I was invited by Emily to try out this restaurant, as such, all food was complimentary.
Unless someone told me about this place and insisted I come here, I probably would never have found or had an inclination to come to this place. It’s honestly not the type of food I prefer and I have a thing against restaurants with very strong odours and this one is definitely up there with some very bad ventilation.
This restaurant is located in the Joyce-Collingwood area next to CoCo. I’ve been to CoCo on numerous occasions and I have never noticed this restaurant (oops!). The food offered here is in traditional Uyghur style.
What we ate: Dapanji Chicken – big plate Xinjiang style braised chicken served wiht noodles ($31.90 large size)
This was pretty good! It reminded me of Korean andong jjimdak (which I love). The potatoes were very delicious. They brought noodles around after and mixed it in. The noodles were very thick and chewy which I love.
What we ate: Hot & Spicy Basa Fillet Soup ($20.99)
The fish was very moist and flaky. I didn’t find the soup to be that spicy, even with the copious amounts of chili visible.
What we ate: Lamb BBQ Skewers ($2.75 each)
I love lamb and these skewers did not disappoint. They were extremely flavourful (very heavy on the cumin!) and boarding on too salty, but this would be the perfect drinking food.
What we ate: Crispy Rice with Seafood
I couldn’t find this on their menu but this is traditionally a Shanghai dish called “Wo ba”. It’s kind of like a rice crispy square sans marshmallow deep fried. It’s then smothered in a corn starch thickened ‘soup’. This was alright, relatively light break from all the heavy spices.
What we ate: Stir fried onion beef ($18.99)
This was a pretty standard dish, tasted like a dish you would get in a set meal at a Cantonese restaurant.
What we ate: Stir Fried Cumin Lamb and Nang Bread ($21.99)
This dish was very interesting! It was essentially stir fried bread with lamb. It was extremely salty (for me), and this dish unfortunately just didn’t do it for me. I expected the bread to be dense with oil but was pleasantly surprised to find that they were quite airy in texture and not too oily.
What we ate: Stir Fried Lamb Shoulder Meat served with deep fried bread ($26.90)
The bread was very crispy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. Piled high with lamb this dish was delicious! It was saucy and savoury without being overwhelming. This dish was a highlight for me.
We ended the meal with Red bean soup, but I didn’t bother to take a picture because it was like drinking sugar water with floating beans. It was an unfortunate way to end a meal.
Overall, while it was an interesting experience I probably will not be back. This style of food (heavy on spices and deep frying), isn’t really my thing. However, they have a good deal on Tuesday’s on skewers so I’d check that out if you’re into skewers and beer!