Dream Xi’an is so close to the Tower of London that Anne Boleyn could feasibly have popped by for her last supper; nearby neighbours to this new restaurant include Traitors Gate pub and a handful of hungry ravens. Opening Dream Xi’an, a culinary paean to the capital of Shaanxi province, so close to one of London’s most hectic tourist attractions is a bold move. Before it set up shop here, this was a Gourmet Burger Kitchen. It’s a great location, with legions of tourist passersby, but maybe not the sort who’d rush, as their first option, to a spot selling chewy tripe, pig ear and beef tendon.
One of Dream Xi’an’s unmissable dishes, the biang biang noodles, are yet to enter mainstream western consciousness, which is wildly remiss because, once eaten, biang biang become a compulsion. You have my warning. For the uninitiated: imagine fat, slithery udon noodles, but much bigger and flatter – wider than pappardelle pasta, wider than a child’s belt – served in long, unbroken stretches. If anyone in the UK can start your journey into Shaanxi cooking, and especially these wonky, slippery suckers, it is chef/owner Guirong Wei, of Master Wei and Xi’an Impression, in central and north London, respectively. I have yet to leave any of Wei’s places not delightedly flecked with umami, sweet, hot and vinegary sauces. Often the heat comes from chilli flakes, providing a fiery, crunchy glaze to the joyous carb as you chew and slurp. Here at Dream Xi’an, there are at least 12 biang biang and liangpi dishes, with minced pork, lean beef and vegetarian options.
The sauteed spicy Xinjiang-style noodles, which come with chunks of softened potato and plentiful chicken thigh on the bone, are incredible. Fans of Wei’s other restaurants will notice classics such as the spicy cumin beef burger and Xi’an hand-shredded chicken. New dishes here include paomo soup made with soft stewed, leavened flatbread and beef in broth, a recipe dating back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period between AD907 and AD979. You’re not getting recipe development like this at nearby Wagamama.
Dream Xi’an is really rather elegant: a large room in dark wood with Chinese-style panelling and murals. The staff are kind, happy and helpful, whisking me bowls of wobbly, spicy wood ear mushrooms – the goths of any Shaanxi menu, with their ominous black casing and bathed in a piquant vinegar. Cold shredded chicken in neat moulded ovals arrives doused in a slightly tepid ginger sauce, with bamboo shoots and sesame seeds. The Xi’an special fried beef bao are really not going to aid in your bid for killer abs this summer, but who cares, because these breaded, spicy, pleasingly oily, glorified croquettes of shredded beef are worth every calorie. There’s a short section of steamed dim sum and dumplings. I was less in love with the empress dumplings filled with chicken, prawn and carrots, though, because they were a little dry and unseasoned.
Still, at this point – 5pm on a Tuesday – I was almost the only diner in this vast room, being cared for like a child, with regularly refreshed pots of jasmine tea and offers of glutinous rice cakes with brown sugar dipping sauce. I challenge you to find a nicer way to spend a couple of hours in this postcode; in fact, this is the perfect place to restore sanity after an afternoon at the Tower, learning about the fate of Henry III’s polar bear or which heretic was stretched, burned or beheaded there. I love the Tower of London, but it is not a feel-good day out – unlike time spent eating beef biang biang or slurping a bean thread noodle and seaweed soup.
Dream Xi’an aims to “immerse you in the birthplace of the Silk Road, in ancient Chang’an and envision the grandeur of the Great Tang Dynasty”. I can’t say I felt fully transported to the city of Eternal Peace, but I did see several tourists gaze longingly at the menu before being dragged instead towards Zizzi. I knew I was in a much happier place.
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Dream Xi’an Unit 2A, Tower Place, London EC3, 020-8143 3966. Open all week 11am-9pm (8pm Sunday). About £30 a head plus drinks and service.
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