Showing 1-15 of 15 results
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Al Delfeen
There are simply not enough superlatives in the English language to describe the cuisine at this Syrian restaurant. Load up on appetizers like baba ganush, hummus, falafel, samsa and tabbouleh, all redolent with ancient spices and bathing in exotic oils. If you still have room, dive right into the equally scrumptious mains - try the mosakan (chicken cooked with sumac and olive oil).
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Bistro
This scrumptious Italian eatery serves up large portions of pasta, pizza and grilled meats along with bottles of Uzbek or Georgian wines. The Roquefort salad is to die for. It's in a candle-lit, courtyard setting, with live music. Next door are three sister restaurants - Omar Khayyam (Lebanese), Shintaco (Japanese) and La Casa (Mexican). The latter morphs into the Ché nightclub in the evening .
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Café Sharshara
Chaikhana real estate comes no riper than the canal-side patch occupied by this popular Old Town stand-by. The sprawling patio is cooled by gentle mist from the rumbling man-made waterfall on premises, making it an almost perfect warm-weather spot for a shashlyk and a cold Shimkent. There's live evening entertainment in the warm months.
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Caravan
Tashkent's quintessential theme restaurant is tarted up like a made-for-Hollywood Uzbek home. Its Westernised Uzbek cuisine is tasty, but comes saddled with bill-inflating service and 'entertainment' charges. The attached store is filled with crafts from all over the country and is open late, making Caravan a great place for both a nibble and a last-minute gift-buying spree.
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Central Asian Plov Centre
Few things excite the Uzbek palate like plov, that wonderful conglomeration of rice, vegetables and meat bits swimming in lamb fat and oil. This Central Asian staple has been elevated to the status of religion in Uzbekistan, the country with which it is most closely associated. Each province has its own style, which locals loudly and proudly proclaim is the best in Uzbekistan - and by default the world. That plov is an aphrodisiac goes without saying.
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Darkhan
Cheap and fast outdoor food court with big wooden tables shaded by trees. There are several stalls here serving laghman (noodles), samsa (samosas), kebabs, salads and some of the cheapest beer in town.
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Dervish
It's mud-walled dining at its best in this caravanserai-style restaurant known for its homemade wine and reasonable prices. Beautiful trinkets, Rishton ceramics, and suzani line the walls of the vaguely cave-like interior. There's a patio for claustrophobic types. The eclectic dishes ooze local flavours and have cheeky names like 'Egyptian Nights', and 'Arabian Fairly Tales' (chicken fillet with honey, nuts and butter).
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Efendi
There's a menu here but don't bother - just saunter inside and choose from among the hundreds of kebabs and mouth-watering Turkish salads on display in glass refrigerators. In no time you'll be back outside enjoying your booty on the pleasant if somewhat noisy - and nonalcoholic - street-side patio.
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Han Kuk Kwan
Tashkent's large population of ethnic Koreans is what drives demand for all those Korean restaurants around town. Han Kuk Kwan is one of the nicer places, serving up platters full of small salads and main dishes like bi-bim-bab, made with rice, egg and chopped meat. Large portions partially offset the high prices.
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Home Restaurants
One place to taste true Uzbek cooking is in an Old Town home restaurant. These establishments have no signs or shop fronts - just tables in a courtyard, where you're served one or two simple dishes, plus tea or beer.
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Il Perfecto
The impressive coffee menu and reliable free wi-fi access here are a godsend for guidebook writers and other laptop-addicted souls, but unconscionably they don't open until . Also serves OK Italian food.
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Manas Art Café
To dine in a yurt without schlepping over the desert on a camel, head here. There's a large yurt tastefully done up in traditional style and a smaller 'modern yurt' with shisha pipes and chill-out tunes. The Uzbek-Euro fusion food is excellent and priced right, but if you're planning on having 12 beers go elsewhere - the cheapest here is sum4000 ! Reservations recommended.
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Mir Food Court
This is where well-heeled teenagers gather to preen in the city's best approximation of a Western fast-food court, with pasta, burgers, sandwiches and kebabs on offer. A coffee shop on the top floor of the mall serves a decent cup of coffee.
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Sunduk
The designers of this diminutive eatery, kitted out like a French country kitchen, were just begging for it to be called 'cute'. We'll not only oblige them, but also point out that their European cuisine is excellent, as is the handwriting on their menus - on homemade paper, no less. Its sum5000 business lunch is popular with the diplomatic set, many of whom work nearby.
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Tandoori
Formerly Taj, this long-time favourite continues to churn out Tashkent's best Indian food - including a plethora of veg options. It was never long on character, but that may change thanks to renovations being done at the time of research. If not, you can always escape to the rooftop dining area.
Showing 1-15 of 15 results
