writing in an occupational context.  The advantage of writing for a hobby is that you can do whatever you like.  I can indulge my use of flamboyant, redundant and confusing language to my heart’s content.  However, I have been strongly advised that the way to get greater publicity nowadays is to follow the rules as attention spans these days are anemic.  As well as an appreciation of sophisticated scarcely utilized language.

So this is Niu, otherwise known as Cow.  That is the literal translation from Mandarin.  An apt name as there are only two mains on the menu.  Beef noodle and beef noodle.

Taiwanese beef noodles, beef shin, mustard greens.  Deep, flavourful beef broth, I couldn’t help but slurp this up in isolation.  At first I thought there was no need for toppings.  As for the noodles, these were meaty and pleasantly full of bite.  Yet it was the beef shin that was the best.  With large helpings of collagen (to better help with preserving my youthful looks), I was delighted.  The mustard greens and spring onions only made things better.

Beef short rib noodles.  With the same broth and noodles, these were also not bad, although the beef was sliced more thinly, so going for a different style.  I personally prefer the large slabs of beef but others may prefer more delicate pieces.  Speaking more about the noodles here, these had shape and bite and were rather good.  The other ingredients except the beef cut was the same as the other noodle soup.  So I would say it was decent but costing a pretty penny.

Niu had quite a bit going for it.  Delicious noodles, meaty broth.  Enough beef taste that you could almost see the cow staring back at you from the soup.  Yet what lets it down was the rather full price.  I’m sure cows are more expensive now but not really that much…

  A quieteating 7/10.

Lunch (1 course) was GBP16 excluding drinks and service.

  @niu_taiwanese_beef_noodles

19 Catherine St, London WC2B 5JS

[japanguiding]

OXFORD

Restaurants: Arbequina, Oli’s Thai

BRIGHTON

Restaurants: La Choza, Burger Bros, Fatto O Mano, The Chilli Pickle, Six Brunch Hove, Bincho Yakitori, Siam Siam

Cheap Restaurants: Pom Poko, We Heart Falafael, Fil Fil, Grubs

Cafes: Flint Owl, The Flower Pot, Loam, Bond St Coffee

Shops: Snooper’s Paradise, Family Store, Blackout, Dave’s Comics,

Clothes Shops: To Be Worn Again, Beyond Retro

Shopping Areas: The North Laines, The South Laines, Churchill Square Shopping Mall

Cool Places: Brighton Pavillion, Stanmer House, Stanmer Park

Museums: Brighton Museum, The Booth Museum

LONDON

Restaurants: Brasserie Zedel, Padella (pasta), Bao London, Voodoo Rays (pizza), Beigel Shop London, Mangal 1 Dalston, Xian Biang Biang Noodles, Olle Korean Barbecue, 3 Mien

Chain Restaurants: Pret, Pizza Express, Wahaca (mexican), GBK

Cafes: Le Pain Quotidien

Museums: Tate Modern, National History Museum, V&A Museum, Sir John Soane’s House, The British Museum, Tate Britain, Newport Street Gallery

Shops: Libertys, Harrods, Anthropolgie, Rokit

Shopping Areas: Carnaby Street, Oxford Circus, Picadilly Circus, Soho, Brick Lane, Spitafields Market, Borough Market,

Parks: Green Park (by Buckingham Palace), Kew Gardens

[antikate]

Fade in

I might be obsessed with Closed Set by @racketghost to the extent that I wrote an Aziraphale POV ficlet (is that weird? I don’t know I’m so beyond weird right now).

Also. SPOILERS if you haven’t read it yet.

He goes into to the bookshop’s front room to call the Chinese restaurant, to order xian long bao and biang biang noodles and pork floss. Some vegetables, too, steamed and then tossed in oyster sauce. Humans need vegetables or else they contract rickets and scurvy ... or was it scrofula? He isn’t sure about that, but he thinks it’s something to do with vitamins.

It won’t make things weird. Crowley had almost seemed as if he was begging, when he said that, and Aziraphale had promised, and now he had to keep his promise. He would order food, and make Crowley eat, and let him drink a little (not too much) wine, and insist he sleep.

I won’t let this change things, he thinks, hands on the old rotary phone, finger poised above the numbers. I won’t. 

