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

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