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- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 11 pm
Sat 11 am - 12 am
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
5 reviews for Xin Jiang Restaurant
All Reviews
Xin Jiang, oh how you make my tummy sing. Although I can't vouch for it's authenticity it truly is something different from the regular Chinese food. As the first poster explained where Xinjiang is, the food does have an Islamic influence in it. A lot of lamb dishes can be found on their menu. Their lamb skewers at $1.60 a skewer is grilled just right with a bit of tenderness and the right amount of spice. I normally don't like beef tendon but having a skewer here changed my mind on tendon. Absolutely delicious! Their hand-made noodles (a staple with Xinjiang cuisine) with fried chicken was delightful, so was their pineapple fried chicken, fried chicken dumplings and steam lamb dumplings. Their wintermelon soup was really good, you can taste the well prepared stock, save it for the end of your meal, it will soothe your tastebuds.
Ever since my friend introduced me to this place, I've been back twice. A word of caution, whatever you order, DO NOT order their Chinese-Western naan. We had it and it was basically a pizza crust with no toppings. Trust me! unless you enjoy pizza crust. We were looking for a rice dish to please everyone's palette so we went safe and ordered the Chinese staple: Yangchow fried rice (shrimp and bbq pork), to our surprise they used chopped hot dogs in place of the bbq pork! That was one WTF moment. Despite those two dishes, the rest of the food we ordered were great. They have a massive menu, enough choices to please everyone at your table. Like many Chinese restaurants in the area, you get a lot of food for an affordable price, we ended paying just under $20 per person.
Ok, I went here after I couldn't stand the smell of Tai Ping XIang. I've been here before with a friend so I knew I wanted to get their lamb skewers.
To be honest, I really really hate lamb. Especially the gamey smell that comes with it. However, there are only two places I've eaten skewered lamb: here and Chung King. I prefer the one here better. However, I still do not like it in the end. There was too much spice, but I guess you need to in order to hide the fact that the lamb was of low quality. You want good quality, go to Metro or T&T or even Foody Mart. They have Norwegian lamb chops for $12 and they are SO MUCH better just a quick grill.
I intend no offense to those who actually think that they put in the right level of spice, but anyone who thinks that you need spices to enjoy food should really try to find a place that would use good ingredients rather than hiding the true taste from you with spices.
The restaurant was empty at the time, but the service was a bit meh and rushed. What you'd expect from a Chinese restaurant that has no formal training in actually making the customers feel good about eating there.
I had a sip of their hot and sour soup. That was SO BLOODY SPICY. I think it would've been good too. What a waste. All I could tolerate was a sip.
Finally I just got Beef Fried Rice. That was about the only thing tolerable in the end. So I don't think I would recommend or go to this restaurant again anytime soon.
No free wifi
I read the glowing reviews for this place and was really looking forward to it. As soon as we got there, it smelled really good so I got really excited..
Then the beef tendon skewers came. Tendon? I doubt it. more like grilled chunks of pure animal fat (which were flavourless btw). That was enough to kill if for me. That and the fact they messed up my order (i tried to get that shredded lamb and pancakes dish and they brought out some microscopic pieces on toothpicks instead - not only awkward to eat but subsequently awkward to digest!)
The service wasn't particularly great either. they completely forgot about the last dish we ordered. We had to politely remind them to bring us our final heart attack on a plate. The food there is WAY too oily. The crispy beef is heavily deep fried chunks of beef with no flavor.
The only saving grace was a lamb noodle dish with a tomato garlic and onion sauce (You really do kinda see where the italians ripped it off from). An island of goodness in an otherwise sea of greasy terror.
For all my criticism and negativity, I will say that I can see how if you go into the place, know exactly what's good, and what to order, you might actually really like it. The ridiculously large menu doesn't help a newb to the regional cuisine. In either case, be prepared to live a shorter life for your visit!
Xinjiang is China's north western province and is home to China's second largest Muslim chinese minority population (8.4 million people), the Uyghurs. The province is known for its picturesque landscapes but my favourite part is the cuisine influenced from its central Asia neighbours and position on the Silk Road.
When I was living in China, I would go for xingjiang food all the time quickly developing a craving for its noodle dishes, lamb kabobs and spices. Back in Toronto, I was wondering how I would get my fix. To my surprise, while dining at one of the Asian Legend outlets on Steeles, I found Xin Jiang Restaurant and was in heaven at first bite. Despite the fact that there are some sichuan, and other non xinjiang dishes mixed into the extensive menu, it is as close to the real deal as you're going to get here.
The menu is written in both English and Chinese so it is easy for newcomers to xinjiang food to decipher what they are selecting. The cuisine is known for its lamb dishes, nan bread, kabobs and pulled noodles. In addition to everything i just mentioned, one of my favourite dishes, however is the braised eggplant with green peppers.
Cash or debit only. Go try it! Best to go with a group of people and share lots of dishes because it is impossible to only order a dish or two once you see them coming out of the kitchen.
This place was EXCELLENT!
I had the pleasure of eating here when I went to visit friends in Toronto. I was a bit skeptical when my friend told me about this restaurant, but she's a great cook herself (and Chinese from N. China) so I trust her choice.
The food was so good! I've never had Xinjiang food, but I am sure you'd be hard pressed to find a Xinjiang restaurant just as good even in China.
I had the lamb skewers (since I don't eat beef), then went for seconds. I also had the egg plant, noodles and lettuce wrapped chopped lamb (!?). The spices were amazingly tasty (and not too spicy imo). I apologize for the lack of details but due to many circumstances I wasn't able to review this until 2 months after I went there.
I'll just say that, as a foodie, I've become very picky with food. But after having dinner there once, I kept on nagging my friends to go back that same week (I was only there for a week) and they live 2.5 hours away!
