How many global cuisines can you explore without leaving RI? We count the ways. (2025)

PROVIDENCE – Ever wonder how many places you could visit, just by eating the region's varied cuisines, without ever leaving Rhode Island?

It turns out, you can go everywhere, man. Well, maybe not everywhere, but pretty close.

Consider Jahunger, the Providence restaurant (333 Wickenden St.) whose owner, Subat Dilmurat, is a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast. The restaurant serves a concise menu, heavy on homemade noodles, from the cuisine of the Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group mostly living in the Xinjiang province of China. The cuisine is a mix of Western and Eastern cooking, influenced by the spice trade, as much of the population lived on the Silk Road.

Dilmurat has had a hard time finding chefs because of the extensive training required to familiarize them with the cooking methods and practices the cuisine requires, although he said he had his best luck training Chinese cooks. With two floors, the restaurant serves a lot of people each night, as food comes out quickly after it is ordered.

How many global cuisines can you explore without leaving RI? We count the ways. (1)

In his kitchen on Wickenden Street, he pulls noodles prepared fresh, slamming them against a metal table, for Laghman Noodle, something his mom cooks at home. Instead of multiple noodles, Lagham is one continuous strand, representing longevity.

"Every day I could eat it and not get tired," he said.

But his signature dish is Jahunger Noodles, which he created with his dad 20 years ago. His parents run a restaurant in China's Xinjiang province, where the competition is fierce, so to stand out they had to make something new. To their regular noodles, they added scallions and made a special sauce. The signature dish, Jahunger Noodles, was born.

"Back home, we cook it with lamb," he said. "It used to be very hard to get, but now we have a good supplier."

Which other places and cultures can you visit without leaving the Ocean State? Let us count the ways.

Africa

Rhode Island is largely lacking when it comes to restaurants serving cuisine from African countries and ethnicities, but that doesn't mean there isn't an appetite for it. Toyin Wilcox opened The Village in 2009 in Pawtucket, after she had been running a catering company. It recently expanded into downtown Providence.

The Caribbean

Caribbean cuisine is spread across Rhode Island, although some specialties, including a Haitian restaurant, have closed in recent years. Pan-A-Day Take Away in Providence's West End, next to the Dexter Training Grounds, offers Guyanese food (considered Caribbean despite its location in South America).

Guyanese: Pan-a-Day Take Away, Providence (7 Parade St.)

Jamaican: Humming Bird Café, Newport (104 Broadway)

Jamaican: Flames, Providence (734 Eddy St.)

Dominican Republic

While the Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation, its cuisine gets its own section because of how important and prolific it is in Rhode Island. For a first stop, consider the chimi trucks on Broad Street in Providence, mostly on the mile-long stretch between Lexington Avenue and Jillson Street.

The first chimi truck in Providence opened in 1992, with the trucks hitting a peak of 15 pre-pandemic. Since then, their numbers have started to dwindle. They begin to arrive around sunset (earlier in the winter) and stay open long into the night, usually closing around 2 a.m.

How many global cuisines can you explore without leaving RI? We count the ways. (2)

Below are just a few options.

Mexico

The two restaurants representing Mexico are both James Beard Award finalists. Maria Meza of Dolores (known for her mole) in Providence was named as a finalist for Best Chef: Northeast in 2024, while Tuxpan Taquiera was named a semifinalist for best new restaurant.

South and Central America

One of the trendiest cuisines at the moment is Peruvian, and Rhode Island is lucky to have multiple highly rated examples of Peruvian cuisine within its borders, including Los Andes in Providence and Shark's Peruvian Cuisine in Central Falls.

Journal food writer Gail Ciampa described Los Andes as a local hall of fame entry after it (and the entire state) were snubbed by The New York Times' best restaurants list in 2023. In that same story, Ciampa highlighted Shark's Peruvian Cuisine (as well as a few later entries on this list).

South America

Central America

Asia

The biggest countries in Asia are represented, as expected, along with some smaller countries, too. Cambodia and Laos both have entries on the list, as does the Philippines.

Cambodia

Central Asia

Some restaurants in Rhode Island aren't easily categorized by country. The prime example is Jahunger, which serves Uyghur-style cuisine and noodles. The Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim ethnic group, with the majority of the population in the northwestern region of Xinjiang in China.

