Dolan Uyghur Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

I do not enjoy panning restaurants. After unsuccessfully attempting multiple times to address my concern via multiple emails with the restaurant owner, I feel that I have to share my experience.

My husband and I made reservations for dinner on Saturday evening, January 8th. Initial impressions were positive: this is clearly a local destination for Uyghur cuisine, with a crowded dining room and pasta being hand-stretched in the partially-visible kitchen. We were made to feel welcome and enjoyed much of our meal.

It became evident that the staff were clearly overwhelmed by the volume of diners, as demonstrated by my entree arriving 20-25 minutes after my husband's. We repeatedly asked the server about the plate, and he merely indicated that it would be ready momentarily. When we were about to tell him to forget about it, the plate arrived; it clearly had been forgotten and then slapped together at the last moment. We have had Uyghur cuisine before; as I later advised the owner, the dish was tasteless, hastily prepared, and significantly more expensive than what I could have prepared myself at home.

Rather than immediately posting this review, I emailed the owner to share my concerns. While he apologized for our experience and offered to refund the cost of my entree, he did not do so. I had to follow up with him by email more than once before he indicated that his credit card machine was unable to process the refund and that he would be happy to give me a $30 gift certificate for our next visit. By this point, I was irritated and wrote him that we are not interested in returning to his restaurant.

The owner then offered to phone me directly to issue the refund manually. I provided my phone number for him to call. It took him over a week to call, at which point he took our credit card information to refund the cost of my entree. Guess what: surprise, surprise: no refund. I am now tired of attempting to hunt him down for his attempt to rectify the situation.

Clearly, there is an audience for this restaurant, and I can vouch that some of the food is authentic and tasty. Others may have a wonderful experience at Dolan, but we did not. Dining out at an upscale restaurant is expensive and should be an enjoyable experience, not a case study in poor customer service. And do know that this restaurant is pricey for what it offers. Moreover, as mentioned in a couple of other reviews, there is music and it is LOUD.

Caveat emptor. We will not be...

Me and my friends had lunch here (5 people in total). The food was hit and miss: while some things were definitely good, like the noodles and the veggies for example, the meat was not as fresh and tasty. We were also puzzled by the fact that, after waiting almost 30 minutes for our entrees, the server came back and told us that while the dishes were ready, they ran out of rice and so they offered us to sub it with a side of bread to avoid waiting extra time for cooking some more. This seemed like a lack of coordination on the kitchen side. The desserts are definitely recommended. Concerning the service, the waiter that picked up our orders was polite and competent. However, after that, we started being served by different people at every step, leading to a long wait time that seemed unjustified, considering that the restaurant was almost empty when we got there and it only filled up towards the end of our stay. The servers were not even putting the food in front of each person, they were just putting every plate in one corner of the table and leave us the responsibility to pass the dishes around. Moreover, in the process of removing the empty dishes from our tables, one waitress handled the dishes in a weird way and was very close to spilling red sauce all over my t-shirt. I had to preemptively move out of the way to give her space and she still spilled sauce on the table. In general, the service felt poor. Finally, the price was honest and consistent with other restaurants in the area. The atmosphere was okay. Considering that most reviews for this restaurant are very enthusiastic, we had high expectations that were only partially met: we might have been unlucky and got there...

Overall it’s pretty good and I can’t be too picky since there’s no authentic Uyghur restaurant in NYC at all.

Pros: Food was authentic and tasty. Recommend the lamb kebab (羊肉串), pearled noodles (丁丁炒面) and samsa (烤包子). To be noted, the pearled noodles was a bit too moist than I expected as they used too much ketchup, but the noodle was very chewy and the flavor was just right (besides ketchup). Maybe I’ll try the mild instead of medium spicy next time, the little pieces of hot pepper skins bothered me when it stuck on my tongue. Plenty of tables and I could sit outside on balcony - perfect social distance to everything. Food was prepared quickly so I could even make some time to the zoo! Yah, only 10mins walk to the zoo. From stepped into the restaurant to left the door was only 45 mins. Parking was easy on the same side of Ordway St NW and 2hrs free.

Cons: Polow (羊肉手抓饭 lamb pilaf) was my favorite Uyghur dish in my life time, period. But they didn’t make it perfect. Lamb tasted stale as well as the rice clustered in several balls and more or less sticky. Either it’s not made freshly this morning or the chef didn’t know how to cook it, whichever it’s not recommended unless you want it badly. Butter naan (馕). I couldn’t tell it’s Uyghur naan when it’s served if I didn’t see the pressed print. The taste was closer to the fluffy pancake every family from north would make. Skip...