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A little preparation. A much better adventure.Independent travel advice · Made for China
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A taste of Xinjiang

Abula's Father's Tinned Meat

阿布拉老爸罐罐肉

A Kashgar old-city shop that has been making guanguanrou since 1947: lamb with carrot and onion sealed into old enamelled tins and slow-cooked, the tins themselves salvaged from the mid-century. It is a genuinely unusual regional dish you will not meet in Urumqi, and the shop is a short walk from the Id Kah Mosque.

Price not confirmedKashgar old city, near the Id Kah Mosque (艾提尕尔清真寺) area
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Why come here

A place worth making time for

Known as a Kashgar institution established in 1947, making lamb guanguanrou in vintage enamel tins; no formal award.

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Tinned lamb with carrot and onion (罐罐肉)
  • Nan to eat it with (馕)
  • Lamb broth (羊肉汤)

What it actually tastes like

Very plainly seasoned slow-cooked lamb — salt, onion, carrot and not much else — so the mutton flavour is front and centre. Bones are usually left in.

Allergens in this kitchen

gluten/wheat

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.

Get to know the menu

Local specialities to try here

Shorpa (lamb broth) 羊肉汤Clean, mild and restorative, tasting of lamb and sweet root vegetables with nothing else competing.