Xi’an Food Bar

It’s still the holiday weekend in town after New Year’s, so finding a place that was open was a tad difficult. My wife and I were hankering for some Asian food, though, and we decided to swing by Xi’an for lunch this late morning /​noontime. The décor isn’t much to write home about, with a handful of tables in front of the counter, and the kitchen fully exposed behind, but you’re not coming here for the ambiance — you’re showing up for the goodness of home-​cooked regional Chinese food! Placing our order was easy enough (the menus don’t really have much in English besides a short description beside the number, so don’t get too bogged down in the details), and our food was out shortly thereafter.
I actually liked the cumin-​rubbed lamb burger the least, mainly because I felt that the cuts of lamb were difficult to chew, making eating the burger a bit of a challenge. The bun was fine, as was the flavoring, but there was just less lamb that I found edible than expected. The two soups we got though we’re very good. The first — a small order of the Xi’an-style lamb soup with vermicelli — reminds me a bit of Vietnamese phở, but with a definite addition of heat with pepper already baked in solidly into the broth. As such, I definitely was sweating a bit while eating the soup, but it had a nice, light flavor — a hint of lamb (which was also much more edible /​not as challenging to negotiate eating), along with a few sprigs of cilantro here and there to add a bit of herbal flavor to the dish. I really liked our last dish, which was the noodles with stewed pork. You definitely worry about spiciness when you see the large red patch in the broth, but it again is more of a slow, simmering spice as opposed to the numbing kind you would find in a Szechuan dish with that amount of chili oil. The broth is very flavorful, and the noodles (we went for the regular kind, as opposed to hand-​pulled) were able to soak up and absorb a lot of the flavor in the broth as well. The pork in the soup was in the form of succulent cubes which I had no problem inhaling with everything else in the bowl! Some veggies (such as sliced carrots) were a nice addition as well.
For $ 18, we had ourselves a pretty hearty meal, and I was overall very pleased with the quality of the food. I was told that there are no credit cards, so unless you have EFT POS (whatever that means — it’s a foreign term to this Yankee), you will need to make sure to have some cash handy. Definitely worth a stop if you are looking for Xi’an cuisine in Auckland — it may not be much to look at from the outside, but what’s in the bowl and on the plate is all that matters.

Holy hand-​pulled noodles Bruce Lee! Talk about a late night kick in the Hai-​yah! I’ll make this timeline review, short and sweet.
Tuesday night @ 9:50pm: Thinking, crap they’re gonna close at 10:30pm. Better run my way down there since it’s close to the Pullman Hotel.
9:53pm: Ran down the park. Tried to cut through the indicated shortcut via google maps. Boo! Blocked, denied. Alternate route found, great! Hurry hurry, run run run!
9:55pm: Sweet, found a set of stair down to the main street. About fifty steps later, Xi’an Food Bar was in sight!
9:56pm: They’re still open but cleaning, eek. Now, normally I wouldn’t enter a restaurant when it’s close to closing, but I was freakin’ hungry.
9:57pm: Politely asked if they’ll still take my order, and with a smile, they did. Assuming the woman there is the owner, possibly with her daughter. And after reading Unilocaler reviews, and to make things easier, I pretty much knew what I wanted:
Chinese Cumin Lamb Burger ($ 4.50): Basically toasted pita bread with chopped up lamb meat. Spicy, but really savory good! It actually went well with my papaya drink. I liked it, but will probably stick with the noodle dishes next time.
#29 — Hand-​pulled noodle soup with stir fried pork ($ 9): Um, YUM! The broth was mellow and mustard flavor. Not spicy nor oily at all. Could’ve used a bit more pork, but it was still a delicious bowl. It was soup that just hit the spot, and the noodles held up quite well in the broth.
#37 — Hand-​pulled noodles with Xi’an Style Braised Pork ($ 9.50): I mixed up the chili flakes and cilantro, and BAM! Instant gratification! The noodles were thick, stretchy, chewy, firm, and just down right exquisite. The meat was kinda scarce as well, but all mixed up made for another delightful bowl. I endorse this bowl if you can’t decide what to get.
10:15pm: Got back to the hotel and just grubbed it all down! Okay, well not all of it. I shared.
A little about the place. Well, it’s small, typical in dining with about six tables. Nothing romantic, but I can see it being a popular lunchtime joint. Pretty cheap in price especially for what you get. Pay these folks a visit if you’ve never been here. The owners were even kind enough to let me Unilocal some photos before they bagged it all up for take-​away. No dirty looks, just happy smiles. I’ll be back!

