Intizar Restaurant — Restaurant in Dubai

Intizar is a Chinese restaurant in International City that specialises in the cuisine of the Xinjiang province, an autonomous territory in northwest China and home to many ethnic minority groups, including the Turkic Uyghur people. Calling this restaurant Chinese is correct but misleading because there is no chicken chow mein served here, no kung pao prawns or beef broccoli oyster. Xinjiang food is mainly roasted mutton, kebabs, fish and rice. And the most pronounced spice is cumin, not five spice. The restaurant is located in Building F05 of the China Cluster International City, Dubai’s unofficial China Town.

There are so many dishes one should try. My favourites include Uyghur polo or “rice pilaf”. If you know Central Asian cuisine you will immediately see the similarity between Kabuli Polo, Uzbek Plov and Uyghur Polo – common to all are shredded carrots mixed in with rice and topped with pieces of fatty mutton. Intizar’s version is fantastic. Another must-have are their short skewered mutton kababs, called Kawap. Dusted in a rub of ground cumin, red pepper and God-only-knows-what-else, they are unique to say the least. The only downside is that, no matter what you do or say, they end up overcooking them.

Uyghur pulled noodles, known as Lagman, are another must try. Thick as udon noodles, they are full-bodied and chewy. Try the Gan Ban Mian (literally translated as 'dried mixed noodles') – they’re really good, especially if you like your noodles a little spicy. The same can be had as a soup (which we also tried). It differs from other Chinese soups because of the strong taste of tomato. If, like me, soup is your thing then you might also want to consider their Hun Tun or dumpling soup – it’s a meal on its own and quite delicious.

There are a number of Turkic Uyghur restaurants in International City, most notably As’salam which is also in the China Cluster and not far from Intizar. It’s the restaurant Chef Yari left Intizar to set up. That said, I prefer Intizar to As’salam. If you’re looking to expand your Chinese palate, want to try something different or simply want to have the best Uyghur food in Dubai, this is the...

Intizar restaurant in International City has cuisine indigenous to the Turkic Uyghur ethnic minority.

The star dish and certainly the must-order is a bowl of Längmän pulled noodles with lamb or beef. It has vegetables like Bulgarian peppers, eggplants, radish, potatoes, onions, garlic, spices etc.

This hearty bowl of noodles is especially popular in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan where it is considered a national dish of the local ethnic minorities. It is also popular in Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Northeastern Afghanistan.

Their menu and food preparations are quite different from what your typical Chinese dishes are so do not go in expecting that.

Intizar is very reasonable to eat at, it's clean and has a no-frills vibe to it. A good restaurant to explore if...

Never expected that staffs are gonna be so un polite and unwelcoming. One of them has even talked like his is not happy to see us. I don’t understand their customer service at all. May be the food is delicious I did not taste yet but I came here by the referral of my friends and can’t sit there where people are acting like they are the only one in the whole universe and on high demand.

Thanks for the alternative restaurant “AS’Salam” where staffs are always happy to see you and keeping the service on the top level. For me personally the Uygur food is the best in this restaurant As’Salam. It’s just 2 minutes walk from “Intizar” restaurant.

For me the service and people are more important than the best food in the town where you have to eat get...