Taste of Silk Road - Uyghur & Turkish Cuisine — Restaurant in Fairfax

Tried this place on a whim one Friday night as we were looking for something new and different. Boy, that's exactly what we found.

Mim's is a pretty unassuming restaurant located in a little strip mall just off of Main Street. The strip mall itself is one of those outdated ones where you feel like most of the shops have a pretty good chance of giving you food poisoning. But, if you have a little courage, it's also one of those places where you can find some pretty exciting hidden gems.

Mim's is a Uyghur restaurant which is a people group located in the Northwest region of China. So the food definitely does have some Chinese flair to it, but also has its own distinctions and unique flavors. This was my first time trying anything from this region, but I highly recommend it.

The shop itself is fairly small with about 10-12 tables sprinkled around a dining area. You order from the counter and the food is made fresh and delivered to you. When we went, there were only 2-3 other folks inside.

Since the food is made fresh it definitely takes a little time. We waited for about 15 minutes for our meal to come out and there's also a pretty limited selection of options. I think between 10-12. That said, it was certainly worth the wait.

Flavorful, fresh and absolutely delicious.

The only other piece worth noting is the price. While certainly not unreasonable, the meals ranged between $10-14 which, for a group, can start adding up.

Other than that, this place is definitely a local gem, a hole-in-the-wall find and well worth visiting if you're...

5 stars for the Restaurant and 5 Stars for Okyana!

This was my very first time visiting a Uyghur restaurant, and Mims Uyghur Cuisine made it such an incredible experience. From the moment I walked in, I felt genuinely welcomed, especially thanks to Okyana, one of the wonderful servers there. She was so warm, friendly, and knowledgeable — she took her time to walk me through the menu, explain each dish, and even showed me how to properly prepare and eat some of the items we ordered. It felt like having a friend guide me through a completely new cuisine, which made the meal even more special.

We ordered the Chuchure, Royal Laghman, Manta, and Beef Noodle Soup — and every single dish was outstanding. The flavors were rich, fresh, and completely different from anything I’ve had before. I was honestly shocked by how much I loved each one. Okyana’s recommendations were spot on, and you could tell she really cared about making sure we had a great experience.

They also had an incredible selection of fresh juices under the brand Oh Fresh, which I’d never tried before — another awesome discovery thanks to Okyana’s suggestion!

Mims Uyghur Cuisine isn’t just a great restaurant — it’s a place where the people truly make the experience unforgettable. I’m already looking forward to coming back. Huge thanks again to Okyana for making my first visit...

I've been to Mim's twice now. I wasn't particularly impressed the last time and decidedly less so this time. I absolutely love Uyghur food. Nothing beats laghman. A big bowl of spicy noodles and meat makes my night but this just wasn't it.

I specifically laghman spicy, which is taking your life into your own hands at most uyghur restaurants. What I got was just sad. The noodles were mediocre but the vegetables are what I could best describe as "wet". They tasted like they had a texture like they had boiled them in the sauce. That is doubly unfortunate because, if they used spices at all, I couldn't tell you what because the sauce was entirely flavorless and lacking any heat all. Maybe tasted a little of tomato.

I couldn't even tell you about the meat because there just wasn't any. The laghman, which was way overpriced at $17.50, had a grand total of 5 very small slivers of beef. I know, I counted. I would be embarrassed if I was the restaurant and I charged that kind of money for essentially a bowl of noodles and bland vegi soup. I got it to go and had to salvage the dish with my own spices and meat.

Save your money and just go to Eerkins or Kiroran. You'll get a better dish for a fraction...