Blah décor (immaculate walls, tightly squeezed wooden tables), fast-paced staff, disheveled bike delivery couriers… We definitely don’t come to Zhao Baoyan’s place for the ambiance! Instead, we come for the freshly prepared Chinese flavor bombs hailing from the Xi’an region, which continue to spice up the neighborhood. The day we went for lunch: plump vegetarian wontons; tender momo (a sort of grilled bao bun made with a tougher dough) stuffed with juicy stewed pork (also available in roasted duck or grilled teriyaki chicken versions); deliciously fresh homemade spinach noodles; the house’s famous biang biang noodles, stretched by hand in full view of the customers and prepared with tomatoes and scrambled eggs, stewed pork or braised beef, and paired with celery, carrots, potatoes, fresh chives and cilantro; before a decent green tea cake for dessert. // C.C.
FEELING THIRSTY? There’s fresh Tsingtao IPA (€4 for 330 ml) or grapefruit tea (€2.50).
PRICE: Menu €12.50, appetizers €5.50, noodles from €10.50 to €11.50, momo from €6.50 to €7.50, desserts €3.50.
