As JThur01 reported in his Eater San Gabriel Valley update, Bistro Xia’s recently opened in Alhambra at the location previously occupied for over 20 years by Ming Wa. One can only speculate as to whether Bistro Xia’s deliberately copied Bistro Na’s name or not, though given the possessive “Xia’s”, I would suspect so. Of course the similarity ends there because Bistro Xia’s is located in a well worn shopping center in Alhambra, and it serves a combination of Xi’an style and Shanghai style food, mostly noodles, but also a few other items, such as big plate chicken and some off menu specialties. However, while Bistro Xia’s is no Bistro Na’s, our first meal there was quite impressive. Particularly noteworthy was the Shanghai style yellowfish potherb noodle soup, one of the most flavorful noodle soups I can recall eating.
The broth was very distinctive, a combination of seaweed and unnamed herbs. The handmade noodles visually resembled western spaghettini but less dense. I asked the lady who runs the restaurant (easily distinguished by the maroon streaks in her hair) if it was a Shanghai or Shaanxi noodle, and she replied it was neither, but rather a creation of her own.
Our second dish was the Bistro Xia’s House Special Half Noodle Soup, called “half” because it was halfway between soupy and dry. Not as good as the yellowfish noodle soup, though I suspect if I had only eaten this dish I would have been quite impressed. Clearly there is bean paste in the sauce, but the lady claimed that it was only a small part of the concoction.
Obviously you can’t judge a restaurant on just two dishes, but this visit was definitely an impressive start.