But it would, he knew that, on some level down below his cells, down into the very subatomic structure of protons and neutrons, down into the essence of his angelic self, where he was vast and bright, that it would. Not so much the sex, not that, or at least not that alone. That might have changed things enough, had it been under different, less fraught circumstances.

But this wouldn’t be happening, under less fraught circumstances. Under less fraught circumstances, Crowley’s taste would not linger on his tongue. Under less fraught circumstances, they’d be off having dinner somewhere, getting drunk, and then Aziraphale would come home alone.

It wasn’t just the sex.

That was transcendent but messy and human. (And the way Crowley’s mouth had taken him was a psalm to the pleasure of being human that Aziraphale had never thought he might know but had thought of, so many times, had buried deep in himself for centuries, only revealed in the rubble of a bombed out church.) 

What it was, instead, that would change things, was that Crowley so clearly didn’t want it. Didn’t want him. That it was happening at the behest of hell—with Crowley so reluctant that his own body rebelled against it—was an abomination. 

I love you, he wants to say to Crowley, I love you and you are dying, and I will not let you die. I will not let you go. I will walk into hell again, and again, and again, every day for eternity. There is nothing you cannot ask of me now that I will not give. 

But it felt less like love, and more like violation. More like some sort of terrible joke at his expensive, when Crowley had shuddered at his touch. When Crowley had flinched when his hand had skimmed over his soft cock. When Crowley had snapped at him to leave his clothes on, face hard and unreachable. Yes, a wretched joke. That the thing so longed for would be in reach, but only in a form so twisted as to be unrecognisable. 

His own hands on the old Bakelite telephone seem unfamiliar, as if they belong to some other body. Blunt fingers, pale hair on broad knuckles. Hands he had skimmed over Crowley’s body. How does a demon like to be worshipped, he’d asked, with his mouth and his tongue and with these hands, and Crowley had responded with ... shock. Reluctance. Something like horror.  

He orders the Chinese food, and goes back into the other room. Crowley is still sitting on the couch, head thrown back, glaring balefully at the ceiling, pointedly ignoring the camera in the camera.

“I’ve got a nice white we can have,” he says, lightly, carefully. “Not too much though.”

“Leave off, angel,” Crowley says, but there’s no bite to it. 

“I shall not,” Aziraphale replies, and at least this feels normal. Close to, anyway. “You need to eat, and drink water, and rest.”

He aches to reach out and stroke his hair, to fold him into his arms, to tell him that Aziraphale won’t let hell have him, but instead he goes for the wine glasses.

He doesn’t want anything to change. But it’s already too late.

[signal-failure]

We ‘re adding a special expansion card to Takeout as an SDCC exclusive. (I can’t believe that’s an actual sentence I just typed.) I’ve been considering adding either Taiwanese pineapple cake or Xian pulled noodles, both really stylish, specific foods that will make attractive cards. Also, my students talked about those foods recently and made me hungry.

I couldn’t remember the Chinese names for either one, and in my search I learned that 菠萝, pineapple, is not part of the Chinese name for pineapple cakes, because that would be too easy. Perfect! A pretty food with a complicated name!

Then I saw that Xian noodles can actually be called … which I just had to copy-and-paste because it’s too complex for my computer’s dictionary. Chinese teachers punish students by making them write biang. There’s even a legend about the invention of biang, which kind of makes the complexity a restaurant joke, and therefore a perfect addition to Takeout.

Now I really want to add the hardest, most complex Chinese character to my game about being bad at Chinese.

[londongramer]

@clerkenwellboyec1 says TAG your weekend spicy noodle crew! 💥👊🏼💥 Xian Biang Biang Noodles in #Aldgate for the win! 🔥🌶️🌿🍜💥🇨🇳✌🏻🔥🌶️🌿🍜💥🇨🇳✌🏻🔥🌶️🌿🍜💥🇨🇳✌🏻🔥🌶️🌿🍜💥🇨🇳✌🏻🔥🌶️🌿🍜💥🇨🇳✌🏻 // #thisislondon #london #londonfood http://bit.ly/2GuwVu9

[vlogchina]

