What to eat and local specialties in Xi’an

Xi’an is an ancient city full of rich historical atmosphere. This is the birthplace of Qin culture. The city has undergone large-scale development in modern times and has a good future. Xi’an has many attractions and its cuisine is world-class. Here is a sharing of what to eat and local specialties in Xi’an.

The cuisine of Xi’an is amazing. I was in Xi’an during the hottest season and was dying of the heat. Luckily, the delicious food comforted me.

The main places to find food in Xi’an are Yongxingfang and the Muslim Quarter. The difference between them is: Yongxingfang mainly features Shaanxi cuisine, while the Muslim Quarter mainly features Hui cuisine.

Let’s talk about the Muslim Quarter first. It’s crowded and the security doesn’t feel very good. It feels a bit chaotic. There are many shops selling the same food, so be careful not to buy knock-offs.

There are many delicacies in the Muslim Quarter. Among the sweets, there are mirror cakes, fried persimmon cakes, etc. Their cakes are very sweet, and most of them are made from glutinous rice, so those who are prone to indigestion should be careful.

Jia San Steamed Dumplings in the Muslim Quarter are especially delicious. You should definitely order a basket of lamb and a basket of beef. The lamb ones have no mutton smell.

As for mutton soup with bread, maybe it’s a matter of personal taste, I didn’t like many of the places I tried. If you’re looking for a recommendation, then it’s Laomi’s.

There’s also red willow grilled meat in the Muslim Quarter. It’s basically just grilled mutton skewers, but it tastes quite good, you can try it.

Finally, there are drinks. The local old yogurt is worth trying. The best sour plum soup is from Huanainai’s. Others may use sour plum powder, which isn’t authentic.

It’s best not to drink pomegranate juice in the Muslim Quarter. I was tricked at a stall with a juicer and it tasted off. You should buy pomegranate juice at Yongxingfang, it’s authentic there.

Now let’s talk about Yongxingfang. The environment is much better than the Muslim Quarter, and they use a one-card system for payment, which is very standardized.

There’s a pork knuckle shop in Yongxingfang that is very delicious, not greasy at all. The steamed glutinous rice cake is made from glutinous rice and red dates, it’s okay. The stir-fried cold noodles are good, kind of like stir-fried rice tofu in the South. Shaanxi’s biangbiang noodles are amazing, they’re my favorite noodle dish. The meat sandwich from Zijilu Zhangji is delicious, it has very little fatty meat. The small braised pork from Dingjia is also good.

There’s actually another place that’s very delicious, Chang’an Dapaifang. But it’s very crowded and you have to queue up for a long time, so you should go early. (I won’t tell you I waited for an hour.)

The Chang’an gourd chicken in Chang’an Dapaifang is super delicious, a must-order!
Osmanthus wine is pretty good, it’s only 8 degrees alcohol. The rest of the Shaanxi dishes are also authentic, you can try them all. Chang’an Dapaifang has performances after 5 p.m., you can check them out.

Finally, a piece of advice: be careful when ordering food at local restaurants in Xi’an. I ordered six dishes at a restaurant in Lintong, because we were six people. That’s normal in the South. But after the dishes were served, we found that the portions were very generous. Six of us could have eaten three dishes and still been full. We ended up wasting a lot of food.

Finally, if you’re buying food souvenirs, you can buy fruit cakes and other things at souvenir supermarkets, but walnuts are better and cheaper if you buy them from small stalls in the Muslim Quarter.

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