Xinh Xinh, Vietnamese Food, Mitte
February 25, 2011 8 Comments
Or my guilty pleasure.
Everyone has things that they eat that they don’t like to own up to. The biggest offender for me are Greek Dracoulinia ‘chips’ used to scoop up fat globs of Total yogurt. At a push, I will settle for plain chips ‘me rigani’ (with oregano). In London this evolved to Walkers Sensations crisps with Yeo Valley organic yogurt. Luckily for my waistline, the only flavour readily available in Berlin is Paprika which I hate!
I would put Xinh Xinh in the same category as scoffing Dracoulinia chips, standing up in front of the Greek Version of Come Dine with Me (because if you do anything standing up, it doesn’t count). It’s a hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant close to my flat. I always order the same thing zweiundzwanzig or 22 which is wok fried rice noodles with vegetables, tofu and fried onions sprinkled on top. Not that I am a tofu fan normally but I find it’s an easy way to side step questionable poultry and meat provenance.
In the summer months, I like to eat at the picnic tables outside because rice noodles are best eaten fresh, if I get them to go, they all clump together and lose their sheen. The plus side of eating at Xinh Xinh is they have all these old squeezy bottles that they refill with their own condiments; chilli flavoured vinegar and the like.
There is usually a Vietnamese woman who takes my order, she always wears two tiny clips on either side of her head and never used to smile. But now she knows me as the zweiundzwanzig lady, I always get a smile.
All the vegetables they use are fresh, everything is cooked to order, you can see straight into the kitchen and it’s tasty stuff my Berlin guilty pleasure. Oh and it’s cheap. 
Xinh Xinh
Vietnamese Food
Linien Strasse 136,
Mitte, 10115
T. 030 2463 2981
Mo-Fr 11:30 - 23:00
Weekend 13:00 - 23:00
Why guilty? Sounds good to me ^_^
Oh, you know, because it isn’t very authentic.
How fortunate you are to be in such a cosmopolitan area with dishes from all over the world. It must be hard sometimes to stay home and cook when you can find such good eats at nearby restaurants.
Kathleen
That’s true but I have to say, in the 1 month I was in Mexico, I never got sick of the food. It’s so colourful, flavour full and delicious.
This is great — you should do a series on guilty pleasures!
Drinking pickle juice? Does that count? Actually, I haven’t done that since I was 8 (or so I tell myself).
Wow! I used to live right up the street from this place (on Tieckstr.) and it was my guilty pleasure as well! (Although I don’t think I ever stuck to one dish quite often enough to get a smile from anyone.) This makes me think even more that we should meet…perhaps for a meal there…
Wow, I usually take Bun Nem, or Bun Bo at this place. Oh and she already knew me as Bun Nem guy too.