Spicy cumin noodles BiangBiang noodles 🍜 A Northern Chinese specialty, from Shaanxi Province They'r a hand made wide, thick, and chewy, giving them a slightly uneven texture that clings to sauce really well. Also, the word biang in the term biang biang mian (“biang biang noodles”) is kind of special. The Chinese character contains a whopping 58 strokes, making it one of most complex Chinese characters in contemporary usage. نودلز بيانغ بيانغ الحارة 🍜 هي نودلز عريضة الشكل قوامها خشن و ذوقها حار و لذيذ، تصنع باليد بهاذا الشكل و لديها صلصة مميزة تقدم عادة بلحم الخروف و تعطر بالكمون و الفلفل الحار الصيني 🌶🌶 و هي مشهورة في الصين الشمالية تحديدا من مقاطعة شانشي . غير انها نودلز لذيذة لكنها تعد من الاطباق المميزة في الصين، حتى في كتابتها باللغة الصينية فيعد رمز بيانغ اصعب رمز في اللغة الصينية اذ انه يتكون من 58 خط يتكون من كلمات عديدة ! #Chinese_culture #china #chinaphotography #food #history #foodphotography #travelphotography #xian (à Xian Shi, Shaanxi, China) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTsB1xhoDlK/?utm_medium=tumblr

[huntressvamp]

Watch "CHILI OIL BIANG BIANG NOODLES" on YouTube

[digestdigress]

Cumin beef biang biang noodles, Old Xian's Food, Vancouver, 9/10. Just how old is Old Xian? Has anyone checked on her lately? Has she had a fall? Because the music playing is Michael Bublé's Christmas hits. It's the middle of summer. It's hot as the hatred between Melania and Trump and the Boob is telling us to let it snow. Maybe Xian fell and hit her head and has been stranded on the kitchen floor for the past 8 months, left languishing like a post-Brexit UK and the only humane thing left to do is grab a heavy skillet and beat her out of her misery. #noodles #beefnoodles #yvrfood #vancouverfood #food #foodporn #digestdigress (at Old Xian's Food)

[lilysjibberjabber]

China 2017

It’s been such a long time since I last visited China, not exactly sure why we never decided it to be a place on our many trips we have planned over the years. This will be the 3rd time I have visited China but the first for many cities.

China has many wonderful memories for me, my first ever trip overseas (without parents and to a country besides Vietnam) was to China. I was 20 and taking my first overseas trip with my boyfriend (now husband). It was the trip which sparked my desire to travel in which I have done so every year ever since. I am forever grateful to have the opportunity to see the world and experience the many cultures and see how the rest of the world live. It fascinates me how vastly different everyone’s lives are and every time I return home i feel so lucky to live where I am in a country with so many opportunities and privileges.

Planning this trip 6 months ago, I wanted to travel to somewhere new. The last few holidays we’ve had we have always returned to a country we have visited before so this time I wanted to set foot in a completely different place.

So why China, and why these particular cities? … because I have been totally binging on Chinese Dramas for the past few months and wanted to go and visit some of the backdrops to the dramas I have been watching! I remember when I was little, I use to binge watch Chinese dramas all the time with mum, back then it would be dubbed in Vietnamese and I could only understand half of it. I would constantly be annoying my mum asking her what’s going on and why is everyone crying as they spoke too fast for me to understand. I would constantly get hushed as mum was so engrossed in what was happening and I had to wait until she could explain what was going on. Skip 20 years later – high school, uni, work came around and I had completely forgotten about Chinese dramas and how much I enjoyed watching them. If it wasn’t for one day stumbling upon a Chinese drama that had been uploaded onto Netflix that I realised that Chinese Dramas are now being subbed in English! I can actually watch and understand EVERYTHING now! So then started my binge fest of drama after drama which is then what lead me to China. …

This now starts the beginning of my 4 (very tiring) weeks of South East Asia travels: Xian, Zhangjiajie, Chengdu, Guilin, Taipei, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore We are staying in each city for approximately 3-4 days before flying into the next! We originally wanted to visit all new cities but decided that it would nice to finish the trip on familiar grounds. As the husband had not visited Taiwan and Macau it was the perfect time to stop into these countries since we were so close anyway ..

So first stop Xian:

The husbands job for this trip was to look after where we were going to eat - so he spent hours online watching youtube videos of Food ranger and reading blogs on the best places to eat in Xian.

