Xi’an Food Bar (Auckland CBD, New Zealand)

It’s nice to see down to earth eateries like this, plain and no fancy decors just good food at its best. I feel like I was warped to a small eatery in China where it is not really inviting but people still queue and wait to be seated, it’s just the good food that attracts the diners. Located down the bottom of Anzac Avenue this small place is not hard to find and there are ample parking lots around even at lunchtime.

Food served in this place is inspired from the Xi’an cuisine. Xi’an is a province in China, well known for the Terracotta Warriors, dishes there are mostly influenced by the Chinese Muslims hence the food served at this place mainly consist of beef and lamb, for pork lovers don’t be disappointed as they serve pork counterparts of the beef and lamb offerings.

Ordering items here is quite easy compared to other Chinese restaurants where you don’t have to talk to a waiter whose first language is not English. To order you have this 1980’s style ordering system where you push numbers and letters that identify you order.

Menu is quite simple as well, noodle soups

noodles without soup and burgers

Simple, less stress! I hate restaurants who have 10 million pages of menu items, just choosing what to eat gives you a lot of stress, plus restaurant with those menus will never have the consistency of serving the same quality and taste compared to those who specializes on 5-6 menu items.

Anyways as simple as it is I ordered their Hand pulled Noodles with Stewed Pork Soup ($9.00). You can see it as rustic as it can get, the noodles were thick and unevenly cut, it was also freshly made as I saw them making it as I go inside the premises. The soup was good the noodles were chewy and it was tasty.

Next up was this Chinese Burger Braised Pork ($4.50), again it was all hand made you can see the uneven surface and sizes.

It was made fresh so when they serve it, the buns are still steaming hot. Texture is similar to a thick pita bread where insides are moist and soft while the outside was lightly toasted and crunchy like a Panini.

Filling was good and I guess they were the same filling they used in the noodles version. It tasty and nothing more you could have asked for.

Definitely a place to visit again, they food was amazing and it’s affordable especially in a place located in within the city centre.

Xi’An Food Bar
Address: 11 Anzac Ave, Auckland, 1010
Phone: +64 9-368 7600