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A taste of Xi'an

Xi'an Restaurant (Bell Tower branch)

西安饭庄·非遗陕菜（钟楼店）

The grand old state-house of Shaanxi cuisine, on the ground floor of the Bell Tower Hotel on South Street. Its reputation rests on the Shaanxi snack banquet - dozens of small plates drawn from the province's street repertoire and served as a sit-down set - alongside the classic Tang-adjacent banquet dishes like whole gourd chicken and the golden-thread oil tower pastry. Formal rooms, white cloths, private dining.

¥80–150 per person≈ US$12local institution (China Time-honoured Brand)Beilin, South Street no. 110, ground floor of the Xi'an Bell Tower Hotel, beside Bell Tower square.
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Why come here

A place worth making time for

No verifiable guide award. Known for the Shaanxi-flavour snack banquet (陕西风味小吃宴) and classic Shaanxi banquet dishes, as the city's best-known traditional Shaanxi-cuisine house.

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Gourd chicken (葫芦鸡)
  • Golden-thread oil tower pastry (金线油塔)
  • Shaanxi snack banquet (陕西风味小吃宴)
  • Hand-slapped noodles with hot oil (油泼biangbiang面)
  • Pork bun (肉夹馍)

What it actually tastes like

Gourd chicken is deep-fried whole and served bone-in, to be pulled apart with your hands and dipped in pepper-salt. The snack banquet runs through sour, vinegary and chilli-oiled plates in quick succession. Lamb, offal and strong vinegar all appear. Pork is served.

Allergens in this kitchen

gluten/wheatsoyeggsesamefish

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.

Get to know the menu

Local specialities to try here

Meat in a bun 肉夹馍Savoury, lightly spiced with star anise and cassia, juicy and faintly fatty; not spicy by defaultGourd chicken 葫芦鸡Mildly spiced, crisp-skinned, savoury; served with pepper-salt for dipping