Xi'an Famous Foods 西安名吃 | 74th&Amsterdam UWS — Restaurant in New York

I'm from Xian. You feel me? It was a great place but the quality was not that good anymore.

Why the hell there is so much water in every dish. 油泼面 should be dry! 油泼面为什么这么多水？

Reply to the owner

Actually this review should go to the Chain around WTC. I don't think people are following 1oz rule strictly. I and my friend experienced totally different amount of sauce during the lunch time. Maybe it is just my personal thing but I will ask for 0.5oz sauce next time.

I appreciate your reply.

There are definitely different ways to make a dish. However, people come to your place cuz you are the most authentic one. Otherwise, why not Panda Express? Back to two years ago, I was a midtown intern. I cried out when I sat down and ate that dish. That was so close to the way it should be. It didn't have that much amount of water or soup at that time. Now N8 has a soup base! By soup base I mean the amount of sauce at very visible level. You can try N8 in your chain around Macy's. You will know what I mean by soup base. I visited most of your chains. The one around Macy's failed at N8 just like a champion. I don't think they were following 1oz rule when I was there.

N8 油泼干扯面, as the Chinese name tells you, it should be dry. It is seared by oil. The smelling and sense of oil is the soul of this dish. Excessice water or sauce will distract the taste and smelling. When N8 is possesed by sauce, it tastes just like A1.

Interestingly, I don't see too much sauce when the N8 is prepared by a Chinese. I have found this fact since last year. So we are actually talking about the quality control. Not the way you make it. I love the way you make it. That's why I dropped my spreadsheet and typed so many lines.

One tip: Put the word "dry" in the English name of N8. In that case your non-Chinese associates would get a sense what...

Xi’an INFAMOUS Foods. I love Xi’an spicy cuisine (lived in China for 6 years) and was happy to see this place appear in the neighborhood. So I ordered Spicy cumin lamb and asked for a cup of tap water. No dice. The attendant told they don’t provide tap water, only $2 bottles. Preferring not to be a rip-off victim I cancelled the order and left. FYI I went to nearby Legend 72, the most authentic Sichuan place in the nabe. There I got a WHOLE MEAL (main, rice, soup) plus tap water for about the same price. And they have adequate seating, unlike Xi’an Imfamous. Avoid this place unless you want to be cheated.

UPDATE: My review above about a fast food place that charges restaurant prices but doesn’t provide tap water evidently hit home. Too bad the owner, Jason Wang, chose a personal attack in response. I guess all his food accolades (well deserved BTW - his food is authentic and tasty) have made him intolerant of criticism. His comment about asking for water in China was amusing. Unlike the US where most fresh water is safe (at least until Musk dismantles all regulatory agencies), in China water in most places is risky (google it!). So of course people of means in China buy...

I am a loyal xi’an costumer and thus am writing this review out of love and hope for continued allegiance to my favorite chain in New York. There are a few problems with this restaurant: the biggest one being that the restaurant has 3 opposing soundtracks happening at the same time. The TV’s are playing to videos, out of sync with eachother but both playing loud audio, + there is music in the restaurant. The sound is really uncomfortable and makes it difficult to eat inside.

The 2nd is that the perimeter bar seating should have stools. There have been a few times that I’ve had to eat somewhere else because there was no seating here (very limited, 3 tables)

The 3rd and most urgent is that the soft close mechanism on the door is broken, or needs to be tightened, and thus it slams every time you close the door.

I would also suggest different cleaning products for the floor as they smell a bit like cat litter. Though this is a chain-wide issue.

while I’m here, please start...