SGV: Whole Lamb at Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine

 

Before I headed off to Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine in the San Gabriel Valley to partake in a whole lamb lunch, I tried to do as much research as possible. I had not seen any photos of the whole lamb. Surely someone had pictures or blogged it? Apparently not! True, Dolan’s is a fairly new restaurant that just opened recently but had no one ordered the $468 lamb that required 2 days advance notice (and a $200 deposit)?

So we went in not expecting anything. And perhaps that’s why our expectations were not only met but exceeded.

 

We had confirmed the lamb would come with salad. Our group of 17 were evenly split on rice or noodles as a side we’d order. I am forever Team Noodles!

 

We did lots of tea and I just adored the teapot and teacups. So steampunk! The tea itself was a dreamy blend heavily of cardamon.

 

We decided to get more veggies. In retrospect, we should have asked for these sides to come with our lamb. Although we didn’t fill up on our appetizers, it would have been nice to alternate between the meat and veg.

I loved the cabbage salad and would get this again.

 

We talked about the soaring price of celery (gosh darn fad diets!) but I really love cooked celery so I wouldn’t pass this up.

 

 

 

As mentioned, I was on the side of the table that got noodles so no rice pics! But we loved the perfect al dente texture of these noodles. We probably should have ordered more carbs but Dolan’s was out of plain naan.

As for the lamb? Yes, it was delicious. At some point I held up a large piece and wanted to know what I was eating exactly. Pelvis someone replied. Okay, then!

The skin could be a little salty but once you get further in, it’s perfect. It’s marinated for 24 hours and roasted for another day. They asked if we wanted to attack it ourselves after they wheeled out the whole lamb (sans head) but we had them carve it for us.

This is not a quick lunch so be prepared to spend a couple of hours catching up with your buddies as you wait for your magnificent lamb.

I can’t wait to go back to try their Big Plate Chicken (I’ve had the Chinese version of this at other SGV spots and would be curious to compare). I also want to try the bean jelly, spicy fish and of course more lamb. Perhaps I’ll just get some lamb skewers next time. The tower kabob sounds amazing (I hope it’s lamb jenga).

Whether you think this is Chinese food as it’s officially known as the Xinjiang region of China, Uyghur food is very special. And the SGV has other halal/ Uyghur spots. So a salty Uyghur milk tea and lamb crawl next?

 

Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine

742 W Valley Blvd., Alhambra, CA 91803  —  (626) 782-7555

 

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