A gut forever voyaging

The Uighur ("wee-ger") are a Turkic people who live in parts of China, Russia and half a dozen 'stans. Uighur Cuisine is a self-explanatory restaurant that lives at the newer end of Dixon St, between Goulburn and Liverpool. XS praised it and that was enough to get me and my appetite through the door.

Taking a seat, I declined a golden pot of gratis tea in favour of bottled water as I hadn't drunk anything since brekkie. The menu was lamb-heavy but pork-free as the Uighur are mostly Muslim. The dishes were familiar yet alien; combining aspects of Chinese, Turkish and, unless I'm mistaken, Indian cooking.

For my entree, I had a radish salad. It was a mound of long, white, red and green shreds (the last two capsicum) dressed with vinegar and spices. Even as a kid, when my friend MD farmed radishes, and I adored TV's "Fraggle Rock" on which they were the staple food, I never felt so close to the vegie.

I ordered two mains, deceived by their low prices into thinking the serving sizes would be modest. The first was "meat bread". Imagine two circles of soft pastry sandwiching thin slices of lamb, spinach(?) and spices. Fry until crispy, divide into segments like a pizza, then prepare for tastebud fireworks.

The second was listed as a "vegetarian specialty"; a simple dish of braised rice with carrot. And by dish I mean platter heaped with enough of the stuff to feed a nuclear family! It was surprisingly sweet and delicious, if shiny with oil, and in a blur of chopsticks I scoffed all but the most elusive grains.

XS gave me the tip and now I'm paying it forward: Uighur Cuisine is an unusual, worthwhile and stomach-stretching eating experience. Three dishes plus a Mount Franklin cost me a trifling $20.50 - and it would have been less if I was in the mood for tea. Go there. Hell, gimme a call and I'll come with you.