Loved it! Comments here:
So, now there is a second hand-pulled noodle joint in SD (Xiāan) and theyāre_ both_ in the same strip mall? Sheesh, San Diego is a funny placeā¦
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Deckape!!!
Aloha babydollā¦
So glad you found us!
BC welcomes you!
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Awww, shucksā¦thanks for the welcome, BC. Kinda like knockinā around in an emptied house at that other place. Glad to see some personality over here. Missed your upbeat, sunny fun!
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Green China Grill and Xiāan arenāt really substitutes for one another, despite both being purveyors of hand pulled (or hand made) noodles.
The former features Lanzhou cooking, which is why their menu is rather limited (even with the recent new additions), and the only notable dish is the beef noodle soup, which is a Gansu/Lanzhou specialty.
Xiāan is also northern-centric, but with the focus on Beijing foodstuffs, and while they have noodle dishes, some of the more notable standpoints are non-noodle, wheat based items like the hamburger, even though the liang-pi and biang biang are worthy of some exploring.
All that said, this is nonetheless a good development for the Chinese food scene in SD. The fact that we are now talking about different specialties of Chinese food at a more granular level is nothing that shouldnāt be celebrated.
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Iāve thoroughly enjoyed Xiāan and look forward to Green China Grill. Itās just surprising that (all of a sudden) SD finds itself with its only two hand pulled noodle joints within steps of each other. Iām excited and thanks for the background, Iām weak in regard to ethnic Chinese cooking.
I checked out Green China Grill this evening. This place really lives up to its name: The walls are green, the chairs are green; the translucent water glasses are green; the servers were green shirts. Definitely green.
I ordered noodles with braised beef soup. There are two other beef noodle soups on the menu, one with spinach noodles and the other with sirloin. The noodles with my bowl were spaghetti-size, round white flour noodles, very long, custom made after the order was placed.
The noodles were fine, but nothing really special. They did taste very fresh, though; nice chew. The broth was, well, interesting. It was quite delicate, but with a pronounced spice in the forefront. Was that cinnamon, maybe? Meat was flavorful and tender, but there wasnāt much of it.
I think Iāll return at least once more and try the spinach noodle soup. They also have some grilled skewered things, like whole shrimps, lamb, and corn. (Corn? In China?)
I gotta get out more.
By the way, it was a coin toss between GCG and Xian Kitchen tonight. Maybe Iāll try your ādo it yourselfā noodle dish at Xian when I do go.
P.S. Ooops. Just noticed that the do it yourself dish was for GCG. Well, I missed out. Maybe that would work at Xian, too?
Anise, I think.
I donāt think so, RD. Thatās one spice I think Iād recognize in soup broth, because I eat lots of pho (where itās a key seasoning). This was sweeter than anise, which has more of a licorice flavor. Iām not good at identifying spices though.
Yes star anise
Am pretty sure but maybe ipsedixit or another can chime in.
Sugar?
Either rock or brown.
When I went the broth was salty and beefy with a very strong star anise flavorāin a weird way it was reminiscent of some pho broths. I donāt remember any sweetness or cinnamon. Was certainly not outstanding but pretty solid for SD. Sounds like you and Dr chow had something pretty different, inconsistency?? Anyway, Iām no broth expert but I did stay in a holiday inn last night.
With green China grill, village kitchen, TNH and possibly Xiāan (havenāt been yet), the SD Chinese food scene has really improved.
RD, of the three ābeef noodleā soups they offer, I had the one thatās pictured on the bottom of the back page ā the large picture. Is that what you had, or are we talking apples and oranges? What I mean is, from the photos, the three ābeef noodleā soups look to me like they have very different broths.
Iām really glad to see this. Itās about time. Iād also add Qiwei Kitchen to the list of ānew and improvedā.
Only 2 soups to get when I went. Tried them bothābeef noodle soup and preserved vegetable noodle soup, broth was exactly same for both. Donāt know why such different experiences, maybe itās me.