If you seek Monday night comfort food at affordable prices, check out the half-price deal at relatively new bar / restaurant XL managed by Jane Cui, who many know from her long stint at Nearby the Tree. I visited a few weeks ago with DZ Rider and we left stuffed and satisfied.
The highlight of our meal: the ‘All-Star Burger’ (rmb44 with discount), a tasty tower of chili, cheese, egg, fried onions, pickles, lettuce and more. DZ skillfully halved ours and we quickly polished it off. I liked having mayonnaise as a condiment option for the fries. (Note: I’ve eaten several of XL’s other burger options and enjoyed them all.)
We also ordered a few others items:
- The sausage plate (rmb34 after discount) includes a spicy Italian link and a cheese bratwurst plus mashed potatoes, gravy and sauerkraut. The sausage flavors are good, though on two of the four times I’ve ordered this dish, I’ve found the casings a bit rubbery. I recommend ordering it but mentioning you like yours well done.
- Our expectations for the duck and ginger spring rolls (rmb19 after discount) were low given how common this dish looked and we were pleasantly surprised at the tenderness of the meat.
- The Caesar salad with smoked salmon (rmb30) represented DZ’s desire to order something “healthy”. It was fine.
Our bill, including one drink each — I had a glass of De Bortoli red, which is rmb30 during happy hour — came to less than rmb200.
Note: XL is behind the building due north of Heaven Supermarket — across from the Bentley dealership — on Xindong Road. It’s in the walkway between that building and the building directly behind it.
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