I finally tried Xi’an Famous Foods’ Spicy & Tingly Lamb Face Salad and Stewed Spine & Rib. Brought it to Columbus Park with Yasmin, who is probably the only person I know willing to eat lamb face and spine with me. I’m not sure what was tingly about the lamb face, but the roof mouth bits were crunchy and the meaty parts were tender and tasty. It’s the most expensive thing on the menu at $8.75. It’s a good dish, but I only ate it because there was lamb face in it.
We ordered the Stewed Spine & Rib with the noodles ($5). There wasn’t much meat on the bones, but whatever was there was very tender. I was looking back at my photos and thought there was a photo of me attacking the spine bone, but dang I realized it was Yasmin. The hand-pulled noodles are good as usual.
I practiced with my new camera and new lens (Canon 50mm f/1.4). Hard to shoot the food up close, but easy to shoot the old Chinese people in the park. Those umbrellas in the tree are for shade I think? An old man laughed at me when he saw me taking photos of food. Another man hocked up a mean loogie when we ate said food. No Senior Citizens Chinese Opera this time, but I still love this park. I still have crunchy mouth bits stuck in my teeth.
Xi’an Famous Foods (Manhattan Chinatown) – 88 East Broadway #106 (but really on the corner of Forsyth) New York, NY 10002
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Tried out the St. Marks Xi’an Famous Foods location with Sam. Got there just before closing. The place is still small, but at least they have some seats, unlike the Manhattan Bridge location. If you’re wondering, the Stewed Pork Burger and Savory Cumin Lamb Burgers seem like the same tasty sandwiches.. Great deal at $2 and $2.50 respectively for the area.
They ran out of the Lamb Spine & Ribs and Tingly Lamb Face Salad. So I got the Pork “Zha Jiang” Hand-Pulled Noodles $6. The noodles seemed thick and stiffer than the ones in Flushing. Not as delicate. Possibly had to do with getting this order out and us out of the restaurant? The flavor was good though.
I was thinking this place would be great if you’re out and about late at night in the East Village, but they close early. 10pm on Sun-Thurs and 11pm Friday & Saturday 
Xi’an Famous Foods – 81 St Mark’s Pl (btwn 2nd & 1st Ave) New York, NY 10003
On the way to the train, Sam was offended by this sign. I was curious.
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I saw the Roboppy/Serious Eats post about a Xi’an now opening in Manhattan’s Chinatown. This is the famous place in Flushing’s Golden Mall everyone keeps talking about. Even more so after Bourdain went to it on his No Reservations show. I still need to check that show out. Not to brag or be clueless (depending on how you look at it), but I still haven’t really seen the Bourdain show outside of a few mins while eating a taco in LA. My point is that it’s just surprising for a food blogger and someone who likes ethnic food and weird shit. I’m also surprised I don’t have an iPhone yet.
I did once try to find Xi’an in Flushing one time, but I didn’t know where it was except that it was in some mall. This would have been a good time to have one of those iPhones. So I was so glad to see this place opening an outpost so close. The shop is really small. Not really a dine-in restaurant. It has a tiny counter that maybe three people might be able to stand/squeeze in on. That’s what Yoshie, Rob and I were able to do on this rainy day. It really got tight when four other people were trying to order. There were photos of Anthony Bourdain on the wall. A sign that says they must give you a receipt or you’ll get your food for free. Another sign that says the bathroom is in the basement of the plaza/mall, toilet paper available on request. What happens if you forget to ask?
I got the popular Cumin Lamb Burger ($2.50). It was pretty good. Well seasoned lamb meat in a bread pocket, kind of similar to pita or English Muffin without the nooks and crannies. Yoshie and Rob noodle dishes (Mount Qi hand-pulled noodles & Cumin Lamb Noodle Soup – $5 each). The noodles are hand pulled in front of you at the counter. The way they pull it, it is a much broader noodle than of the Lan Zhou hand-pulled variety. Yoshie and Rob really enjoyed their food. It’s a good deal. I want to try the noodles next time. Maybe some day they’ll put up a photo of me on their bathroom wall.
