- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Xin Jiang Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
3636 Steeles Ave EMarkham, ON L3R 2Z5
Neighbourhood: Scarborough
(905) 948-9966
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 11 pm
Sat 11 am - 12 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
20 reviews for Xin Jiang Restaurant
20 reviews in English
-
Review from Ayesha A.
1/12/2012
This place is amazing...it's better than your usual chinese...
Apparently it's rooted in the middle eastern tradition, so there is no pork (hard to believe for a chinese place) but the kebabs looked so good I pretended not to be a vegetarian for the night and had the chicken (stopped at that, though) and it was so, so good.
The soup was very good, but I only had the broth, as there was lamb in it, but even that was so good.
Prices weren't particularly cheap, but nothing ridiculous.
The waiters were really nice, too, and let me practice chinese with them (I know one phrase which I kept repeating). -
Review from Nadia O.
Toronto, ON
12/16/2011
We only had an order to-go an afternoon for lunch. It was fantastic: Western Chinese Style Lamb in Rice. We tried to come back for dinner another night but it was jam-packed and there was a line up; must be some really good stuff we have yet to taste ;)
-
Review from Madelaine D.
Toronto, ON
7/4/2011
Lauren M. and Tony F. wrote much better reviews on our dining experience at this place so I'm going to suggest your check their reviews out.
My two cents on Xin Jiang Restaurant is what a great job they did with a group of 14 of us. We squeezed nicely around the big round table and the Lazy Susan in the middle made it easy to share everything. Also for $15 a person we had a lot of left over food.
Oh and the box of diapers from the 90's sitting in their kitchen was awesome. -
Review from Tony F.
7/4/2011
I desperately wanted to love this place, especially since I brought a huge group of my fellow yelpers here. Having never been here, I knew it was a bit of a risk.
I just recently returned back from China where I discovered the Uyghur Food (known as Xian Jiang, or literally "New Gingers" [[I wonder what Carrot Top would say]]). The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in North Western China, and are predominately Muslim so the food is halal.
I immediately fell in love with the food while visiting a few remote regions in China, but also the vast availability of the cuisine in Shanghai and Beijing. There were so many dishes that hit my palette like a truck. The lamb, mutton kabobs with this spicy cumin rub, where after they take it off the grill sprinkle it with some more of the rub. The "Big Plate of Chicken" in this soupy spicy broth where they add fresh "Lai Mein" or literally Pulled Noodles. The texture of the noodles were like nothing I've ever had before, it was chewy and silky. The Naan used to suck up all of the other brothy goodness were light and crispy. And the Polo which is a meaty rice pilaf that was saucy and tasty.
Unfortunately Xian Jiang had most of these dishes (I was disappointed not to find the Polo) in name, but it was nothing like what I had had back in China. The kabobs were merely okay, and was probably the highlight of the evening. The broth in the Big Plate of Chicken was fairly plain, and only consisted of a spicy flavour. I think the biggest issue for the whole evening was the spicy flavour profile for all the dishes were the same. The dishes I had in Asia, varied in flavour. Here, it seemed everything pretty much tasted of the same rub/sauce/marinade.
The noodles, which I was so hoping replicated what I had was definitely not fresh. It was limp. Not so silky. Not so chewy. The Naan, was thick and had probably been sitting around for a while.
The service was excellent and they were attentive to our large group. Although in name many of the dishes were present, the food wasn't that bad, but it just wasn't the same.
There are three other Uyghur restaurants in Toronto, and hopefully they come a bit closer to what I had previously experienced, as I am craving an authentic experience.Listed in: Meh!
-
Review from Elaine K.
7/5/2011 11 photos
I was so impressed by the food here... complex flavours, the perfect amount of spice, and fresh ingredients.
The service was quite good as well, particularly since the place was full and we were a table of 14. The food came out quick and hot.
Best:
- Lamb and chicken kebabs: perfectly cooked and cuminy, without being overbearingly so. I could have eaten nothing but these things and been happy.
- Eggplant: soft and perfect. I don't even have a photo of it because I wanted to get into it so quickly.
- Deep fried naan bread and lamb: For some reason, Shari and thought the deep fried naan cubes were some kind of veggie. I thought that they had somehow found a way to make veggies ridiculously tasty. No, it was bread. And it's still ridiculously tasty.
- Beef rolled up in flat bread: I've never been disappointed by this ever in my life. It was delicious.
Everything else was very very good.
I will definitely return again. -
Review from Lauren M.
7/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Went here with a group of 14 (!!) Even with this many people, we barely managed to put a dent at trying everything on the menu, lots of choices.
Still, we did manage to try a large number of dishes, most of which I cannot remember the name of.
We ordered both lamb and chicken skewers (think they cost $1.75 each). These were fairly tasty, but not really overly delicious. The meat was cooked well (not overcooked) and had a cumin spice mix rubbed on top. I thought they needed a bit of saltiness.
We also tried a few veg dishes (broiled eggplant, green beans and bok choy), a HUGE dish called "big plate of chicken" that was served with noodles, one with a naan bread "pizza" base topped with slow-cooked lamb and another lamb dish served with a dry rub on the side.
