Xi'an - Xiyangshi - Niu rou pao mo

One of the dishes that internet sites recommend you try when you visit Xi'an, is yang rou pao mo (羊肉泡馍) which is a mutton "soup".  Most every restaurant I went to instead offered niu rou pao mo (牛肉泡馍) which is a beef "soup", so that's what this post is about.  I put soup in quotes because eating this dish constitutes mostly fishing soggy bits of bread out of your bowl.

The restaurant with the black sign was the one I mostly frequented, as it was always packed out unlike many others.

For 15 RMB, you get given a bowl, two unleavened pieces of bread and a tag. Then you go to a table and start breaking your bread into very small pieces. I was on the large side here, and my table companion told me to go smaller.

Once you've broken your bread up, you take your bowl and "proof you paid" plastic tag up to this counter and they give you a numbered tag in exchange for them. At this point, I recommend grabbing a small bowl of pickled garlic and minced chilli. The chilli I added to my soup later on, and the garlic.. well.. it tasted a little kerosinesque to me so I skipped it unless the "passing time" to "this doesn't taste right" ratio went in the wrong direction.

When they've added soup and a few pieces of beef to the bowl, they call out your number in Mandarin. And some young guy brings it to you, as you indicate that it is yours.

Going back several times, I enjoyed it a lot. There's not much flavour to the dish, but it doesn't taste watery, it doesn't have the texture of soggy bread and it is on the cheap side. I had the mutton version elsewhere for slightly more, and it wasn't better. Really, I couldn't tell the difference.

I'd definitely re-recommend this common internet recommendation as a filling and satisfying meal.  There are many things that are recommended on the internet which really aren't worth trying, but this isn't one of them.