Xiān (鲜) means “fresh” in Chinese, so Xian Noodles means, well, “Fresh Noodles.” Toward the right rear of The Domain outpost you can, indeed, watch the noodle makers make the noodles. Although Xian Noodles is technically a chain, it’s a local one with kitchens at Mueller, San Marcos, Round Rock, and North Round Rock (which I didn’t know was a thing until now. sigh.).
Given the blistering temps, we ordered a couple milk teas, she the Matcha Green ($5.5) and me the Tiger Milk ($6), both gorgeous, sweet, and delicious. Obviously, we had to try the noodles, but we started with the Tuna Bites appetizer ($12; a passing special) to get the taste buds budding and to get a glimpse of the sushi on the menu. The tuna came artfully adorned with a mix of flavors and small spicy surprise. Xian’s tag line is “Authentic Chinese Cuisine.” I’m not an expert, but something tells me that sushi on guac on corn chips might not be roaming the wilds of the Guangdong Province. Not criticizing; just noting that in reality the dishes here are generally chef’d up (which is not a bad thing [not that authentic is a bad thing]) and a bit on the mild side. However, you can order Braised Chicken Feet ($5.5), so there’s that.
Xian presses out a dozen styles of noodle, including vermicelli, fettuccine, spaghetti, pappardelle, thick spaghetti, and triangle (with gluten-free options as well). The choices surprised me, although, upon further research, China, as the inventor of noodles, sports more than 1,200 types of noodles (none of them Italian). We both went with triangle since we had never had nor heard of them.
The Bride ordered the Cold Sesame Noodle (with cucumber, cilantro, red bell pepper, sesame peanut
sauce, and crushed peanuts with organic tofu; $12) while I selected the Dan Dan Noodle (SiChuan style spicy with bok choy, pickled veggie, cilantro, and sprout with chicken; $12.5). Again, good presentation and good flavors. The noodles, perfectly al dente, were the star of the bowls. Not surprisingly for Chinese food directed toward the upper middle class, the Dan Dan, despite the flame next to it and the warning on the menu, was barely a push on the shoulder under the monkey bars back in grade school. Fortunately, a bowl of ground chile swimming in oil was within reach.
We didn’t need dessert but, for you, dear readers, we partook of the Sesame Ball (fried sweet rice dough with sesame coating and red bean filling; $5.5). Perfect in presentation and mildly sweet, they brought back memories of Ja Duo, a family friend who made them for us many years ago.
If you are looking for authentic Chinese, you probably should go elsewhere, but if you are looking for quality preparation and presentation–and some damn fine noodles–Xian is a great place to go to.
Xian Noodles, various, www.xianfresh.com
This meal was part of our A to Z munchie mission where we work our way through the alphabet of restaurants in Austin.
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