"Dumplingpalooza You can't visit Xi'an without having a dumpling feast. Defachang is considered one of the best dumpling houses in the region. Call ahead to request the 18-course dumpling banquet so you can sample the many varieties. One of my favorites is this colorful "four-season" dumpling filled with seafood. The restaurant is located in the square of the Bell and Drum Towers."

"Buddhist Vegetarian Fare I got really excited when I saw this humble canteen at the Daxingshan Temple, next to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and near the Westin. (I lived in Macau for a year and ate at least one meal a day at one of two Buddhist vegetarian restaurants in town. They were cheap, very healthy, and mostly delicious—hence the excitement.) Vegetarian food in mainland China is often made to look like meat, so don't be surprised. The smoked "tuna" here is good, as are the soups, and a dish my dictionary translated as "Cannabis Chicken" was outstanding. I really liked the atmosphere at the restaurant, too."

"Eat a Giant Angry Squid If you're tired of chicken and pork restaurants with happy animals looking delighted to get eaten, the Angry Squid is for you. Squid is insanely popular in Xi'an, even though it's hundreds of miles to the ocean, and Angry Squid seems to be the place of choice to eat it. The chef dips the squids in batter and then deep fries them on a stick. People walk around gnawing and chomping on tentacles."

"You can't talk about Xi'an without talking about biangbiang noodles, a unique Shaanxi food. The character for biang is one of the most complex among noodles, and is achieved by kneading the dough 58 strokes. With all the hype about the giant character, I was expecting the noodles to be a bit of a let-down—oh, was I wonderfully wrong! The noodles are huge, practically long lasagna sheets. The sauce reminded us of a kind of thick minestrone soup: tomato, flakes of slow-cooked lamb, and fresh herbs. It's such a cheap, hearty, and delicious meal—I would eat this every day if I lived in Xi'an."

"Refreshing Noodles This Shaanxi staple is a must-try while in Xi'an, especially if you're there during the height of hot, sizzling summers. Liangpi, or "cold skin" noodles, are thick cold rice noodles doused with savory sesame sauce and crispy, thin shreds of cucumber. Sometimes they are also served with bean sprouts, chunks of bean curd, and a sprinkling of cilantro. If you like, you can add in chili sauce for a kick."

"Korean Food in Xi'an It doesn't look like much from the outside, but this is a really good Korean restaurant. Inside, the friendly staff have nice picture menus with a huge selection of Korean favorites. The kimchi is fresh, and we figured we couldn't go wrong with bibimbap. The other guests had great-looking hotpot and some other colorful dishes. It's an excellent choice if you like Korean food."

"Varied Chinese Cuisine Awa Shanzhai serves very tasty food. Their service is good and they have picture menus for easy ordering. But whereas with most Chinese restaurants it's easy to figure out the cuisine (Sichuan, Guangdong, barbecue, hotpot, and so on), the funny thing about this place is that I'm not entirely sure! Not that it matters. They do a good fresh fish sliced in half and covered with spices or ginger and cilantro, and they also have a lot of fried potato and fried tofu dishes."

"The Best Indian in Xi'an Delhi Darbar is an excellent Indian restaurant in Xi'an. I usually order palak paneer and malai kofta when trying a new Indian restaurant, because unlike curries, it's really hard to make these without fresh ingredients. (In China, you either need to make your own paneer or serve something with shelf-stable cheese in it.) The dishes were perhaps a bit bland and safe, but they unambiguously passed the quality test. We also had some veggie raita and garlic naan, both of which were highly delicious. We knew this place was legit when we asked for some pickles and they brought us a half-full jar of imported spicy Indian pickles."

"Irish Speakeasy and Restaurant in Xi'an This is a slightly odd place. It's in the middle of a commercial area, with no restaurants in sight. If you get to the right block, it's actually behind a large building. You have to knock and be let in like a speakeasy. Once inside, it's a pretty normal expat locale. The first floor is a Spanish restaurant, supposedly with one of the only wood-burning pizza ovens in Xi'an. Downstairs is the real Green Molly, an Irish pub. You can also order food here. The pizza was disappointing, but the Caprese salad and potato skins were outrageously good. Green Molly is 200 meters north of Ginwa Shopping Center on the intersection of Gaoxin Road and Keji Road. It is behind the GAOKE building."

"The Food Stalls of Giant Wild Goose Pagoda If you're looking for something a touch classier than a man grilling octopus on the back of his scooter, this dedicated street food area is for you. It's on the west side of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, and has a lot of the Chinese street food standards. Remember that the first rule of street food is to go to the place with the most customers."

"Shi Zi Bing Shi zi bing , 柿子饼, are kind of flat balls of glutinous rice and persimmons, stuffed with things like red bean or black sesame paste, and deep-fried. They're only about 2 RMB each and are so ridiculously tasty that you'll be tempted to eat more than one."

"Glutinous Sweet Rice on a Stick I'm of the belief that all food is better on a stick, and Xi'an did not disappoint in this respect. There are women everywhere selling little desserts on sticks. These desserts are made of rice that's been pounded and steamed in cute little ceramic containers. The seller asks you what flavor you want—I always went with rose, which is meigui —and then puts nuts and dried fruits and rose syrup on top, et voila!"

"Learn how to Make Your Own Dumplings In Xi'an we not only ate dumplings ( jiaozi ), we learned how to make them. Chef Jin makes about 3,500 dumplings a night, which explains why her super power is to make dumplings lightening fast. Seriously, if you blink you’ll miss it and you all of a sudden have a butterfly shaped dumpling in front of you. Chef Jin works at the Shaanxi Sunshine Lido Grand Theatre (and in the time it took you to read that title, she made 4 dumplings). She makes dumplings every night for customers who come to the cultural theater show. Her dumplings are in the shape of butterflies, roses, swans, cabbages, and ducks. However, for teaching purposes she kept the shapes simple and slowed down long enough to show us how to roll out the dough, spread in the filling, and then form them into shapes. Mine didn’t turn out too shapely, which made me conclude that I’d rather eat them than make them."