Xi'an Food Bar (西安饭庄) is a restaurant on Gooch Place in Somerville, Auckland, serving the distinctive flavours of Xi'an — noodles with soup, dried noodles, cold dishes, lamb soup and cumin lamb in a Chinese burger — and holds a 3.7 rating from 102 Google reviews, with diners noting generous portions and easy ordering by scanned code.
Xi'an cooking comes from China's wheat belt, where rice yields to hand-pulled noodles, flatbreads and hearty lamb and cumin dishes that recall the city's Silk Road crossroads days. Expect food built for appetite rather than delicacy: cold dishes arrive quickly for sharing, and soup noodles are best eaten promptly, before they drink up the broth. And don't be shy with the vinegar, the traditional table condiment in Xi'an noodle shops — a splash brightens the rich, wheaty flavours.
Off Gooch Place in Somerville, Xi'an Food Bar brings the taste of China's north-west to east Auckland's doorstep.