A spread of dishes at Jahunger. / Courtesy photo

Jahunger—a Uyghur restaurant in Providence with a James Beard semifinalist chef and co-owner—is certainly worth the drive from Boston. But soon, locals won’t have to make the trip: The restaurant—run by Subat Dilmurat, who received the recent Beard nod in the Best Chef: Northeast category—is expanding to Cambridge, opening on Brookline Street in Cambridgeport around early May.

When Jahunger opened in Providence in 2017, it was one of the only restaurants serving Uyghur food in New England—a central Asian cuisine rich in “roasted mutton, fragrant spices, and delectable sweet desserts,” as Jahunger co-owner Nadira Parhat, Dilmurat’s wife, describes it. The restaurant quickly built a fanbase for dishes like hand-pulled noodles in a tingly Sichuan peppercorn-infused sauce; a hearty, garlicky chicken-and-potato stew; and fish filet in hot chili oil. Devastatingly, a fire in its Wickenden Street building forced the restaurant to close in mid-2018. In early 2021, Jahunger finally reopened, and it’s been going strong ever since.

The new Cambridge location—which will be full-service and serve beer and wine—will have about 90% of the same menu as Providence, says Parhat, “along with some regional dishes from when we first opened.” Plus: new to the menu, whole roast lamb. Parhat is most excited for diners to try the Jahunger noodles (the Sichuan peppercorn-spiked noodles from the early days) and the lamb kavap, marinated lamb kebabs, a family recipe. (It’s all about family at Jahunger, from the wife-and-husband ownership team to Dilmurat’s brother, Afiyat, as manager.) While Jahunger’s signature dishes lean in the meaty, spicy direction, Parhat notes that there are options for vegetarian and gluten-free diners, too, and dishes that are not spicy.

While Greater Boston has a handful of Uyghur restaurants, including East Cambridge’s Silk Road, which opened in 2017, Parhat and the Jahunger team are excited to bring more of the cuisine to the area. “We offer an exquisite selection, specially crafted for connoisseurs who appreciate the art of hand-pulled noodles and have a penchant for bold, fiery flavors,” says Parhat.

Expansion to Greater Boston was always in the plan, she says. “We’re excited to introduce more people to Uyghur food and culture, and Boston felt like the perfect place to share our passion with a diverse and vibrant community. Brace yourselves, because we are about to take the world by storm!”