"Jiang Diner (309 E. 5th St., between First and Second avenues) is a new Chinese restaurant in the East Village that seeks to present a Xinjiang menu with big tray chicken (called da pan ji in Chinese) as its centerpiece. The squarish room feels more like a café than a diner, with metal chairs, hanging conical lights, a cushy banquet, bare bricks, red accents, and a couple of colorful abstract paintings. Here called Xinjiang big plate chicken and available in two sizes, with or without bones, the dish ($16 to $26) retains much of its excitement. Jiang Diner’s version has been drained of its chile oil but remains spicy with red chiles, with the chicken still intensely flavorful. Unfortunately, the Sichuan peppercorns are gone, but maybe you won’t miss them. We’ve had Uyghur restaurants in the city before, most notably Café Kashkar in Brighton Beach and the kosher Cafe Arzu in Rego Park. But while those restaurants lean more toward Central Asia, Jiang Diner is quite different in its outlook. The restaurant identifies itself as more Chinese than at either of those previous places, though Kashkar also had Chinese elements, most notably in its description of Central Asian plov as “fried rice.” Jiang Diner also refers to its purse-shaped manti dumplings as shumai, even though they are not the sort of fragile little dumplings one finds in a Cantonese or Japanese restaurants. They are nevertheless quite good, bulging with a wet lamb or beef filling. The dumpling skins are way more delicate than the doughy ones found in, say, a Uzbekistan restaurant like Nargis Cafe. The greatest strength of Jiang Diner lies in its introduction of dishes we hadn’t really seen before in New York. Most brilliant of all, but also on the expensive side, is its plate of lamb ribs ($26), either steamed or roasted, and presented with dipping reservoirs of powdered Asian cumin and thick chile paste. Those who eschew fat should avoid these, but there is no more flavorful lamb in town, except perhaps some local versions of Mexican barbacoa. Another dish that shouldn’t be missed is the steamed eggplant with fresh garlic paste ($8), which will feel somewhat familiar to anyone who frequents local Sichuan restaurants. This one also features potatoes, while red bell peppers add sweetness. I liked it so much that I tried it twice, and the time it was served to me warm, it was transcendent. There are a couple of inferior things, too. The rice noodle section of the menu is a bit weak, as is the dish called sautéed crispy pancake in cumin flavor, offered in vegetable, chicken, lamb, and beef versions. It turns out to be a very dry bread salad, with little in it besides the turban-shaped bread that is the region’s signature loaf. With a little more grease and a little more cumin, it could be great. Still, I’m glad it’s on the menu and is worth experiencing once. It allows Jiang Diner to give us a truer picture of the food of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs, whose contributions to New York food culture are now even more pronounced." - Robert Sietsema