We stayed at the Grand Noble Hotel which was about a 7 minute walk from the Bell tower (which seems to be the centre of it all) The hotel was nice and clean but if I had to choose again I probably would try and stay a bit closer to the Bell and Drum tower. We spent most of our time walking around and exploring the Muslim Quarter so the walk to and from every day was a bit tiring. There was an option to catch a bus but it doesn’t drop you off where you need to be, its either too soon so there’s no point even catching it in the first place OR it takes you too far which then means rounding back which is almost the same distance as walking from the hotel! But if you don’t mind the walk:

http://www.grandnoblehotel.com

The husband was super excited for Xian as he has heard food there was amazing. We did a whole heap of research of what to eat and where to eat and marked it all over google maps.

We arrived in China and then I realised… shoot, China blocks google … how do I bloody access all my little stars I have scatted all over my maps on Google. So that idea went out the window and we headed to the main place we researched which was Muslim Quarter. Muslim Quarter in Xian is famous for its food. I was most excited for the noodles while the Husband had his eyes set on the Rou Jia Mo (Chinese hamburgers).

On our first night I was starving after we landed, it took us so much longer than I expected to get out of the airport. By the time we had checked into our hotel and freshened up, i was hangry. So as soon as we arrived in the Muslim Quarter the husband got me a lamb skewer to ease my hangryness.

Next stop was Biang Biang noodles! We didn’t want to get too full so only had half as we intended to spend the rest of the night eating away at everything the Muslim Quarter had to offer.

Rou Jia Mo - bread stuffed with lamb and chilli. This was a bit disappointing, the husband had watched countless videos on YouTube and so many people raved about this. There was a huge queue outside the store too. It was quite plain tasting and dry.

My favourite dish of the night .. potato with cumin and chilli

That concludes our food adventures for the first night. We headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest

[mythyhuynh]

They say if you’re going to try one noodle dish in Xi’an, you should get Biang Biang noodles. These hand-pulled noodles get their name from being slapped on the table making a bang bang sound when they stretch. Super chewy and bc of how wide they are, when the sauce coats in, they make for maximum slurpage! Biang biang noodles are served with cumin beef and a gravy consisting of what I call “chinese mirapoix” of carrots, potato, green long peppers, bean sprouts. Splash some black vinegar and chili oil and you have a dish you’ll want to slurp again and again! (at Xian, China) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4dLPagDII8/?igshid=1ov57jb6rirl3

[quieteating]

New Post has been published on Quieteating

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Biang Biang

Not to be confused with Biang.  This place was to be at least twice as good (at least based on the repetition of its name).

According to my friend Mr Google, “Biang” is the most complicated character in the Chinese language.  Which in hindsight was fitting given my visit recent visit to a nearby camera shop as a complication can be good when handled competently and otherwise when bumbled into.

Said camera shop advertised itself as one of the best camera and video shops in the UK.  They promised hands on demonstrations, knowledgeable staff and reliable pricing – so the standard marketing drone of the Western world.  When I arrived outside, the presentation of the shop was particularly good.  High ceilings, careful displays of equipment and easy handling areas.  Having passed the Covid marshal at the door, I fiddled with a camera.  After several fruitless minutes spent trying to get it to work (something technology defeats me), I gave up and asked for help.

I was pleased that the salesman also had the same problems as me.  Seems like I was not as technically incompetent as I feared.  Something more basic was at fault.

The battery was dead.

No matter, being a top end camera shop priding themselves on technical expertise they promised to fix the issue quickly.  The next issue was that it was a bit difficult to get the battery out without specialised equipment (a screwdriver).  After about 10 minutes, that almost insurmountable problem was fixed.

However, the next issue then arose.  Finding a replacement battery.  Looking high and low it seemed that all the replacement batteries in the shop were flat.  So things were not working out that well for me and I would have to look elsewhere.

I then wandered off to try something else.  Trying my luck with another member of staff, who’s attire announced that they were a specialist in this brand, I asked what the difference was between this camera and another model.  Perhaps this was a bit mean of me but I was well aware of the differences but wanted to see what they would say.

They then opened a leaflet and showed me the differences from the sales chart.  Trying to get some more personal advice, I asked what they would go for?  Evasive and non-commital language soon followed, they should have gone into politics.  So I guess that technical ineptitude expands beyond my initial contact.  In any case, it was time to go for lunch (and a hopefully more enjoyable experience) just around the corner.

A welcoming sight.  I say welcoming as it reminded me of Hong Kong diners.  Where you would be presented with plastic (indestructible) crockery in gaudy colours.  Where food quality would (hopefully) be more important that then the ambiance (HK people are fussy eaters).

