I ordered takeout via app from Xian Kitchen in Fremont. I didn’t notice this is a second branch, with the original located in Milpitas, until I looked up the address for this post.
The restaurant was packed during the 15 minutes I waited for my food, with only two people serving the entire dining room, checkout, and to-go orders, with very limited English. The food looked and smelled great from my vantage point, and I almost regretted not getting the special hot oil noodles, even though I knew they wouldn’t stand up well to takeout.
What I did get was solid, though not spectacular. The liang pi were unfortunately packaged without the sauce, though they had a nice texture. It was solved, however, by mixing in the “Combo Appetizer of 3” to get some of the hot oil sauce. The combo, if you’re dining in and/or better at communicating with the server than I you point to 3 of the cold dishes. I got shredded potatoes, a celery/green pepper/yuba mixture, and a fuqi feipan-like dish with a somewhat preserved beef and some overly tripey tripe.
The roujiamou had the proper somewhat dense but soft texture and was eaten immediately. Next time I would get one of the cooked fillings, but wanted to try the “Hometown Style Dry Cured Beef Rouburger”. After ordering I suspect they are using this in their cold dish also, so no need to double up.
The “Bread Soaked in Stir Frying Lamb” was warm and hearty, with a lot of bread pieces, some lamb and wood ear mushrooms, and plenty of lamb flavor in the broth. A container of the table condiment–a red chili sauce with some lightly pickled whole garlic cloves thrown in was included.
While I didn’t try these dishes under idea circumstances the menu, flavor in the pita lamb dish, and obvious popularity of the restaurant make me want to go back sometime, though there is so much to explore when I’m in that area (Ping’s is even in the same strip mall. The online ordering did sell me on it–sometimes you just need the convenience of takeout, and it is nice to see more than Chinese-American style places offering it.
