Three months after Pamirs moved to the bustling Taida (台大) area from Sindian (新店) in Taipei County, the eatery has secured a steady stream of customers with its home-cooked Xinjiang fare and wallet-friendly prices. Run by a couple who picked up their cooking skills during a stay in Urumqi, Pamirs has a homely feel and a clientele made up mostly of students and families.
The menu is roughly divided between rice, noodle and nan bread dishes, combined with various dishes of beef, chicken and lamb, as well as soups and desserts.
A popular Xinjiang staple is the meat nan (NT$100, 肉食囊). It tastes like the Taiwanese scallion pancake (蔥油餅), but instead of scallions it's flavored with diced lamb. Nan with meat (NT$150, 食囊包肉) is an appetizing reverse of meat nan, with stir-fried beef capping a sliced nan pancake.
PHOTO: HO YI, TAIPEI TIMES
True to its name, big-plate chicken (NT$350, 大盤雞) offers a filling portion of green bell peppers, onions, potatoes, carrots and chicken with plenty of dried chilies and peppers to give the dish a delicious piquancy. The handmade noodles that come with it are surprisingly al dente. This sauce also makes a delicious dip for sesame nan (NT$50, 芝麻食囊).
The mutton skewer (NT$100), another Xinjiang staple, was the biggest disappointment at a recent visit to Pamirs. The expected crispy cumin-flavored roasted meat served sizzling hot from a charcoal fire had little savor and came to the table tepid.
From the Muslim tradition, ta si mi (它似蜜, NT$200), a sour-sweet lamb plate seasoned with sugar, thick sweet sauce (甜麵醬), ginger and soy sauce, is a dish with an interesting story behind it. Folklore has it that ta si mi was named by the Dowager Empress Cixi (慈禧太后), who was greatly pleased by its honey tang. However, transplanted from Xinjiang to Taiwan and served at Pamirs, this famed Muslim dish is more vinegar-sour than honey-sweet.
Lamb consomme (缸缸羊肉湯, NT$70 for one person) provides yet another novel dining experience that involves sucking bone marrow through straws.
The service at Pamirs can be slow when the bargain eatery fills up, but the good value hearty meals it serves are certainly worth the wait and make the restaurant an excellent choice for a casual gathering of friends.
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