Skewers & Grill

The grill is where Uyghur cooking speaks loudest. Lamb kebab — kawap — is cut by hand, threaded fat-against-lean, and grilled hot so the outside chars while the inside stays juicy, seasoned the classic way with cumin, chili flake and salt. Nothing else. Three skewers is the minimum order, and most tables discover that three is not enough.

Chicken skewers get the same fire and the same spice. Off the grill but on the same list, the lamb leg is served boiled — a quieter, cleaner way with the same meat, for anyone who wants lamb without the char. Skewers pair naturally with naan from the starters and a pot of hot tea — the classic street-side combination, served at a proper table.

The skewer travels under many names. A Chinese night market calls it chuanr; across Central Asia and the Caucasus it is shashlik; in Uyghur it is kawap. The cut, the cumin and the chili flake are the same argument in three languages — at Dolan's the lamb is halal and cut by hand.