Hand pulled belt noodles with cumin lamb.  The lamb was particularly tasty and had just enough constituency to not fall apart immediately.  However, on gentle application of your eating utensils it fell apart to give something great.  Excellent depths of flavour.

The noodles were also a delight.  With bouncy yet stringy texture after eating these I had extra spring in my step.

Hand pulled biang biang noodles with beef in special sauce. This was kind of hot.  Not in a scorching I’m going to die way.  Neither in slight tickling of the throat standard.  Instead, it was it brought a small tear to my eye (due to heat, not sentimentalism).  The noodles were as great as the aforementioned dish.  The succulent, tender and spicy beef was brought me back to happy days of my childhood bliss.  Oh, how things were simpler in those days, just looking out for the next meal (I was greedy then too).

As I slowly departed with many a backwards glance, I smiled at the horrendously complicated Chinese character at the front.  This is the character for Biang.  Indeed, it isn’t copy writed or trademarked as another establishment in London shares almost the same name.  It calls itself Biang. Do not confuse them.  This is Biang Biang.  With extra bang.

I especially needed something simple which delivered what it promised without evasion given my recent shopping experience.  Thankfully, this delivered.

  A quiet eating 8/10.

Dinner (1 dish) was GBP 11 per person excluding drinks and service.

  Biang Biang

62 Wentworth Street, London, E1 7A

[feedbacksheet]

OXFORD

Restaurants: Arbequina, Oli’s Thai

BRIGHTON

Restaurants: La Choza, Burger Bros, Fatto O Mano, The Chilli Pickle

Cheap Restaurants: Pom Poko, We Heart Falafael, Fil Fil, Grubs

Cafes: The Flower Pot, Marwoods, Kensingtons

Shops: Snooper’s Paradise, Family Store, Blackout, Dave’s Comics,

Clothes Shops: To Be Worn Again, Beyond Retro

Shopping Areas: The North Laines, The South Laines, Churchill Square Shopping Mall

Cool Places: Brighton Pavillion, Stanmer House, Stanmer Park

Museums: Brighton Museum, The Booth Museum

LONDON

Restaurants: Brasserie Zedel, Padella (pasta), Bao London, Voodoo Rays (pizza), Beigel Shop London, Mangal 1 Dalston, Xian Biang Biang Noodles, Olle Korean Barbecue, 3 Mien

Chain Restaurants: Pret, Pizza Express, Wahaca (mexican), GBK

Cafes: Le Pain Quotidien

Museums: Tate Modern, National History Museum, V&A Museum, Sir John Soane’s House, The British Museum, Tate Britain, Newport Street Gallery

Shops: Libertys, Harrods, Anthropolgie, Rokit

Shopping Areas: Carnaby Street, Oxford Circus, Picadilly Circus, Soho, Brick Lane, Spitafields Market, Borough Market,

Parks: Green Park (by Buckingham Palace), Kew Gardens

[istanbulfood]

Before hittng the noodles, I changed my shirt! I was ready for the fight of the chili oil splashing over me. Ordering was easy, the things I have missed; cold chicken in chili oil, smacked cucumbers, hand pulled -belt-noodles in that chili-Sichuan sauce. Will return for some more. That’s what I really miss the most in Istanbul. (Well, one of the most...) happy! // #handpullednoodles #happy #tşlondon #biangbiangnoodles #xian (at Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles) https://www.instagram.com/p/BztbjcZgo3m/?igshid=1gy9zdykndyo2

[onlyfluffydreams]

[pestheart6-blog]

Use Your Noodle, Xi'an Eatery, Burwood

Burwood is a suburb replete with Xi'an eatiries. This area in central China at one end of the Silk Road specialises in spicy food. Imagine long, thick, slippery noodles dusted with chilli powder, meat on sticks, flatbreads, deep bowls of noodle soups dusted with chilli powder and lots of lamb dishes. Xi'an Eatery is located on busy Burwood Road and we head there for Father's Day dinner one Sunday night.

Even on a Sunday, Burwood Road is busy with lots of bright lights and an active social scene. We get to Xi'an (and be warned there are lots of places with Xi'an in the title so I accidentally booked at the wrong restaurant). The small restaurant doesn't take reservations and looks full apart from a couple of tables for two.

