Silk Road

Xinjiang Chinese

49 Camberwell Church St, Camberwell, SE5 8TR

£

Silk Road is a simple and unassuming restaurant based on Camberwell church street. There is no website, so you will need to call to make a booking like the good old days and the only way you can perv over its menu pre-dining is through Zomato images. It’s been a while in the making, but South East London is now a complete hotbed of cuisine: with the likes of The Begging Bowl (Thai), Kudu (South African) and Bala Baya (Israeli) calling it their home. Focusing on the north-west province of Xinjiang, Silk Road is an addictive experience that will leave you with a full belly and a happy wallet.

The interiors are brightly-lit pub-bench style dining, similar to many of the canteens I experienced in South East Asia: it’s simple, purpose-driven, fast-paced eating. Prices range from a £3 steal up to £28 for a whole chicken. A friend had already been, letting her co-diner order for her based-on experience. We followed suit – letting Asta take over the reassuringly small but largely varied menu and order for the four of us. She went for the Shredded Kelp (£3), Home Style Aubergine (£6), Xinjiang Lamb Shish (£1 per skewer), Fish Shish (£2.50 per skewer), Luxury Noodle (£7), Xinjiang Style Fried Noodles (£6.50), Beef and Onion Dumplings (£4) and Garlic Pork (£4). We each ordered a large bottle of beer to go with it.

Where to start? The kelp came first – almost instantly, followed closely by the garlic pork. The kelp was a lovely consistency – like a wet seaweed, with both crunch and tasty slime, seasoned perfectly with chilli and garlic. The garlic pork was quite simply sublime – for a dish that is only £4, there was a large helping of tender juicy pork pieces, swimming in a chilli and garlic oil and fried alongside onions. We couldn’t help fighting over this one, dipping other dishes into every last remanent of the sauce: it was so good we ordered another one. Next to arrive was the lamb shish: small pieces of perfectly fatty lamb were coated in a healthy dose of cumin and fried on a skewer. I’m not usually a fan of fatty lamb, but these were so perfectly crispy they simply melted in your mouth, bursting with juicy spice, like nothing I had experienced before and absolutely delicious. Eat it whilst it's hot.

The fish skewers were equally as impressive, but for completely different reasons. The smokey charcoal grill added another dimension to the boneless red snapper that was also delightfully seasoned with salt, cumin and chilli. The snapper was cooked enough to retain shape, but not for one second overdone as to make it lose the perfect flakey element you want from any white fish. It was delicate and honest, and seemed out of place in a venue as loud, busy and energetic as this. Next to arrive: the two sets of noodles. To be completely honest, I couldn’t much tell the difference between these – aside from the Luxury Noodle had a fried egg on top. This was a positive, however, as once the Xinjiang Noodles were finished, I was devastated – thick, luscious, indulgent, swimming in a sublime sauce and containing tender pieces of lamb. Therefore, when a dish almost identical arrived, I was over the moon.

The aubergine was good, stir fried with tomato and green chilli. It arrived PIPING hot and took a while to cool down, probably because of all the delicious oil that had soaked into it (maybe a little too much… but it was easily forgivable). Last to arrive were the beef and onion dumplings, which I was apprehensive about after a disappointing dumpling experience the previous weekend. I needn’t have feared, these were the only fried dumpling options on the menu, but were perfectly crisp, flavour filled pockets of juicy joy. Hooray! They were so good we thought we’d try some more, and went for the egg, leek and shrimp filling (£4.5). These were nowhere near as good, the steamed dumplings holding less flavour and more water. Serves us right for being greedy I suppose.

The verdict? Silk road is one of the most reasonably priced, and most memorable Chinese restaurants I have had the fortune of visiting in the capital. The food is different, authentic, fresh. You won’t find any deep-fried chicken balls or crispy chilli beef here, instead you will find quality cooking, served fast and confidently. One of my biggest regrets of 2020 is not going to this place for a second time before lockdown hit again. I pray that it survives this awful year and I promise I will make up for the lost time when it re-opens. A love affair, affirmative.

OVERALL RATING: *****

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