Skip to main content

Quick Review of Chongqing Xiao Mian (915 Kearny)

Chongqing Xiao Mian San Francisco, at 915 Kearny, is known for spicy noodles. So that should be your warning, order only noodles there. I didn't realize that, and ordered something that's not noodle: the Braised Beef with Rice. 

It came as 1 large beef rib with meat in a soup bowl (and soup), with a lot of cabbage as filler, and one bowl of rice. It's NOT beef over rice. The rice is in a separate bowl. 

I did ask for medium heat (available as full heat, medium heat, no heat), and while the beef and soup did not taste very spicy, I promptly sweated. So it's a very different type of spicy heat than you would normally experience. 

The meat is tender, and almost falling off the bone, but "not quite", and they don't give you extra utensils to deal with that, Apparently I'm supposed to pick up the bone and gnaw on it? I had to use the ladle and chopstick to get the meat off, and they are quite delicious... just not enough of it!  The soup is very flavorful, without being extra salty. 

The rice is actually somewhat dry and hard, nothing to write home about. Add a bit of that soup and it's quite edible. 

However, I really expect a bit more meat for that price. I only ordered the braised beef with rice, and 1 can of Diet coke. When the check came, it's $22 + tip. 

The amount of beef had gone down quite a bit since they opened. Yelp photos comparing the 2018 version to the 2023 version shows vastly smaller amount of beef currently.  

I doubt I would ever go back.  I get a lot more beef at Golden Star if I need beef and noodles. 

2.5/5


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

About the author

Kasey is a professional tour guide and amateur historian who specialized in Chinatown History and Tours. You will often find him guiding groups sampling delicious food and learning interesting historical tidbits about Chinatown most weekends.

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Gate and its Surprising History

You can't come to SF Chinatown and leave out Dragon Gate, aka the Chinatown Gate, at the corner of Bush and Grant. But do you know its history?  Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon Gate, San Francisco Dragon Gate (aka Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon's Gate) was designed by Clayton Lee and others in 1967 in response to a mayoral competition, and his was the winning entry. Originally two gates were proposed, but the other gate leading to Barbary Coast was dropped due to lack of funds, and cost overrun.  The gate itself was designed after a Chinese "pailou 牌樓" or "paifang 牌坊", which were the "gates" that marked separate fang 坊, or "ward" within a city. However, later it evolved into a purely decorative element. As with tradition, the gate faces South, and is composed of a large gate with two smaller side gates.  The gate has a lot of its materials donated by Taiwan (Republic of China) including artisanal tiles, roofing, and the two guardian lions. Despite...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chinatown Q&A: Things You Probably Never Thought to Ask

Here are some questions that are a bit too short to deserve their own posts, but are interesting information nonetheless.  Q: When did Chinatown become known as Chinatown?  A: According to PBS's "Chinatown Guide" , the first Chinese in the area settled either on the street next to Portsmouth Square, or in the immediate block around it. The area was first known as "Little Canton", and it wasn't until 1853 that the local press named the area "Chinatown".  Q: What books should I read if I want to know more about San Francisco Chinatown?  A: In no particular order: San Francisco's Chinatown by Judy Yung and the Chinese Historical Society of America , full of vintage photographs, this book documented the life in Chinatown never seen before.  The Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1850-1920 by Wendy Rouse , discusses the seldomly touched subject: children in Chinatown, who really feel the prejudices against them and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chop Suey Still Available: New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant

Chop suey is reputed to have been invented in Chinatown. The story goes that in the 1850's, Chinatown is barely established, but word was already out that Chinese food is cheap and delicious. So, late at night, 2 miners fresh off the gold fields, wandered into this Chinese restaurant, even as the owner and cook is about to close up. Already half drunk, they want food, and they want it now! To avoid confrontation, the cook went into the kitchen, found whatever scraps of vegetables left, tossed them all into the wok, whipped up some sauce, added whatever scraps of meat he had, added an egg, and served it on a plate and gave it to the miners.  The miners loved it, to the surprise of the owner, as they wanted the name of the dish as they want to order it again when they come back.  The owner, flabbergasted, simply told them 雜碎 tzap-suey which literally means "mixed scraps". The miners heard that as "chop suey", and a legend was born.  Keep in mind this is a story, a...
Post a Comment
Read more