Dolan Uyghur Restaurant — Restaurant in Rockville

We visited on a weekday evening during the restaurant’s soft opening. The décor features distinctive Uyghur elements, such as stuffed camels and traditional-style chandeliers, which create a unique atmosphere.

We were seated quickly. The staff were friendly and polite, though they seemed inexperienced — perhaps still in training. They didn’t check in during the meal or ask if we needed anything until we requested it.

Big Plate Chicken $59.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️❌

This is the restaurant’s signature dish. It was well-cooked and flavorful, but unfortunately far too salty. I had to order extra noodles (at an additional cost) to balance out the saltiness. On the positive side, the noodles were excellent — very springy and satisfying.

Lamb Kabob $6.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️❌

Generous portion and good flavor. The lamb was of high quality, which I really liked, but the texture was not as tender, juicy, or bouncy as I had hoped.

Fried Eggplant $17.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Soft, flavorful, and delicious. The sauce paired perfectly with rice.

Uyghur Yogurt $6.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Refreshing and not overly sweet — very enjoyable.

Dolan Cake: $11.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An excellent pastry. The mille-feuille layers are crisp, and the cream is light and not overly sweet. Highly recommended.

Goshnan $23.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The pancake is soft and flaky, with tender, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of lamb and beef inside, absolutely delicious.

Whole Lamb Tandoor Kabob $32.95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️❌

The lamb is tender and flavorful, and the rice underneath is tasty though just a touch dry—pair it with the sauce from the Big Plate Chicken and it’s perfect.

Overall: A promising restaurant with tasty dishes and authentic flavors, though some seasoning adjustments and more attentive service would make the experience...

This may have been one of my worst, if not the worst restaurant experience I have ever had. We were seated immediately with a mostly empty restaurant. The waitress said they were a bit overwhelmed, which may be growing pains of a new restaurant.

However, the surprise came as the restaurant began to fill over the next 40min and our food had not arrived (stir fried noodles). We asked a few times if the food was coming soon as we saw others getting their food and we were seated and ordered at least 10min before. Surprisingly 1 dish came out as soon as we asked about it at the 40min mark. The other dish had not arrived for 30min more. At this point over an hour in, 1 person with food, the other without and no sign that the food would ever come. We asked for the food to be made to go and for the check.

The restaurant was again nearly empty and the second plate of (vegetarian) noodles still never arrived. The to-go box never arrived, but the check arrived. They kindly didn't charge for the order that never came, but it took a guest leaving and asking 6 different employees if the food was at least being prepared.

The experience felt dishonest and as though we were ignored. Would not recommend this restaurant and will not...

I’ve lived in China, I’ve had food in Urumqi Xinjiang, Beijing and Chongqing and even had Chinese food in Malaysia, and I was very excited to go and have this Halal Xinjiang Uyghur food at Dolan but I was absolutely heartbroken when I experienced that the taste was far from Chinese. The eggplant was the closest thing to the Chinese food I had there. The Signature Rice noodles were abysmal, too much salt, I even complained and the server just said that your feedback will be delivered to the Chef, I mean dude, that doesn’t solve my problem, I’m paying for this inconsistent poisonously salty dish which I cannot even eat! I know Piter Manta (dumplings) are supposed to be lamby and have that gamey lamb smell, but man here the smell was intense. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, in Urumqi they asked us if we wanted really smelly one or less smell, obviously my preference is less smell! They should have chicken, beef and shrimp dumplings with no smell too. The Eggplant was the star of the show but sadly I’m not coming back here. Even the Chilli oil was bland with no real kick or flavoring. I love Chinese food but sadly this didn’t...