The best things we ate this week

I’ve been following the lagman trail for some time now, savoring these chewy, hand-pulled Central Asian noodles from the Uzbek soup bowls of Northeast Philadelphia. Try them at Uzbekistan Restaurant, or in chef Temir Satybaldiev’s stir-fried tribute to his Kyrgyzstani grandmother on the Slavic fusion menu at Ginger. Now, another version of lagman noodles — traditional to the Uyghur ethnic minority in Western China — has landed in University City with Uyghur Noodle King.

Located in an airy glass box of a space next to Paris Baguette near 38th and Chestnut, this is the first restaurant for co-owners Husenjan “Yush” Damolla and Abdurahman Tawakul. Damolla came to Drexel to study finance 13 years ago and ultimately stayed, working in real estate before finally turning this November to his passion for the food of his hometown, Kashgar, China. The all-halal recipes come from Damolla’s cousin, Mirkamil Rozi, who has a restaurant in Australia and has been training the duo remotely through Zoom sessions between their kitchens. So far, it’s paid off nicely with a tight but tasty menu of flaky samsa turnovers, fragrant kebabs, “big plate chicken” stews laced with numbing Szechuan peppercorn spice, and excellent handmade dumplings stuffed with lamb.

The lagman, though, are the main event, with twine-like noodles that have the kind of elastic snap that can only be achieved through hand-pulling — a vigorous game of cat’s cradle that transforms a single lump of dough into a fistful of 30 or so longer strands. The final dish tosses those noodles into a hot wok with morsels of bell pepper, ginger, chives, and a dried pepper paste that combines with vinegar and soy to create a zesty glaze that glows with tang and spice. Damolla concedes they’re still working on consistency, but relies daily on his cousin’s best advice: “Just follow your heart and imagine you’re cooking for the people back home.” Uyghur Noodle King, 3816 Chestnut St., 347-507-8788, instagram.com/uyghur_noodle_king

— Craig LaBan

As an ex-New Yorker, it’s my birthright to hate Detroit-style pizza. At its worst, it’s just soggy-yet-burnt bread that lacks the je ne sais quois of a good tomato slice. But at Emmy Squared — Detroit pizza by way of two New York City hot shots who can’t stop opening satellite locations — the square pies rank among the best non-traditional pizza in the city.

Emmy Squared’s MVP pie is composed of ingredients that border on sacrilegious: a Wisconsin cheese blend, a mix of vodka and red sauce swirled with parsley pesto, and a sesame seed crust with an almost focaccia-style crumb. A VIP version is topped with Calabrian chilies and pepperoni slices so crispy the edges fold up to form tiny cups. The result is a flavor combo that hits all the right notes: a little bit of tang, a touch of spice, and an herbaceous finish from the pesto. Good pizza, after all, really is just excellent bread slathered with sauce and cheese. So if the elements are all there, who cares if the form is a little off? 632 S. 5th St., 267-551-3669, emmysquaredpizza.com

— Beatrice Forman

How transformative can a piece of bread be? Turns out, very. Especially if you’re able to keep it perfectly crunchy (almost funnel-cakelike), douse it in a bath of decadent caramel, then top it off with a perfect dollop of vanilla ice cream.

I give you Meetinghouse’s caramel toast, an item on the Kensington restaurant‘s menu I would have never thought to order had it not been highly recommended to me by a friend (or two, actually). I’ll truly be dreaming of it for some time to come. Well, that, and Meetinghouse’s green salad — it could double as a wedding centerpiece — and a crab dip that would make any Marylander proud. Meetinghouse, 2331 E. Cumberland St., meetinghousebeer.com

— Patricia Madej