xi’an in flushing

posted in: food, new york 1

the best food I’ve had in NYC was in a Flushing food court. actually, the term ‘food court’ is misleading. it’s more like a collection of half a dozen Chinese food stalls in the basement of a place called Golden Mall (also a misnomer because the ‘mall’ appears to consist entirely of this basement). after hmm-ing and haw-ing awhile between … Read More

facelifting kashgar

posted in: china 0

Chinese officials are demolishing Kashgar’s Old City to prevent calamity in case of earthquake in this tremor-prone region of Xinjiang. To give some perspective on this project, many of the 13,000 families who live in the city belong to the Uighur ethnic minority, a people who–like the Tibetans to the South–have in the past been targets of clampdowns by the … Read More

uyghur resto hotpot

posted in: food, montreal 2

back at that xinjiang restaurant on st-laurent in chinatown. the hotpot was pretty good as far as what I’ve had in montreal. interesting because it was spicy with a reminder of that flavouring they use on 羊肉串 (lamb kebabs)–probably just cumin, but still makes it taste vaguely exotic. or addictive. or whatever. [did I ever mention the urban legend of … Read More

separatist restos in montreal

posted in: food, montreal 6

I really miss this kind of food–there are muslim restaurants all over beijing, whose specialty is lamb, lamb, and lots of lamb. After I came back I tried an older xinjiang restaurant on côte-des-neiges, and was refreshed by the waitress and her distinctive accent when she greeted us in chinese: the xinjiang people are both beautiful and multilingual (as most … Read More