Silk Road

I must have walked past this restaurant upwards of fifty times, often noticing and being perplexed by its unskilfully hand-painted sign, before a friend, having read positive reviews in the national press, persuaded me to accompany him on a visit.

Oh, that I should have missed out on this gem! It is the sort of place that, far more than serving wonderful food, makes one wonder: why can't more of the world be organised like this? It is far more than a simply matter of efficiency. The entire operation exudes a sense of confidence, unpretentiousness, and clarity of thinking.

Perhaps the most unmissable dish is the home-style cabbage. It costs £5, and makes a good-sized starter for two or three people. And what a plate of cabbage this is! Lightly fried in black vinegar, with copious dried red chillies, and other ingredients that I could not fathom to identify, this dish succeeds in transforming a mundane vegetable into something verging on the genuinely sublime.

Augment your cabbage with a plate of lamb kebab skewers. The Chinese region of Xin Jiang, the cuisine of which form the basis of the menu, reaches deep into central Asia, and nowhere is this more evident than in the charred, gelatinous deliciousness of these meat-and-fat delicacies. They are intensely enjoyable, and cost only 80p each (although there's a minimum order of five).

The names of many of the dishes are disarmingly uncomplicated, with my favourite main dish a case in point. 'Medium Plate Chicken' is the younger sibling of 'Big Plate Chicken' and 'Special Big Plate Chicken', and features succulent chunks of chicken (on the bone), potatoes, and green vegetables, engulfed in a light but richly spiced and flavoured broth. When you have after an interval about long enough to dispatch most of the meat and veg, a plate of freshly made wide 'belt' noodles will be lowered into the remaining broth. Costing £9 and large enough to feed three comfortably, this is, like the rest, de