Tashkent Restaurant (Al Barsha, Dubai)

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I have been dreaming about fried lagman since that last time I ate at a Uzbek restaurant. Which would be early 2012 when I posted about Gulnaz restaurant in Dubai Marina. Lagman is a Uzbek dish made with noodles that reminds me of Chinese lo mein.

Lucky for me, there is a restaurant called Tashkent (also the capital of Uzbekistan) that is conveniently located close to me in Al Barsha (next to Red Tomato) and very close to Wee Scotch’s school. I went on a weekday for lunch with my friend Diana and Li’L Ginger.

Upon being seated, we promptly ordered black tea to start but I was immediately disappointed that the tea set we were served with wasn’t the beautifully designed one that’s pictured on their signage which I had first encountered previously at Gulnaz restaurant.

But hey, I wasn’t going to let white ordinary teapots ruin my dining experience. Especially since the tea was good and served Chinese style with no milk nor sugar.

There was so much on the menu that we wanted to try but since it was just the 2 of us (and one toddler), we had to suffice with just the following dishes:

Beef tongue in a creamy sauce – Thin slices of (braised?) beef tongue that were very tender with a very unappetizing-looking sauce but actually tasted fine. I quite liked it.

I grew up eating beef tongue and it’s actually one of my favorite dishes from childhood because my mom makes it in a wonderful braising sauce.

I did not try the Uzbek bread but Li’L Ginger was a big fan of it.

Russian salad – this was made with “Mortadella cubes, potatoes, carrots, boiled egg, pickles, green peas & mayonnaise.”

One can’t (or shouldn’t, at least) go wrong with potatoes and mayo and they didn’t.

(Why is this photo so small?  It’s scary-looking blown up, trust me.)

Fried Lagman (as opposed to the soup version) – this has got to be my favorite Uzbek dish. It’s described as “fried homemade noodles with meat, tomato sauce, paprika, garlic and egg yolk.”

I just love the sauce and the texture of the noodles.

This is a dish I *must* recreate at home one day. Send me a good recipe if anyone has one!

Khanum – described as “gentle roll of thin dough stuffed with meat, onion, potatoes and spices in tomato sauce. Steamed cooked.”

I have to honest – I cannot remember anything about this dish. I don’t recall not liking it. Which means only one thing. I’ll have to order it again one day to job my memory 😉 .

Manti – this is a Uzbek dumpling (I love dumplings. You know how much I love dumplings…) made with “chopped pieces of beef with onions and spices in a thin dough. Steam cooked, served with sour cream.”

These dumplings tasted so much like it was filled with lamb that we had to verify twice that the meat used was beef.

They were just okay for me – as much as I dumplings and roast lamb (and lamb chops), I have yet to encounter a lamb dumpling that I enjoyed eating.

Tashkent Plov – We actually did not order this dish but I so wish we had. We just didn’t have any space left in our tummies. Plov is the national dish of Uzbekistan and the restaurant’s version is described as a traditional dish with “rice with lamb, carrots, raisins and roasted garlic.”  The restaurant also serves a chicken version.

I remember the plov from Al Gulnaz was not particularly appetizing to me mostly because it had chickpeas so one day when I order this day, perhaps I can request it without the chickpeas.

So have you had Uzbek cuisine?

What did you think? Any recommendations of what to order?

Kid Friendly?  High chairs are available, staff friendly. No kid-sized cutlery nor crayons. No specific kids menu but lots of kid-friendly items on the main menu.

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Tashkent restaurant: Al Barsha 1 at the ground floor of the Dusseldorf Business Point Building, diagonal from Dubai American Academy.  Opening hours: 12 noon to midnight.  Telephone: +971 04 447 0706.  Paid street parking. Website* | Facebook | Twitter

*not in English

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