Most of these dishes were good but nothing special. I would give the naan bread dishes a pass next time as the bread itself was kind of horrible. Most of the dishes were quite spicy but every dish we had seemed to have the exact same flavour as the others.
Strangely enough, the star dish of the show was something we couldn't quite remember ordering. We thought it was fried cubes of some kind of root vegetable mixed with some other veggies, but we realized after that it was actually "deep fried naan bread". Hilarious...but very tasty.
The service here was excellent....considering we had a table of 14 people and the rest of the restaurant was packed, our dishes came out quickly and we were well taken care of.
Would probably go back if this was closer to go home. -
Review from Rafi N.
Toronto, ON
7/4/2011
Xin Jiang is an interesting Asian restaurant whose food is not typical "Chinese Food". I came here as part of a group of 14.
*** FOOD ***
Several dishes were ordered, the names of which I cannot remember. The food was generally okay to good. The food has a Middle Eastern flare and uses a lot of spice. None of the dishes were hot and even the dried chilis only added taste and not much heat.
* Kebabs *
I had lamb and chicken kebabs. The meat of each was cooked well. The meat was tasty because of the spice rub. The meat itself doesn't taste like it was marinated. The spice is not hot, but very spicy.
* Chicken Tongue *
I had no idea chicken tongues had bones. The tongues were chewy and cold. The outside of the tongues tasted like hard skin and was kind of leathery. There is no seasoning on these and I didn't find them appetizing.
*** ATMOSPHERE ***
The decor is nice and the restaurant is pretty clean. There are several wooden tables and chairs. We sat at at circular table with a Lazy Susan in the middle. The walls are adorned with artwork that looks Middle Eastern/Islamic. There was a metal plate with Arabic writing and a couple Persian rugs. Uyghurs are mostly Muslim, so I guess it makes sense. There was also a couple stringed instruments which I'm not familiar with which might have been Dolan Rawabi. The restaurant isn't very large, but it can seat about 50 people.
*** SERVICE ***
The service was good. I was greeted when I entered but was able to find my own table. Food came quickly and the servers worked diligently. The servers seemed to get annoyed when they brought food over and there was no space on the table. Ordering food is best done if you speak Chinese, though it's not a must.
*** PRICE ***
A meal for 14 people that couldn't be finished:
** Total (AT&T) | $15 **
*** CONCLUSION ***
I've never had Xinjiang cuisine so I may not have acquired a taste for it. There are a myriad of food options and a lot of them are good. I'm sure anyone who goes here will find something they like and something they dislike, it's just a matter of taste. I would suggest anyone who hasn't been here to give it a shot.Listed in: I got Yellow Fever
-
Review from Michael L.
Richmond Hill, ON
7/18/2011
Went here in the beginning of May, found the food to be wonderfully close to the food it is based on. I have traveled to the western provinces of china and I find that these dishes really stick to what they are trying to emulate.
The dishes themselves are very oily , but that is to be expected as that is the style of the western provinces. the prices are reasonable I believe it was ~10 a plate.
My girlfriend and I tried some of their dumplings, their in-house noodles, and others which i unfortunately can not remember at this time.
all in all, if you are looking to expand your Chinese food repertoire this is a great addition. -
Review from Angel Z.
Toronto, ON
Updated - 4/20/2011
While still good this place has fallen off my list of "must eat whenever within radar distance". They have new kitchen staff and half the front of house wait staff has changed. Their menu was updated a few months ago and removed some delicious stand-bys and replaced them with new flavors that are oilier and less flavorful.
For a while the quality of food was sustaining a 2am closing time every night, but now that has been trimmed back to midnight most nights, earlier when business is slow by 11pm.
Take-out orders are invariably missing something these days (a bowl of rice, and order of bread, a beverage) and there is a rain of scatter-brained-ness about the place. Still more hit than miss but I hit less often.1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
3/17/2010
DELICIOUS AUTHENTIC XINJIANG
This is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. I can say that with… Read more »
-
-
Review from Alvin V.
Toronto, ON
2/28/2011
Lamb/wing/tendon skewers, hand pulled noodles, dumplings, green onion pancakes.....
Oh my how this place rules!
I haven't made a review in a while so what better way to kick start things with a 5-star smorgasbord of delectable delights!
I was introduced to this place by Tony and initially I was a bit hesitant because this restaurant prides itself on its lamb dishes and I detest lamb very much. It's the smell and taste I can't handle. Some people would classify this as "gamey" but to me, it tastes like plastic. Don't ask my why I associate plastic with it because I haven't tasted plastic itself but it just induces that taste in me. I'm sorry if I offended you lamb lovers with my comments and acknowledge that taste is subjective obviously!
Anyways, I still gave it a shot because you need to be open minded in order to try new things and boy am I happy that I did. I'm going to forgo my traditional review structure and just highlight some dishes: (one thing to note is that most of the dishes can be a bit spicy so just tell the waitress to go mild if you can't handle it)
Skewers:
Lamb or Tendon or Chicken wing? So many choices...well, get them all! Each skewer comes with about 4-5 pieces. Chicken wings come in 3 and are HUGE.
