Xi Bay, Burwood

Xi Bay is a restaurant on busy Burwood Road. They serve a range of noodles from dry to soup noodles, all house made with a wonderful chewy texture to them. And there's no waiting about for ages for a quick meal!

We are standing in front of the noodle place that someone mentioned on Instagram 5 days ago. It's closed. So very closed. It almost looks closed down. "But the noodles are supposed to be amazing," I say to Mr NQN. I don't know if the closure is permanent or not. Is it a casualty of COVID? Who knows.

We take a seat at Xi Bay instead. It's early so there isn't a queue to get in and we take a seat at the table by the window and have a look at the menu and flag down service as Mr NQN is losing patience with my search for noodles. I order a range of things. "These don't have meat, do you want to add meat?" asks the woman who is giving off owner vibes. She's friendly and helpful.

The food hits the table before we've even had time to contemplate the condiments on the table or sanitise our hands after using the menu. Also it has to be said, these noodles look nothing like the sesame noodles in the picture menu.

I had had some scallion sesame noodles in Shanghai that stuck in my mind and they look just like the ones in the picture. These noodles are thicker, of udon proportions and have a creamy, thick sesame dressing along with carrot, cucumber and the shredded chicken that we added. They're quite nice but not really what I was hoping for.

I prefer the oil splash noodles with its flavoursome dash of spicy oil that coats the noodles. There's also Chinese greens and chilli as well as the sliced beef that we added to these.

Rather than adding the meat into the two types of noodles I'd recommend ordering a separate meat dish because the chicken and beef are ok but not as good as the fried pork. These pork strips have a salt and pepper seasoning and are hot, crunchy and moreish, especially with the oil splash noodles.

I adore fried snow pea sprouts and this are a tasty vegetable side dish that also feels quite healthy without being punishing.

There is one type of dumpling here and they are pork and cabbage dumplings. They come out last and are piping hot with some soup inside. They're very tasty especially with a bit of the chilli oil on the side.

And we are in and out before the hour is over!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you sometimes after a really quick meal? Where do you usually go if you want something fast?

Xi Bay

181D Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

Open 7 days 10am–10pm

Phone: (02) 9745 2238