Really spicy stuff! Great for those who love spice but probably not for those who can’t handle it. Slightly loud but nice atmosphere.

Maybe I am bias but I think the Northcote pork hand shaven noodles are better tasting! The extra here is that they top the pork with sesame seeds. The meat here was a tad dry for me. But flavors were similar! Service was fast though!
If you’re in the CBD and need Xi’an’s food then this is a good place to go, but make sure to try Northcote as well and compare the differences!

Went here with my friends, so that I can try different types of food. My friends had the Chinese burger, noodles as well. So I tried Wonton, which was like the Shanghai’s food and I think it’s not bad.

A busy day at work. So many people yelling at me for stuff I didn’t do. But then… What’s that? Dinner invite from friends… 6:00pm at Xian Food Bar? Heck yeah I’ll be there.
If you’ve ever been to China, this place will feel very familiar. Multicoloured plastic baskets full of assorted vegetables? Check. Sauces and pots and pans crammed on every surface in the kitchen? Check. Off brand flatscreen TV doing low budget slo-​mo flyovers of the food? Check.
Their noodles, braised meats and «burgers» are all amazing. Favourites:
— #37 noodles
— corned beef burger
And then you walk outside and you’re back in Auckland.

I love getting takeaway from this place. Hand pulled noodles and burgers are great value and tasty. Not much in the way of atmosphere but that’s ok if you are just picking up. Worth trying if you like Chinese food.

Great food, no frills and cheap. Just what I like!!! The chinese burgers (肉夹馍), either lamb, pork or beef are for me the best I have tasted in the city. One little thing to mention is if you need the toilet you have to get a key from the staff and it is in the apartment building next door.

Love it. I come here weekly for the braised pork and hand pulled noodles.
Just like I had in Xi’an.

This was the one place I HAD to eat while in Auckland, and it did not disappoint. The pulled noodles are perfectly thick and chewy and the braised pork melts in your mouth. The steam buns weren’t anything special, but did help cool down the spice from the noodles. We also got the crushed cucumber, which again wasn’t anything amazing so I recommend sticking with the noodles. Portions are huge, basically two meals worth of food for less than $ 10.
The restaurant itself is very small and unimposing. Only seating for 20 or so, but service is quick. Orders are placed on electronic keypads and they don’t accept credit, although debit is fine.

In amongst that series of Asian restaurants on the corner of Anzac Ave and Customs St, you will find this no frills food bar. It is one of those blink and you’ll miss it jobbies but come lunchtime it is always packed out with hordes of people chowing down on huge bowls of hand pulled noodles (the biangbiang noodles are ridicky good).
Although the noodles are pretty darn good, I have a total soft spot for their rather greasy but epically delicious, Chinese burgers. They’re not complicated — plain old pita pockets stuffed with sticky, melt-​in-​your-​mouth braised pork — but they are packed full of flavour and at only $ 4.50 a pop, are an absolute steal. If they weren’t so devoid of nutritional value… I would be here at least once a week for sure!

THIS.
You have to eat here for authentic Northern Chinese style lamb dishes. The noodles are hand-​pulled, the Chinese style lamb burger is out of this world. Imagine a sesame flatbread stuffed with braised lamb, some hoisin, some coriander and spring onions, OMG.
A bowl of noodles is under $ 10. The burger is even less.
Also, there are some fun remote control type gadgets you can use to place your order… if you can figure out how the system works, that is.
Don’t expect a fancy restaurant, it’s definitely a dive. However, what spartan environs there is, the food sure makes up for it in flavour and pizzazz.