Regional Chinese Eats
Today we visit a regional Chinese themed restaurant in Chinatown. The restaurants namesake comes from Xi'an a city in Central China. The food from this part of the country has really taken off in the states as places like Xi'an Famous Foods in New York City get lots of intrepid tourists these days. In Chicago we just got our first spot specializing in the foods of western China’s Shaanxi Province.
Xi'an Cuisine in Chinatown
Truth be told I have nowhere near the knowledge that others do on the regional foods found in China, so I'm just going to do this review as someone who may or may not know what they're talking about. First up the menu is small. There's maybe ten things on it. The sections are broken down by cold appetizers, noodles, soups and these little bun pockets they call flat breads. The buns come in at $3 per and are one of the better cheap eats in Chinatown these days. The lamb with cumin offering is a wonderful mixture of two great flavors that have always gone well together. I could eat lots of these.
Cumin Lamb Flatbread Sandwich
I haven't had a chance to try their soups which come in lamb and beef offerings, both with or without arteries but I did gnaw on a plate of their pan fried noodles one night and couldn't help but think I was eating a Tex-Mex mashup dish. The noodles themselves are made in house and really hit the spot, I never met a plate of noodles I hated. Though the heavy presence of cumin was basically enough to take the flavor profile away from the normal Asian tastes I'm used to too. This is just fine as I'm all for supporting a place that isn't putting out a 200+ item menu with most of it being the generic Chinese dishes you can find in just about any town out there. More regional eats for me please.
Stir Fried Noodles with Beef
Xi'an Cuisine
225 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 326-3171
Website
superb locations
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