Master Wei
13 Cosmo Pl, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AP
Nearest Tube: Russell Square
Buzz Factor 3.9/5 stars
Food 4.2/5 stars
Value for money 4.3/5 stars
4.1 Yummy Stars
Price ££ Starters/soups - £4.80-£9.80; noodles/noodle soup - £9.20-£10.90 (£17.90 for 2); mains/rice/noodle dishes £7.90 (at time of writing)
Boneless chicken in ginger sauce at Master Wei
Eat-in or Take-away
If you love your noodles like I do, you would share my joy in welcoming a recent spate of restaurant openings in Xi’an cuisine. You know that you have arrived when the revered Sunday Times food critic, Marina O’Loughlin, tweeted about the impending opening of your restaurant. Guirong Wei, aka Master Wei, opened her first solo restaurant near Russell Square, having co-founded Xi’an Impression in Arsenal, Highbury with her husband. Both serve Xi’an cuisine from the city famed for its Terracotta Army (comprising thousands of terracotta sculptures of soldiers, chariots and horses buried with the first Emperor of China) in the Shaanxi province of China, once the entrance to the Silk Road.
Master Wei is the latest addition to Xi’an restaurants in London following Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles in Spitalfields (founded by Chef Wei’s business partner, Zhang Chao), Murgher Han and its sister restaurant, Murgher Hanhan.
Why such excitement? Xi’an Impression has long been a favourite among foodlovers and its walk-ins only policy could only have added to its appeal. Both Xi’an Impression and Master Wei serve some Xi’an classics, such as Xi’an burger (roujiamo), Liangpi (cold noodle starter) and biang biang noodles.
Like Xi’an Impression, Master Wei restaurant has continued with the street food vibe, with pared down décor but it was a significant upgrade from its close relation. The earthy feel of bare brick wall on one side contrasted with a rather horrid fake-looking burgundy-coloured leather banquette on the other. Small basic square tables and chairs juxtaposed with quaint lights looking like bird cages hanging from the ceiling. The tables all have an empty drawer on one side. Is it somewhere for everyone to leave their mobile phones in, perhaps to avoid the temptation to check and respond to non-life-saving texts?
No, I am not one of those FOMO (fear of missing out) but I was intrigued enough to go for their first lunch service on the opening day (on 15 March 2019). Word obviously got out as the place was heaving with mostly Chinese crowd. All the staff seemed super excited and friendly. But on our second visit on a Sunday evening a month later, their initial enthusiasm had markedly subsided or perhaps they just couldn’t wait to go home. The place was a lot quieter that cold Sunday evening. The excited crowd from the opening day was replaced by Deliveroo guys in helmets.
The food was generally top notch, with some dishes reigning supreme and others less so. The boneless chicken in ginger sauce (a cold starter), enticingly bathed in chilli oil, was just as good as the one at Xian Impression. The perfectly poached chicken was mesmorisingly soft. The lacquer red chilli oil might look scarily hot but the amount of heat was totally manageable and the flavours were spot on. The Xi’an Hand-shredded chicken in spicy sauce had more heat and was equally delicious. These starters tickled your taste buds, preparing them for more heat and deliciousness.
The smacked cucumber salad, with added umami taste from chopped tomatoes, was simply glorious in its sauce with its sweet and sour notes and some crunch and saltiness from the peanuts.
Traditional Xi’an Liang Pi (translated to mean “cold skin”) noodles with chicken glistened in a puddle of ruby red chilli-based sauce with just the right level of heat. These chilled noodles mixed with cucumber, wheat gluten, beansprouts and chilli oil) were tasty, though I found the wheat gluten rather too firm.
Then came what I ventured here for. The bowl of beef biang biang noodles arrived, topped with humble-looking but seriously tender beef, bak choi, chilli powder, chilli flakes, Sichuan pepper and minced garlic. “Biang” is supposed to mimic the sound of slapping the dough against the worktop in the process of hand-pulling the noodles. The waiter ceremoniously tossed the surface ingredients with the noodles table-side. My friend asked me how you were supposed to eat this sheet of noodles. There was no point in trying to eat them in any elegant manner. Just slurp and enjoy. If I was on my own, I would simply plonk my face into the massive bowl and wallow in the thick, wide and slippery ribbons of joy. I was looking forward to having these noodles again on our second visit, but this time, the beef was so tough and chewy that you could use it as squash ball
Their “burgers” were definitely worth a try. The fillings in the spicy cumin beef and Xi’an pulled pork ones were tender and full of flavour. Their Salt and Pepper ribs didn’t have much taste though and the coating had no crunch to it. The filling in the chicken and mushroom potstickers was well marinaded but the dish was spoilt by the cardboard-thick wrappers. The Sweet and Sour chicken was one of the best that I have had. The chicken had a crispy coating and was wonderfully tasty, drenched in the perfectly balanced sugary and sour sauce.
Bravo to Master Wei, a talented Chinese female chef, to open a fine eatery in the centre of town, feeding those, like me, who find it hard to get to and into Xi’an Impression. Some brilliant dishes here that would tempt me to come and eat my favourites every week if I could.