  • Jahunger in Providence (333 Wickenden St.)

China

Chinese restaurants picked for this list either represented a specific region or a specific type of food or dish, such as Bubble Waffle Cafe in Central Falls that serves bubble waffles, a Hong Kong specialty street food dessert described by CNN as a "cookie and sponge cake hybrid."

India

Four of the Indian restaurants that made the list are all run by Sanjiv Dhar, featuring the cuisines from specific regions of India: Chaska in Cranston, Kabob & Curry in Providence, Rasa in East Greenwich and Rasoi in Pawtucket.

Japan

Japanese cuisine has become increasingly popular in recent years, with restaurants focusing on one cuisine in the country. Ramen, sushi and prepared foods are all represented on this list.

Yagi Noodles in Newport had chef Basil Yu nominated (one of five Rhode Island chefs in the semifinals) for the 2024 James Beard Awards for the Northeast, along with Subat Dilmurat of Jahunger and Maria Meza of Dolores.

Korea

Laos

  • Champa in Providence (93 Hope St.)

Myanmar (formerly Burma)

Nanu Burmese Fusion is run by Ruth Chhuani and husband Vaiphei Thangafrom Myanmar, who came to the United States as refugees, then launched a food truck in 2020 before opening their location in Warwick. The Mohinga (the national dish of Myanmar) is a must-try, a fish soup that has rice noodles, egg, fried split chickpeas and scallions.

How many global cuisines can you explore without leaving RI? We count the ways. (3)

Philippines

Thailand

Vietnam

While Vietnamese food isn't just about the noodle soup pho, in Rhode Island, that's what gets the most attention, with two of the three restaurants on the list having the soup in their name. The cash only (and hole-in-the-wall) Asian Bakery & Fast Food bucks the naming trend, offering an excellent Bánh Mì.

Pakistan

Europe

Armenian

Belgium

  • Zinneken's (waffles) in Providence (194 Angell St.)

England

Tea: Val's English Tea & Pie Shop in Smithfield (466 Putnam Pike)

France

Greece (Mediterranean)

Most of the Greek restaurants in Providence have recently closed, but there are still options outside of the city.

Italy

The whole of Rhode Island is known for its Italian heritage and food, including all the spots on Atwells Avenue, and, of course, The Providence Journal has covered the Italian food scene pretty extensively over the years, but here are a few that are worth a visit.

Poland

Spain

  • Tapas: Palo in Providence (3 Steeple St.)

Portugal

Want to travel to Portugal? Look no farther than Warren Avenue in East Providence.

How many global cuisines can you explore without leaving RI? We count the ways. (4)

Middle East

Syria

Iraq

  • Ashur Café in North Providence (1862 Mineral Spring Ave.)

Morocco

American (regional)

How many places in the United States can you visit without leaving Rhode Island?

Quite a few, including Hawaii, although some places, like soul food restaurants, aren't tied as much to a place as to an idea. And while you aren't actually going outside Rhode Island with a visit to Sly Fox Den Too in Charlestown, the cuisine by James Beard Award-winning chef Sherry Pocknett (a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag) is still regional in nature.

Is there a restaurant we missed, or a place you think is worth visiting? Send an email to wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com with the subject line "World restaurants in RI" for a future story on everywhere else you can go without leaving Rhode Island.

Journal staff writers Antonia Noori Farzan and Gail Ciampa contributed to this story. Follow Wheeler Cowperthwaite on X: @WheelerReporter.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible.If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with aProvidence Journal subscription.Here's our latest offer.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: A guide to international cuisines in RI, from the Caribbean to China

How many global cuisines can you explore without leaving RI? We count the ways. (2025)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Laurine Ryan

Last Updated:

Views: 6270

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (57 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Laurine Ryan

Birthday: 1994-12-23

Address: Suite 751 871 Lissette Throughway, West Kittie, NH 41603

Phone: +2366831109631

Job: Sales Producer

Hobby: Creative writing, Motor sports, Do it yourself, Skateboarding, Coffee roasting, Calligraphy, Stand-up comedy

Introduction: My name is Laurine Ryan, I am a adorable, fair, graceful, spotless, gorgeous, homely, cooperative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.