David’s Noodle and Hot Pot

Famous for its Tianshan mountains and its gold and jade stones, the region shares its borders with Mongolia and Kazakhstan, which reveals a lot about the cuisine.

“Xinjiang food is influenced by its neighbours and is very different to other Chinese food that is usually found in Australia,” part-owner and head chef David Siomin said. “It appeals to both Chinese and Western tastes and is based on big aromas and copious amounts of flavours.”

Opening last February, the restaurant is known for its cumin-dusted lamb and chicken skewers, handmade wheat noodles, rich and thick soups and its special carrot and spice rice.

The skewers, made with cumin-dusted chunks of lamb or chicken, are marinated and cooked using an intricate traditional process of grilling and fanning over a bed of hot charcoals.

The Xinjiang region is famous for its chewy and soft wheat noodles, and Narati’s menu is filled with dishes made with these special handmade noodles. Our favourite: chefs wok-toss chewy wheat noodles with cumin, chilli, lamb, capsicum and cabbage, which are all common ingredients of Xinjiang’s cuisine.

Along with serving a menu filled with delicious Xinjiang eats, Narati Noodle and Grill also serves mala tang – a kind of choose-your-own-adventure hot pot that is hugely popular in north-east China.

For mala tang newbies, the ordering technique is simple. Pick up a bowl and some tongs from the counter and pick whatever you want from shelves stacked with fresh and preserved Chinese foods and place in your bowl with some freshly made handmade noodles.

There are more than 40 different items you can choose, ranging from sliced lamb, mussels, fish fillet, shiitake mushrooms, lotus root, Chinese wombok, bamboo shoots, quail eggs, tofu, meatballs and pork intestines.

Once you’re done, hand the bowl over to staff, who will weigh it, tally up the price per kilo and then fill the bowl with Narati’s signature steaming broth. When you receive your transformed bowl of goodness, add in garlic, shallots or chilli to give the soup texture and an extra layer of flavour.

“We travelled to China to learn the traditional art of mala tang,” David said. “Our broth is made using 50 different ingredients and is boiled for six to eight hours. The recipe is our very own and it is a secret…no one knows how to make it except me.”

Despite the complex broth being a secret, David mentioned that it was made using Szechuan peppers and packed a flavoursome chilli punch.