Xian’s cuisine is a Central Asian one; gone are the rice, the ultra hot spices and the weird animal parts. Wheat still enjoys a golden era in this part of the world and potatoes, the neighborhood’s newcomer, are on the rise. Thick soups wash them down, and then the way is open to the fantastic desserts, all of them approaching infinity of calories per gram. The food here is clean and safe.
Breads
A hot loaf of bread can make wonders in this cold city. There are several kinds; however, the most popular are the flat round ones with a heightened rim around them. They come in several sizes, from mini-personal to familiar, have a beautiful golden hue and are marked with dots creating circular patterns on their center. They are sold in stalls all around the city, but it is better to buy them where they are kept hot. Another popular option is the pita bread. It is possible to eat it barbecued in any of the stalls specializing on that style of food, or to search the filled option. Around the train station, there are women with buckets selling hot pitas filled with mutton meat and vegetables. Other options are the molasses or oil filled pitas, aimed for the most exigent customers.
Potato Dishes
Potatoes acclimatized well here, and became popular as a quick, hot snack. Chopped and fried, with a delicate seasoning, they are great for nibbling and are sold from shops with huge, wide frying pans in their exterior; however, in most of them you can seat inside.
Soups
Thick soups make the best meal in town. The most famous dish is the Yangrou Paomo, a soup made of thin rice noodles, mutton meat, oil, some vegetables and a big pita, added into the soup in small pieces. The tick layer of oil may look frightening, but the body needs those extra calories to fight the cold. The best place to find it is in the Muslim Quarter, though many places sell it everywhere. A variation is served when the bread is already added to the soup. It is essential to manage chopsticks to eat this dish.
Spicing
Most dishes are served with little or no spicing at all, an oddity in China. Pickled garlic with a bit of pickled, not-hot chilies, is the main seasoning to all foods and appears on the tables in little bowls.
Desserts
Xianers like to walk eating one of their fine desserts. They understand the health risk of eating such an amount of sweet without exercising it out. Sugared fruits on sticks are shiny and popular; strawberries, kiwis, grapes and apples are the stars. Nuts and raisins in solid blocks held together with molasses or honey are sold by weight and fatten you by the minute. Soft hot cakes on sticks and little colored rice cookies on sticks appear almost on every corner. Dry fruits, nuts of every kind and sweets elaborated in a variety of shapes and colors watch at you from the most unexpected places.
Coffee
Coffee is a painful topic in most of the country, but Xian offers a decent option in the Ginwa Century Mall, an underground mall, by the Bell Tower. A branch of Delifrance offers here, at the exorbitant price of 15Y, what may be the best coffee in China. It is prepared in a shiny, sophisticated glass machine, and a personal attendant intensely looks at the preparation process, doesn’t letting the machine escape her gaze even for one second. Worth every yuan.