Xi'an
cuisine has a good, hearty style that should never let you leave the
table hungry. Noodles and dumplings are the staples of the
local food and these are almost always filling and warming.
Yangrou
Paomo is a tasty Xi'an specialty that consists of a mutton soup
served with wheat flour flat bread. The hard bread is broken up and
added to the soup. Then the mixture is eaten along with pickled garlic
cloves.
It
makes for a hearty, filling meal that is not very expensive. This
Xi'an specialty can be found at several restaurants that have become
famous for their delicious Yangrou paomo, as well as a small
"mom and pop" restauarants throughout Xi'an. Xiguan Beef and
Lamb Paomo Restaurant, Tongshengxiang Beef and Lamb Paomo
Restaurant, and Chunfasheng Paomo Restaurant are all good
places to go for this tasty meal.
Yet another
interesting culinary experience to be had in Xi'an is the Xi'an
Dumpling Feast. This concept, introduced in 1984 by the Xi'an Dumpling
Feast Restaurant on Jiefang Road, offers up to 108 different kinds of
Chinese dumpling (Jiaozi). Also worth trying are the Defachang
Restaurant and the Baiyunzhang Northwest Style Snack Restaurant.
Some
other Xi'an snacks and special dishes include: Sour Soup Dumplings and
Guantang Steamed Baozi.
If you are
looking for good western food in Xi'an, your choices are unfortunately
less numerous. There are lots of places to get western food off
Dongdajie. Also, on the northwestern outskirts of the city near the
Flats of Renmin Hotel on Fenghe Lu, there are two restaurants that
offer great western food for reasonable prices.
They are Dad's
Home Cooking and Mum's Home Cooking respectively. Although
the names might imply that they are of the same ownership, they are
not. They are both great places to meet people and hear a story or
two.
