Xi-An Flavor — Restaurant in Highland Park

This is a mom and pop restaurant serving Xi’An cuisine. The exterior signage can’t be any bigger: with 4 big Chinese characters covering the entirety of each of the 4 glass panels. The interior is ad hoc at best. But the packing boxes piling up right besides the entrance is totally uncalled for.

The lady owner greeted us and immediately advertised their presumably signature dishes: Steamed Cold Noodles (Liangpi 涼皮) $8.99 and Chinese Hamburgers (肉莢膜) $4.99. I normally don’t take recommendations because I am afraid they might be the leftovers restaurants want to get rid of fast, but I relented this time. I only had Liangpi once in my life and I really wanted some verification. And I’ve had their Chinese Hamburgers before and I knew they were decent. In addition, we added Beef with Spicy Green Pepper Over Rice $12.99 which was only advertised on the wall, nowhere to be found on the menu; and the Shrimp Fried Noodle $11.99.

Liangpi: It’s unique, not easy to make, tastes good and refreshing. Vegetarian.

Chinese Hamburger: A safe choice that can please everyone.

Beef with Spicy Green Peppers: Good portion, addictive and most satisfying.

Shrimp Fries Noodle: Forgettable. Not much different from a Chinese takeout anywhere in the US.

One last thing: bring lots of cash! Even though they do take credit cards, they levy hefty surcharges and the lady owner wouldn’t be happy either. She reminded me 3 times but I simply didn’t carry...

With the proliferation of Szechuan hot pots and dry pots in the area, it's refreshing to see a Shaanxi food joint that focuses on the noodle and rice dishes of Xi'an.

The Szechuan mala numbing spice and the familiar capsaicin spice is also present, but here, the food is saltier, with a larger soy sauce and umami presence.

Highly recommend any dishes with noodles, whether that's the liangpi or the bing-biang noodles (machine made here). The mapo-tofu was also surprisingly delicious and unctuous. It's a great rendition of a classic dish.

Definitely skip the Chinese hamburgers since they're a little dry and boring compared to the noodle dishes, and compared to the version at Xi'an Famous Foods in NYC.

Note, this is more of a casual takeout spot, so they're not used to having people sit in, but the service is friendly, prompt, and helpful.

Highly...

Came for the mapo tofu because I saw a photo and it looked like the texture of my favorites. And it was worth the drive!

I haven’t found another place around the north-ish NJ area that makes it quite like this with the focus on bean paste, slight mala (tingly) sensation, saucy meat without being overly soupy.

You know that meal that brings back memories, that’s home-y, comforting? That’s what mapo tofu is for me back before I knew about cuisines outside of mom’s home-cooked food.

Here, they serve it piping hot (the way I like most rice dishes!) with plenty of rice. No frills jn the sense that the food didn’t come on ceramics but then this place doesn’t seem meant to be a family dine in.

It’ll help if you speak Chinese/Mandarin but the staff seem fine with at least basic English too.

Parking is a very small, diagonally-lined lot in...