MENLO PARK, CA — A downtown Menlo Park restaurant has traded its Uyghur specialties for regional Chinese cuisine, reopening as Dragon General after closing its original concept in September, according to The Almanac.
Mrs Khan, which opened in 2022 at 712 Santa Cruz Ave., reopened Oct. 14 under its new name after founder Kalbinur Tursungjan partnered with chef-owner Minjun Li.
Tursungjan told The Almanac she struggled to find a chef who could prepare traditional Uyghur dishes after her sister, Almira Tursungjan, left the business.
When Mrs Khan opened, it was the Peninsula's only Uyghur restaurant, serving dishes such as hand-pulled laghman noodles and polo, a traditional rice dish.
Li, who has approximately 25 years of culinary experience, now leads the kitchen at Dragon General. His menu draws inspiration from Dongbei, or northeastern China, along with Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan and Sichuan.
The restaurant serves crispy sweet-and-sour pork, eggplant with garlic and chili, Peking duck and housemade dim sum, including soup dumplings and potstickers.
Owners also updated the restaurant's appearance, replacing its purple storefront with a wood-toned exterior and making changes to the dining room.
Li told The Almanac he may reintroduce some Uyghur dishes after reducing the size of the new menu.
Dragon General is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Monday at 712 Santa Cruz Ave. The restaurant has not announced a grand opening date.
Read the original report from The Almanac.
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