Vagawandering.com

A blog about SoCal food and travel, with a spicy Asian flair

Marching along we’re adventurers/ Singing the song of adventurers/ Up or down, North, South, East, or West, an Adventurer’s life is best!

Xi’an Famous Foods (NYC)

by · July 8, 2018

One of the hole in the wall restaurants that Tony Bourdain made famous, Xi’an Famous Foods is just south of Central Park.

The menu is mostly hand torn noodle dishes with lamb, beef, pork, and a few dumpling dishes.

This is very humble eating place with no tables or waiters, only stools and 2 long counters. Similar to what you’d find in China’s back country.

Mr A ordered the N2 Spicy and Tingly Beef noodles, which was excellent but not tingly – think they ran out of Sichuan pepper.

I ordered the N9 Pork Zha Jiang noodles, also excellent, with a bit of a sour or vinegar taste that Mr A didn’t care for.

Ms S, the soup fiend, ordered Ns3, Pork with noodles in soup:

Very cheap for New York dining.

Very delicious. This place needs to spread from NYC to the West Coast, it would be an instant hit in San Diego. Of course in this case, Bourdain helped out, as the founders son explains in his article for HuffPo:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anthony-bourdain-xian-famous-foods_us_5b1e7c8be4b09d7a3d752cf8

”

After six years of expansion, I was able to sit down with Tony for an interview with WSJ Magazine in 2015 at our Upper East Side location. When the interview was over, we stood around chatting, and I told Tony I needed him to know something. I told him his visit to our store in Flushing changed our lives and helped us get to where we are today ― from living in one room in Flushing to living the American dream. I looked him in the eyes and told him, “I want you to know my family will always be thankful for that, Tony.”

He simply replied, “I’m just calling out good food like it is, that’s all.”

It seemed like he didn’t feel deserving of thanks. He wouldn’t have said it was good unless he actually enjoyed it. That’s the type of person Tony was ― real.””

“

You may also like...