What’s on offer?
Xi’An Street Food promises to bring an authentic taste of traditional Chinese food to your door. It first opened in Galway in 2016 and now has five branches there, and two in Dublin. Its handmade biang biang noodles are what it is most famous for. The noodles, which are made fresh every day – rolled, twisted and stretched into long strips – get their name from the sound they make as they are slapped against the counter during preparation. As well as a number of speciality noodle dishes, the menu includes wok, rice and curry dishes, salads, “home cuisine” which has more pungent flavours, and roujiamo, a burger-style sandwich made with leavened bread. Beef is Irish, and none of the dishes contain MSG.
What did we order?
Vegetable spring rolls, pan-fried dumplings, medium spicy biang biang noodles, and amber-fire Szechuan-style beef from the wok dishes menu.
How was the service?
Xi’an Street Food’s website directs you to Deliveroo to order, which is easy to navigate. Delivery was on time and the food arrived hot.
Was the food nice?
Very good. Two large spring rolls are substantial, clearly homemade, filled with shredded cabbage, carrot and onion, with a sauce to dip in to. Enough here for two people to share. The fried dumplings with a tofu filling, which come with a vinegar dipping sauce, were perhaps less interesting. There is plenty to eat in the large portion of bouncy biang biang noodles with fried tofu, broccoli, daikon, red onion and cabbage. The broth is delicious, with flavours from Chinese five spice, cinnamon, cloves and black cardamom. The beef, with green beans, onions and carrots, had some heat from Szechuan pepper, but was not blow-your-head-off spicy. We had it with fried rice, but steamed rice, noodles or chips were other options.
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What did it cost?
€46.07 for dinner for two people (which would easily feed three) – vegetable spring rolls, €6; pan-fried dumplings, €6; biang biang noodles, €13.80; amber-fire Szechuan-style beef €13.80; plus delivery €4.49; service fee €1.98.
Where does it deliver?
Order on Deliveroo; available Dublin and Galway, 5km radius.
Would I order it again?
Most definitely. I have had very mixed luck with Chinese takeaway, as it can all seem to be very samey, but there’s plenty to like here.
