After a nice afternoon watching ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ at the Empire my partner and I fancied getting some dinner. Feeling a bit experimental we took to Hoe street just past Central to go to Etles.
Etles serves Uyghur cuisine. They are an ethnic group that live across central Asia. Looking at the menu in the window I was much excited by talk for tripe and lambs hoof dishes. However my partner suggested a chicken dish, Dapenji, for two which sounded nice.
Inside there is a selection of ethnic art adorning the walls, including a number of nazar, that staple of Turkish culture. There only seemed to be one lady waiting tables, of which there were only a few, and she seated us straight away. We ordered our dish and some tea to go with it. We were distinctly asked whether we wanted the dish hot; we played safe and asked for mild.
Not a music shop on Charing Cross Road
There were a mix of patrons in the restaurant. While there is no alcohol on the menu some seemed to have BYOB’d.
A rich tapestry
There was an appetiser, whether it came with our dish or to all customers I don’t know. There was hummus with a couple of olives and flat bread, and some pickles. A nice start.
They were busy but the we didn’t have long to wait for our dish to arrive.
This dish for “2 to 3” is about half a metre across!
Well, if you want Instagrammable food this is the place for you!
So this dish had lovely thick noodles which are clearly handmade in their slight inconsistency. Moist, tender chicken, potato and bell peppers seasoned with garlic, star anise, pepper corns, ginger, and ALL THE CHILLIS.
Those burgundy tubes are literally a plate full of chillis after we’d finished
I suspect they used milder chillis to make the dish but it was still pretty hot and we were pretty sweaty! But the food was lovely and the sauce had a deep and rich flavour. And it was very filling for two.
The food came to £25 with £3 for a pot of tea for two (plus tip, obvs). We’re already talking of trying again and I have my eye on the tripe or lambs hoof courses. It’s one of the most alternative options for eating in the stow and I recommend it if you’re in a brave, experimental mood!
EDIT: Forgot an important point, they didn’t take card payments at the time so were cash only.
Weird Walthamstow 