went to the new-ish Uyghur spot in East Cambridge for lunch yesterday. Earlier reports described it as rough around the edges, and service wise I’d say that’s still a bit the same. The main guy was nice enough, just a little slow on some things and spending a lot of time in the kitchen. But it’s clean and bright in there, and all of the tables were full. The limited menu didn’t offer a lot for my non-spicy non-pork/lamb/beef eating s.o., but she was game enough to come along and I picked up the tab.
Items tried: housemade yogurt, a nice little starter. yogurt was good, honey was storebought, standard fruit and nuts. Interesting to start off with the sweet.
Samsa: this was probably my favorite thing. Flaky pastry, ground lamb inside, not overly flavorful but I’d sure eat this for breakfast with coffee in January. Really good.
Pumpkin manto: liked the vegetable filling of these, the meat inside though seemed a little ill-distributed and out of place. Dumpling skins were a little thick though cooked fine. I really think these might be better as a vegetarian offering. Not bad, though.
Dry fried noodles: this picture is lousy but the dish isn’t–this was definitely the best thing after the samsa. Noodles were great with a very bouncy, al dente charm and some good flavor underneath the scallion and other vegetables. Meat was a little chewy but worked in nice and the dish had some low level spice that worked well. I at the leftovers for breakfast this morning, and they were fantastic.
All in all a nice little addition to Boston, especially as it represents an otherwise un-represented cuisine here. I think their limited menu is a smart approach, though it does minimize options for people like my s.o.–there really wasn’t a lot for her to order there, unfortunately. But restaurants can’t be all things to all people, so that’s OK and otherwise I think this is a worthwhile place to visit and I hope they’re successful in this location.