Hand Pulled Noodles:
Do you know hand pulled noodles? Do you really? "You don't even know!" (Dane Cook)
These are the characteristics of a successful hand pulled noodle.
a. inconsistent thickness
b. a bit chewy
That's what the noodles here are like and I love it. It's really hard to find good hand pulled noodles in the city because it's labour intensive, but the end product is worth it! So right now, this place has the BEST hand pulled noodles in the city. I just recently came back from China and they are almost on par.
Dumplings, pancakes, etc.
Most of you should be familiar with Shanghainese food. Well the usual menu items are available but so much better then places like Asian Legend without a doubt.
To Conclude:
Get off your butt and cruise/bus/run (you might want to run to justify the grease and carbs:P) on over to this place. Ironically, it's in the same plaza as Asian Legend. Competition? If you think China (Xin Jiang) vs. Canada (Asian Legend) in ping pong is competition =P
p.s. the lamb was awesome. Tasted and smelt nothing like it as it was seasoned well!
p.p.s. I did not mean to personally attack Asian Legend btw:P Just needed to give a base-line for people to compare to since it's such a popular restaurant. -
Review from Jason V.
North York, ON
9/16/2011
The grilled kebabs are too die for however the restaurant suffers from severe consistency issues. I've never had a Bad meal however it's been between great and decent. The soups, noodles and gong bao chicken is good. Their pork dishes are lackluster but always go for the lamb!
-
Review from Yang J.
North York, ON
3/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
So was trying to go to JT Mix (another place in the same area) but found out that they have shut down. Ah well wandered around and found this place. Ordered a few items such as lamb skewers, rolled onion pancake with sliced beef and lamb dumplings. While the pancakes were at best average the lamb skewers were AWESOME. They are authentic and they taste amazing. Someone earlier reviewed that it was too much spice and it was trying to cover up something but that is definitely NOT true. These lamb skewers tasted just like the one's in China. I would probably be happy just coming here and having 10 of these.
The service was at first a bit strange (as soon as you finish something they wisk away the plates and stuff, could be quite annoying at times if you approach it from a Western perspective). However what they do is very similar to what happens if you go to a restaurant in China.
4/5, can't give full marks because of the pancakes :P -
Review from B M.
Scarborough, ON
4/24/2011
This place is awful. It's severely overpriced compared to similar restaurants, the service is awful, and the food is GREASY.
We ordered a pretty standard dish, the sliced beef wrapped in onion pancake. The price was $6, and what came was a single roll. For that price, it better be so good that it cures cancer, or have 2 rolls. It was neither. The roast lamb was $19.99 (large size price) for a small small dish. I expect to pay more for good quality food, but this stuff was cheap and greasy (more on that in a sec).
The service sucked. Now, I understand when sometimes an order is forgotten or delayed a bit. I've got no problems with following up with the waiters. It happens all the time at AYCE sushi joints and understandably so -- places are usually super busy with limited staff. But Xinjiang takes this to a new level. It wasn't even busy when we went (there were a few empty tables). We waited about 30 mins for our last dish and asked 3 different servers at least twice each about the dish. Each time it was "I'll take a look for you", and they never got back to us. When we finally gave up, after having sat there for 30 mins looking like retards, we called for the bill, explaining our frustration. The bill came... with the last dish (that we never got) on it. Awesome.
My biggest problem though is the food itself. Greasy, greasy, greasy. The "roast" lamb ribs were so oily they seemed to be deep fried. The skewers, usually my favourite items at these types of restaurants, were permeated in grease and the meat had excessive amounts of fat chunks on it. Definitely not good quality meat. The fried dumplings were so oily that the paper doily they put under them not only absorbed grease (like they're supposed to), but absorbed grease to the point where it became transparent and invisible. The doily then ripped and stuck to the bottom of the dumplings, and the first one we ate was accompanied with a nice fat layer of doily. Subsequent dumplings required careful skimming of the dumpling skin to avoid another mouthful of grease paper.
In a nutshell, avoid this place at all cost. There are far better Northern Chinese restaurants in the area that charge less and have competent service. -
Review from sarah l.
North York, ON
7/26/2009 1 photo
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. -
Review from Tony C.
Richmond Hill, ON
2/23/2010
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. -
Review from Archimedes T.
Toronto, ON
6/15/2010
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 -
Review from Imran N.
6/27/2011
tongue boner.
-
Review from Leeor J.
3/29/2010
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! -
Review from Aka C.
11/6/2009
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! -
Review from secyw w.
Richmond Hill, ON
4/4/2011
We had a short 10 minute wait when we got there as I do not believe we could make reservations. We ordered a few items on the menu but my favourite was the chicken hard-pulled noodles noodes and the dumplings. We had white buns with meat, onion and pepper. The lamb skewers looked really good. The service was quicky but like every other asian restaurant - you are being rushed. But you pay for what you get because overall, for 5 of us it was $12 each and we were full.
