Hum: Altay Flame introduces Ottawa to Uyghur kebabs and noodle dishes

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“Our neighbourhood, a lot of elderly people, retired people, they also come here,” says Deli. “They really like it. I just do less spicy. But I try to keep (the) original taste. I want to do authentic Uyghur cuisine in the city. I don’t want to do Canadian Ugyhur cuisine.”

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Altay Cuisine’s food “tastes the same as in China, but less spicy. But if customers ask more spicy, we can do it more spicy,” Deli says.

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After I told Deli that I preferred my food on the spicier side, he sprinkled some dried chili powder on some chicken kebabs ($24 for a platter including four skewers). Cumin still registered as the dominant spice, but the chicken’s great attraction was its juiciness. Lamb kebabs ($30) were equally toothsome.

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Chicken thigh kebabs with bulgur at Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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In Xinjiang, such kebabs might best be served with house-baked flatbreads that would sop up their juices. At Altay Flame, Deli makes do with store-bought pita as his kitchen is too small for the requisite bread oven. He also bulks up the platters with bulgur and a tomato and onion salad, which bring to mind the generous kebab platters of Ottawa’s Turkish restaurants.

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Lamb kebabs at Altay Flame on Beechwood Avenue in Vanier. Photo by Peter Hum /Postmedia

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Altay Flame also serves the accurately named big plate chicken ($40), a feast for two that mounds a chicken’s worth of chicken pieces with potatoes, peppers, onion, garlic and chilies over wide hand-pulled noodles. The backstory for this hearty dish is that it is apparently a Sichuan chef’s creation in Xinjiang, favoured by drivers in the province’s truck stops. My big plate of chicken meat was drier than I would have liked, and I think I should have requested it, like other Altay Flame dishes, to be full-on spicy.

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Big plate chicken at  Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Of the appetizers here, I’d give the nod to the mantu ($24), which were plump steamed dumplings with lamb fillings. Samsa ($5), a pastry filled with seasoned minced lamb and onion, also appealed, as did zingy cucumber salad ($8). Lamb broth with carrots and potatoes ($12) was too mild for my taste.

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Mantu lamb dumplings at Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue in Vanier. Photo by Peter Hum / Postmedia

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Samsa meat pies at  Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Cucumber salad at Altay Flame on Beechwood Avenue in Vanier Photo by Peter Hum / Postmedia

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Lamb soup for two at Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue. Photo by (Photo: Peter Hum / Postmedia)

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Deli says that Uyghur cuisine is very meat-forward and short on sweets. Still, he serves a loose and orange-tinged, nut-topped rice pudding ($9), which nods more to Turkey than Xinjiang. He keeps his rice puddings on display in the chilled case that used to hold SushiME’s offerings at its small sushi counter.

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Rice pudding at Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue in Vanier. Photo by Peter Hum / Postmedia

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While there aren’t many Uyghurs in Ottawa — perhaps 20 or so families, Deli suggests — many Chinese expats who went to similar restaurants in China come to Altay Flame, Deli says.

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“There’s a huge, huge Chinese population. They really know and like this cuisine,” he says.

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Although Altay Flame is Ottawa’s first Uyghur restaurant and scarcely half a year old, Deli says there’s a market for the unique cuisine it offers.

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He already has plans to open a second location, further west in Ottawa. “I’m really looking for spaces,” Deli says. “If I find a good location, my team is ready.”

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Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine

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The interior of Altay Flame Uyghur Cuisine on Beechwood Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Open: Tuesday to Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Monday

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Prices: most main courses between $20 and $30

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Access: no steps to front door or washrooms

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