Arzu Uyghur Cuisine | Newark

In September I stopped at Arzu Uyghur Cuisine in Newark CA to order take-out. I went inside to order in person instead of online since I had some questions. The two staffers I interacted with were eager to share their cuisine. Even though it was early, the kitchen was backed up with orders and I was warned that the wait would be more than 30 minutes. No problem, I got a beverage a couple doors down at QTea Monster https://www.chowhound.com/post/lady-m... and caught up on email in the car. When my order turned out to be ready earlier, the lady surprised me by bringing it out to the parking lot and found my car.

The carefully packed takeout traveled over the bridge to Palo Alto to share with my brother, and was still hot enough to not need reheating. Overall, very good quality and big quantities with good service make Arzu a definite keeper.

The extensive menu has the native name as well as Chinese characters, along with descriptions in English, and the receipt includes Chinese pinyin. Here's what we tried:

Kawa Manta, $10.99/six pieces - Vegetarian steamed dumplings filled with butternut squash puree with an accent of sprinkled black pepper. Not the thinnest of wrappers, yet not thick either, and rather rustic in character. Perhaps my favorite of this meal, or maybe I was so taken because this was my first time tasting something like this.

Polov, $14.99 - Pearly medium-grained white rice studded with roasted carrots, golden sultanas and raisins combined with a fall-off-the-bone tender lamb shank, yogurt and a side salad of diced cucumber and sweet red peppers. Described as braised rice on the menu, the chewy bite and individual grain of the rice was a delight, however executed.

Qiyama Gösh Leghmen, $13.99 - Firm hand-pulled noodles presented the varying widths and elastic thick and thin extra-long lengths that make this ancient Silk Road style of noodles such a favorite. The ground lamb with cabbage, onion and bell pepper in a gingery-tomato saucing were packaged separately to be combined on serving.

Merwayit Qoruma Chöp, $13.99 - Featuring pearl noodles, chewy nubs of pasta stir-fried with bits of lamb, cabbage, sweet red and yellow peppers, onion, ginger and garlic and moistened with tomato. Best eaten with a soup spoon, these reheated well for lunch a few days later. Since the flavors were so similar to the leghman dish, I enjoyed it more after a break.

Arzu is halal. Online ordering is available on its website and it works with the usual delivery suspects.

Arzu Uyghur Cuisine
39119 Cedar Blvd
Newark, CA
(510) 896-8027
Closed Tuesdays
https://www.facebook.com/Arzu-Uyghur-...