We had passed by Old Xian’s Food many times when AngryRussian has softball and every time I had wanted to go. I finally got the chance when I had a huge noodle craving one night and we made the out-of-the-way drive to the Kingsway location.
Old Xian shares a small parking lot with a few other shops and they all seem to have reserved spots for themselves, so we ended up parking half a block over.
The inside of the restaurant had a much more modern décor than we had expected. We were promptly greeted and seated. It wasn’t super busy that weekday evening. I must say we had really good service that night.
For starters I ordered us the Garlic Cucumbers ($4.99). It was fragrant of sesame oil. Despite there being a hot pepper beside it on the menu, this wasn’t spicy at all. In fact the cucumbers were very refreshing.
The garlic sauce was very garlicky and very savory. I enjoyed this very much and even AngryRussian was fond of this ‘Asian cucumber salad’.
We also shared a Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger ($5.95). For some reason I kept thinking that it’s going to be like the steamed bao-bun types you see everywhere but when it arrived I realized my error. This is more a pita-type that’s dryer and pan-fried. Extra green peppers and cilantro were an additional $0.50 each so I of course opted out.
I enjoyed the cumin lamb filling. AngryRussian commented that it didn’t taste very Asian since there was so much cumin, more like Indian. I guess he wasn’t used to having cumin lamb dishes like I am lol.
The bun part I found to be quite dry and mealy. The bottom part was also soaked with the red chili oil that was leaking out of the lamb. Weird thing was the bottom was so crispy that it didn’t get soggy at all!
I had already had my mind set on the Braised Lamb Noodle in Soup ($10.95) prior to coming here. I chose to have it made with BiangBiang noodles as I’ve never had it before and upon a google search, it’s a type of noodle native to the Shaanxi region of China. It’s a really wide noodle and the Chinese description on the menu roughly translates to “Pant elastic” noodle!
As you can see the noodles are indeed quite wide! They have a chewy texture without being too doughy. I LOVED the broth!! It was gamey from the lamb and the lamb pieces are tender and had just enough fat on them to maintain its moisture. There’s also lots of cabbage in the bowl. It was a large portion so I packed the rest to go.
AngryRussian picked the Spicy and Sour Pork Noodle in Soup ($9.50). The soup was reminiscent of the base of the noodle I had at Mr. Chilli’s although Old Xian’s version was less sour. And less spicy. Actually despite how red the broth looked it wasn’t all that spicy.
The pork were good bite-size slices. AngryRussian chose thin noodles to go with his and I gave him a look (I wanted hand-pulled noodles).
I really enjoyed my meal here and AngryRussian even said that he preferred the broth and noodles here over Deer Garden. I’m sure we’ll be back.
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