I had heard good things about a newly opened an Asian flavored inspired sandwich shop in Hell’s Kitchen: Xie Xie (which means “thank you” in Mandarin… thank you website for the translation). The inside was stylish and trendy.
I ordered the Sweet Glazed Pork sandwich, which comes with sweet and sour condiment and was supposed to come on a Chinese bun, but they ran out, so I had it on a soft brioche. The sandwich was quite tasty, though they had a LOT of cilantro on it which overpowered the pork flavor in my opinion. I picked it off the second half and enjoyed it much much (though it’s no Momofuku).
Mike got the Vietnamese BBQ Beef (which I found out is the most popular on the menu, though the man working there who seemed to have some authority said he recommended the chicken or the lobster… noted for next time). It came with basil mayo and carrot kimchee. He said that it had just enough flavor and was “oddly refreshing” (probably due to the carrot kimchee and mayo). He commented quite a bit about the carrots being a great pairing with the beef.
An obvious regular struck up a conversation with us as we were waiting for our food and sang the praises of the sandwiches and ESPECIALLY the ice cream sandwich. You don’t really have to sell me on getting dessert, but it was good to have a recommendation on which one to get! And boy am I glad she spoke up. WOW!
They call it the “1000 Year Old Ice Cream Sandwich” based on the Chinese legend where they were bury eggs for a long, long time and the centers would turn black. These ice cream sandwiches had a crispy, light chocolate cookie with creamy ice cream in the middle (caramel flavored? dulce de leche? I’m not sure but it was incredible) and in the very center was a liquid, black caramel center. It was rich and perfectly salty and sweet. I picture myself craving these in the middle of the night at some point. It was so good and left a lingering flavor in my mouth that I wish had lasted all night.
The sandwiches were interesting and different from every day. At over $8 a piece ($14 for the lobster), it’s definitely on the high point, however, Mike and I eating dinner plus dessert for less than $20 is always a treat, so I didn’t mind so much. The ice cream sandwich made it totally worth it, and I WILL be back to try that at the least, if not to try more of the meal sandwiches.
Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10
Tags: 1000 year old ice cream sandwich, asian sandwich, hell's kitchen, ice cream sandwich, sweet and sour pork sandwich, vietnamese bbq beef sandwich, xie xie
