Xi'an Famous Foods 12-26-2009

Location: 88 East Bway #106
Time: 3pm
People: JLam from MeSoHungry, RB and myself

Feelings: The famous Xi'an Famous Foods in Flushing opened its new location in Manhattan. I am not really sure if you can call this a new "location" since three people barely fit in this place. It is definitely more of a take out joint rather than what we did on this rainy day: standing closely to each other on a tiny counter and devouring noodles and Chinese burgers with wet umbrellas in our hands.

Behind the counter, the nice two ladies cooked burgers and pulled noodles diligently. I chose Mount Qi Vegetable Hand Pulled Noodles ($5) out of several vegetarian choices. RB had Savory Cumin Lamb Hand Pulled Noodles in Soup ($5), and JLam ordered their popular Cumin Lamb Burger ($2.50). JLam sure likes his Lamb.

I know I just posted the 2009 Ramen and Friends Awards, but this was definitely the best noodles of 2009. The noodles were chewy yet soft at the same time, and the broad noodles reminded me of fresh kishimen (Japanese broad wheat noodles) but even with more texture. Each noodle was extremely long and hard to eat, especially in such a compact dining area, but slurping each of the lengthy noodle was also a fun experience. The vegetables in the Mount Qi dish were diced into small cubes. The potatoes were especially tasty, as they absorbed all the spicy, delicious sauce. If you don't like spicy food, make sure to mention it to the lovely ladies behind the counter.

JLam said his burger was good, but he wished they used Chinese buns instead of their pita/English muffin-esque bread. RB thought his Cumin Lamb was delicious, but the meat was very small and not enough for his heafty cumin lamb appetite. However, we loved the noodles so much that we went back two days later for more. I have a feeling that I will have weekly Xi'an noodle cravings.

To tame the spicy flavor in our mouths, we went across the street for LQQM Kung Fu Bing for some cool drinks. What a delightful noodly afternoon on terribly drizzly day.