Service from one waitress is sour and moribund and she tells me that I have to wait 15 minutes or more and fill in my name on the slip of paper outside. When there is no paper I go back in and another waitress smiles and tells us that we don't need to do that and that we should come right in and a table will be ready in a minute. Which brings me to a tip: arrive before 7pm because this is a popular place and at 7pm there was a large queue outside.

Around us everyone is doing the biang biang stretch. That's taking a fat, long, slippery, chewy noodle and trying to wrestle it into your tiny bowl or mouth. It is said that one noodle is so long and thick that a single noodle would fill an entire bowl. Everyone orders these noodles but rest assured, nobody seems particularly expert at wrestling with them. Not from lack of trying I'm sure, it's just that they are hard to wrangle with chopsticks. We order these along with a host of other dishes that either look good or sound interesting. Ordering is done by flipping through a well worn menu and writing quantities next to a sheet that you fill out. It's like exam time but more delicious.

Xi'an Biang Biang Noodles $12.80

"This may be too hot for you," says my mother to my father when the biang biang noodles arrive in all of their glorious, hand stretched glory. But he goes back for seconds and thirds he loves them so much. These noodles are called one of the 10 strange wonders of Shaanxi they're that popular. There's a layer of meat and vegetables which you stir up with the noodles but the texture of the noodles are the real star here. Forget our lipstick and forget going here for a first date (because I ended up with my lipstick on my cheek-ON MY CHEEK!).

Xi'an Pulled pork burger $6.80 and Cumin and spicy beef burger $6.80

We also try the roujiamo or stuffed pocket Chinese hamburgers. There are two fillings: a hand pulled pork pancake as well as the lamb cumin one for comparison's sake. The pulled pork isn't the Mexican pulled pork, it's a soft roasted Chinese pork unctuous and cotton soft inside with plenty of fat in a soft plain pita bread. It's delightfully good and I could have easily had a whole one to myself. The lamb and cumin one is good but less exciting mostly tasting of vegetables.

Xi'an Lamb skewers $8.80 for 4

These are four small lamb skewers with plenty of spices and flavour to them. The spices prevent the lamb from tasting overly muttony.

Lamb vermicelli soup with dough $14.80

The other dish that was recommended is the lamb with vermicelli. Perhaps it was the fact that we ordered this to be not spicy so my father could eat it but it's too mild in comparison to the other dishes and tastes mostly of nutmeg. The pieces of lamb are tender and it's nice that it comes with one of those buns and the pickled garlic is delicious and not acrid but sweet and vinegary. But out of the two the biang biang noodles win by a silk road mile.

Crazy Wings with Spiral Biscuits $19.80

The chicken wings are enormous-while the lamb skewers looked enormous in the menu photo, the picture of chicken wings belies how big this serve is. The chicken wings have the mala numbing effect with the Szechuan peppercorns and there are also little French fry potato chips and crunchy spiral biscuits among the chilli and garlic for a nice crunch.

Signature Xi'an Cold noodles $8.80

We also try the cold noodles. After the biang biang noodles these don't seem as exciting but when we come back to these thick, semi translucent noodles they grow on us. The food is quite oily so you do need to pace yourself a bit too.

Cumin Beef stir fry with whole wheat pancakes $18.80

The last dish is a cumin beef stir fry with deep fried oval wholemeal breads. It isn't too spicy and this mixture is quite sweet. I actually like this in the pita bread that came with the vermicelli but it's also nice atop the fried bread too.

Yang Zhou Fried rice $9.80

And of course there is fried rice for my rice loving dad because while he enjoys noodles, no meal is complete without rice. It's a good fried rice and reminds me of a home style version with plenty of ham and eggs.

There's no dessert but there is a plethora of choice on Burwood Road. But my father has a batch of Portuguese custard tarts waiting for him at home. It's his annual sweet treat! And a nice surprise that thrills my parents is the bill which is just $108.40 for 4 people with 4 containers of food left over ;)

So tell me Dear Reader, is there something that you have to eat at every meal for it to feel complete? Have you ever tried Biang Biang noodles?

This meal was independently paid for.

183D Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134 Monday to Thursday 11:30am–9pm Friday to Sunday 11:30am–9:30pm Phone: (02) 8056 4600

Source: http://www.notquitenigella.com/2018/12/20/xian-eatery-burwood/