New Halal Xinjiang Lamb Restaurant Quietly Opened in Richmond

This Richmond unit spent the last four years serving Beijing cuisine.

Now it has gone back to what its predecessor served: Xinjiang food.

Dolan, a new halal Xinjiang restaurant, quietly opened at 8111 Leslie Road on September 2, the corner unit Szechuan Tales left behind in August.

We stumbled on it and went in anonymously with the family.

The room is bigger than the corner suggests.

Round tables with lazy susans fill the middle, blue chairs run along the walls, and the ceiling is pressed with a repeating pattern from front to back.

The back wall is white brick with a giant carpet hung across it, ringed by decorative plates, with Xinjiang instruments and photos on the wall beside it.

Staff told us the owner is not from Xinjiang but has connections to the region.

At the time of our visit I could not find a single RedNote post about the place, which is RARE for a Richmond opening.

The menu says what the kitchen is going for in one line: “Traditional Uyghur and Xinjiang food centers on communal sharing, featuring slow-cooked meats, handmade noodles, and fresh spices.”

It reads like it too.

Big plate chicken over handmade belt noodles, a Barköl braised lamb with flatbread, lamb ribs three ways, laghman, Uyghur polo, manti, and lamb, beef and chicken skewers off the grill.

We ordered three dishes and they fed the family.

The half lamb soup was the one I would go back for.

On a chilly night it was super satisfying, with real depth in the broth and none of the salt bomb I expected.

Sliced lamb, tomato, wood ear mushroom and vermicelli sit in a cloudy broth that tastes of lamb first and seasoning second.

The Dolan signature fried rice is the retell detail: jasmine rice tossed with beef jerky and pumpkin, onion and bell pepper through it, on a plate big enough to pass around twice.

The signature stir fried lamb came sliced thin with garlic bolt, chilli, wood ear and silver ear mushroom, and it went as fast as the rice.

Every plate was a proper sharing portion, and the three together add up to $74 on the menu.

The service was the part that ACTUALLY surprised me.

Staff helped split the soup into smaller bowls for the table, and at the end they fully packed our leftovers instead of handing over a box.

The address has history with this cuisine.

Beijiang Restaurant, a halal Xinjiang spot, ran out of this unit for years before Szechuan Tales took the corner in 2022, and Szechuan Tales lasted four years before closing without notice in August.

Different owners, different restaurant, but not quite a relaunch.

But the corner is back to lamb and cumin, which is not how most Richmond turnovers go.

Dolan joins other recently opened Richmond spots including Datang Bistro, Teabydo and El Comal Express.

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Address: 8111 Leslie Road, Richmond, BC