"Smack bang in the middle of Camberwell Church Street is Silk Road, a cash-only Chinese spot specialising in Xinjiang cuisine. It’s most famous for its enormous plates of hand-pulled noodles with chicken and their irresistible £1 cumin lamb skewers. You can just as easily roll up here for a little Wednesday night date as you can pile in for a skewer-happy birthday and a £7 bowl of chewy lamb noodles with a spoon of exuberant chilli oil." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, daisy meager, sinead cranna
"One of London’s most-loved Xinjiang restaurants, Silk Road is a go-to for brilliant-value spreads in a Muji-ish, any-occasion dining room. The Camberwell restaurant made its name for its Xinjiang lamb skewers, rubbed with cumin and invitingly charred at the edges, that are irresistible in flavour and price at just one pound a pop. There are plenty of other options on the menu: bowls of bouncy hand-pulled noodles waiting for a spoonful of chilli oil are all under a tenner." - jake missing, daisy meager, sinead cranna, rianne shlebak
"You can just as easily roll up to this Chinese spot in Camberwell for a little Wednesday night date as you can pile in for a small, skewer-happy birthday. The Xinjiang food hits many marks and remains great-value. The hand-pulled noodles are bouncy and the cumin skewers as moreish as ever. Not every dish has a punch, but when things do land, like with the hot and sour-style vinegar cabbage, or a bowl of chewy lamb noodles, we're reminded why Silk Road is such a classic." - heidi lauth beasley, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna
"Offal is an essential part of Chinese cuisine. Silk Road’s ox tripe or kidney skewers are more of an entry-level example bite to someone exploring the world of off-cuts, and extremely satisfying ones too. Camberwell’s Xinjiang restaurant is one of London’s modern classics. Not just because of its tender, charred, absurdly good-value skewers—but because it’s great for any type of eater. Adventurous or not." - jake missing
"Silk Road was a gateway restaurant to Xinjiang cuisine for many people in London, and the pilgrimage many made to Camberwell for its lamb skewers played a big role in that. Rubbed with cumin and invitingly charred at the edges, these skewers are irresistible in flavour and are priced at just over £1 a pop. Order in multiples." - daisy meager, jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, heidi lauth beasley