On our way back from Bruny Island, we were looking for an Asian place to grab dinner. Seeing as we hadn't ate a real meal for lunch, I wanted to eat something satisfying. Xi'AN Dumpling, a Northern Chinese restaurant, sounded perfect.
We dropped in on a Friday evening (around 6:45pm). Not many people eating in but there were a lot of mainlanders that came to grab takeout. The inside is a lot nicer than you'd expect for a Northern Chinese spot but it was cold inside (with the AC blasting).
The menu is short with 21 items; dumplings, buns/Chinese burgers, cold noodles, handmade/pulled noodles and soup noodles. They also had a picture menu but oddly, it doesn't match up to the regular menu.
- Dumplings in hot and sour soup (#3) ($15.00 AUD) - you get twelve homemade dumplings and choose from 7 options. We went with pork shrimp; good amount of filling and excellent texture to the wrapping. The broth was sour and tangy. Yum.
- Chinese cumin lamb pork burger (#9 ($8.00 AUD) - this wasn't very good. The bread was dry and bland. Even the meat wasn't tender. Skip it.
- Cold noodle with chili oil and mixed sauce (#10) ($12.00 AUD) - came with sliced cucumbers and bean sprouts in a light sesame sauce. We got this dish because they'd already sold out of the traditional cold noodles (#6). A solid portion of noodles; I liked it. Noodles had a good bite.
- Biangbiang noodle with sliced beef (spicy) (#16) ($15.00 AUD) - traditional handmade noodles (aka. hand pulled). These were legit! Great bite and texture to the noodles. The spicy sauce was delicious. Only disappointment was the sliced beef; not as good as the norm.
Overall, solid spot to get Northern Chinese food in Hobart. Hopefully, you're luckier and get to try the traditional cold noodles. read more