Xi’an Famous Foods – 88 East Broadway #106 (but really on Forsyth at the corner of E. Broadway) New York, NY 10002
Ramen and Friends – for Yoshie & Rob’s thoughts
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I’ve been staring at this mutton chop photo on flickr for the past three days. This is the first time I’ve seen the meat and not the facial hair. Looks similar with the flaps and there’s also a likeness to Ralph from the Muppets.
I was planning on going with my friends tomorrow and splitting this mutton chop, a prime rib and creamed spinach. But I couldn’t stand looking at flickr anymore. So I went ahead by myself for lunch. Got the whole mutton chop. It’s big. Probably could have gotten the pub sized version which I think is half, but I didn’t want to take the chance at getting someone’s leftover half. I wanted to make sure I got the best cut. And looking at Chowhound, you’d want to get the king’s cut of prime rib as the English cut is not just smaller, it’s inferior.
So after researching this mutton chop on the web for three days straight, apparently Keens is serving lamb saddle, not sheep. But according to Frank Bruni, it doesn’t mean it’s worse at all. To me, it was like eating a big fat ribeye steak off a bone. Tender, juicy, meaty and the fatty parts melt in my mouth (those were my favorite parts). Every third bite, I’d have it with the accompanying mint jelly. It broke up the monotony of eating so much meat with a refreshingly sweet bite that works. The Sauteed Escarole also helped counter all that meat.
I ordered it medium at the recommendation of the restaurant. I also saw this on a message board and confirmed this with the waiter. You get it medium because it’s so thick that the meat near the bones is rare. I did see a few bloody spots on my medium chop. I’m glad I found this out online, otherwise I’d order it medium rare like I think I should.
Once again, like at Minetta Tavern, I felt like people thought I was some homeless kid. Maybe it’s all in my head. But they do seem startled when I’m all bundled up with my scarf and knitted hat in the washroom cleaning up. I suppose if old white-haired old men stepped into some dirty hipster hole, they might get looks too. I remember going into Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles in Atlanta when I was a teenager. I didn’t realize it was an upscale African American social club-like restaurant. I was in my shorts and sneakers. They thought I was lost or looking to put Chinese Fast Food menus at the door. I just wanted Chicken and Waffles. I was a kid then and now I’m 33. I guess it doesn’t help that I look the same.
Keens Steakhouse – 72 W. 36th St (btw 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas) New York, NY 10018
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I was craving some Pakistani food the other day, so I headed over to the two Pakistan/Indian/Bangladesh restaurants that are side by side on 29th St. The kind of restaurants with curries already cooked and ready to serve from steam trays. When I got there, there were 200 Muslims lined up and praying right in front of the two restaurants. I even saw guys abandoning their nearby halal carts and running over to line up. I didn’t know what to do. I really wanted some curry, but I didn’t want to be the one jerk who interrupted 200 Muslims’ prayer to get that curry.
Anyway I came back. Went to La.Sani where I’ve had their chicken curry lunch special before. I asked the guy to name all the stuff they had out. One of them was lamb feet. Alright! New to me. Time to try. I got the lamb feet with a side of okra and veggies on brown rice. The guy loaded it up and it looked awesome, until he squashed it down with the flat lid. I tried to spring some life back into it in the photo below. It also comes with a small salad wrapped in foil and a small cup of cool creamy cucumber-type sauce.
If you ever tried pig feet, lamb feet is somewhat similar. Not much meat, if any. Mostly gelatinous stuff that is almost like fat (possibly it is partly fat?), but it’s lighter than pig’s feet and less of it (at least in this dish). The lamb feet bones are long and skinny. It’s mostly bones and cartilage here and a bit of the edible gelatinous stuff. I was a little embarrassed if a co-worker caught me sucking the marrow out of the lamb feet bones. I got some of it out.
The okra and veggies were tasty. Not overly spicy. And the cool cucumber-type sauce was good over everything. $7.
La.Sani Restaurant – 15 W 29th St (btw Broadway & 5th Ave) NYC 10001
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marcellus hall band plays the black betty. i eat the lamb tagine on cous cous. can lam eat lamb? can chicken eat omellete? what about chicken fried steak?
Black Betty (CLOSED) – 366 Metropolitan Ave (@ Havemeyer St), Brooklyn 11211
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