Advertisement

Restaurant review: Silk Road

Oct 17, 2014
Silk Road's exterior belies the delights within. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

Silk Road's exterior belies the delights within. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

It might have all the hallmarks of a traditional suburban Chinese restaurant, but Silk Road is far from ordinary.

Situated along Port Road in a slightly shabby, modified house, it is consistently packed with members of Adelaide’s Chinese community and locals who have stumbled across it.

Silk Road is one of only a handful of restaurants serving the unique and traditional Uighur (wi-gar) cuisine of the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang. The region – bordered by Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Russia – is renowned as a melting pot of culture and cuisine.

The restaurant is split into two large rooms. Tables are set with lace cloths and clear plastic protectors, and the walls are a gaudy combination of orange, red and purple which contrasts starkly with a lattice-worked ceiling and a rather out-of-place chandelier. Traditional Chinese-style paintings decorate the walls and, weirdly, a large TV and sound system fill the end of the room.

However, appearances can be deceiving.

Seated in the corner of the thriving restaurant, we are handed a plastic binder which holds the menu featuring the stereotypical typos and photos. The menu is fairly large and even includes the option of a full lamb kawap (meat cooked over coal) for $488, which needs 24-hour notice.

Silk Road is a Muslim restaurant, so the meat is certified halal and alcohol isn’t offered, but customers can bring their own (if you are happy to drink it from water glasses).

A friend who has previously spent some time in the Xinjiang region orders for the table. After a short wait (which is uncommon, as the food can take quite a while on occasions), dishes arrive as they are ready.

We begin with goshnan ($12), which can only be described as a deep-fried mince pie. Crusty and crunchy pastry encases a rich meat and onion filling in a novel start to a Chinese dinner.

Next up is the ding ding saomian ($12) – a dish of short-cut noodles bathed in a sweet yet spicy sauce with capsicum and meat. It is simply delicious. The noodles, which are almost like pearl barley in texture, are chewy, while the capsicum provides a crunch and small bits of meat add body.

Food keeps coming: two large plates piled with metal skewers laden with spiced lamb (kawap, $12) and chicken (toho kawap, $10), which have been cooked over charcoal, are typical of street food from the region. The smoke of the charcoal and the infused spice make this a tasty yet simple dish.

A dish of roast eggplant (pedegan korimisi, $12) is also a delight – soft-skinned flesh soaked in a sweet sauce.

Silk-Road-noodles

The pick of the night, however, is the massive bowl of ganbianpidaimian ($26) or stir-fried noodles (pictured). It is a dry dish with hand-made flat noodles fried at high heat with beef, capsicum, chilli and shallots. The noodles are the star, unevenly cut and perfectly cooked. The dish could easily feed a family of four, although we give it a decent go.

Silk Road’s food is unique, seems true to tradition and, most importantly, is delicious. It is not Chinese food as you would normally expect it, and is a welcome change from the more usual Western styles.

Served in share-size portions, the kebabs, stir-fries, mince pie and naan bread show off what is a patchwork quilt of cuisine, incorporating influences from the Middle East, China and Serbia.

The food is exquisite and the owners prefer to concentrate on that aspect rather than appearance, style or service (think Afghan restaurant Parwana, without the pizazz).

What’s wonderful about the food you eat while travelling is stumbling across that “diamond in the rough”. Silk Road is such a discovery – but you won’t have to travel to Asia to experience it.

Delicious, traditional food that reminds even the most well-fed foodie that Adelaide still holds many hidden gems.

Three and a half out of five

3_half

Silk Road
580 Port Road
Allenby Gardens

Open Tuesday-Friday, 3pm-10pm; Saturday-Sunday, 12pm-10pm

 

 

 

Local News Matters
Advertisement
Copyright © 2024 InDaily.
All rights reserved.