What to eat Uzbekistan? culinary specialties and gastronomy

There aren't really any opening hours: restaurants operate continuously throughout the day. With the exception of large hotels and touristy areas, restaurants generally close early, at 10 or 10.30pm maximum.

In Uzbekistan, food isn't very expensive, especially in small neighborhood tchaikhanas or bazaars. Menus are always more or less the same, but the ingredients vary according to the season: soup, tomato-onion salad, chachlyks (meat skewers), samsa or plov. Skewers are sold individually (around 30,000 soums).

You'll find more choice in bazaar canteens, with the advantage of being assured of fresh produce. But these usually only operate at lunchtime. However, street vendors are active until the bazaar closes.

In the big cities, the bill may rise a little faster, but you'll be able to treat yourself in some very good restaurants offering excellent specialties, sometimes revisited and modernized, for budgets that are still very reasonable, between €15 and €30.

Bread is never included in the menu, although it is systematically placed on the table for foreigners. Bottled water, tea or Coke (yes, American soda is ubiquitous, even to the point of financing the signposts in tourist areas!)

Don't miss a samsa (triangular doughnut filled with mutton and onions, or vegetables) on a street corner, taste the butter (very sweet) if there's any on the table, and don't chicken out when the Uzbeks take you for a kala pocha: sheep offal served with a broth in which you can see the animal's head swimming... It's somewhere between calf's head and the apron of the Lyon sapper after all!

Don't feel obliged to order a dish each, as the quantities are still very copious: Uzbeks share their orders (a bit like Spanish tapas or mezze). You often eat with a spoon or your right hand.

The cuisine is very aromatic but not at all spicy, so you can order without fear.

Meat is barbecued, rice and other ingredients are cooked in oil, but Uzbek ravioli is steamed.

Wash your hands before dining: there's always a fountain or sink in the restaurant for this purpose. Even in small bazaar stalls, a small pitcher held by the owner is used for this purpose.

It's customary to eat with your right hand when you're not using your cutlery.

It's best to drink bottled water and avoid ice cubes, which can upset fragile intestines.

Toilets are often located outside the restaurant. They are always immaculate, and the ladies on duty guarantee their cleanliness. The cost is 3000 soums (0.20 cents!). Paper should not be thrown into the toilet bowl, but into the garbage can provided. A showerhead is provided for ablutions and hygiene. There are also pitchers for morning ablutions.

You can smoke on the terraces of chaikhanas, where tables are often set outside, but otherwise all establishments in Uzbekistan are non-smoking.

Don't throw anything on the ground, and take your cigarette butts with you.

Most tea houses close quite early in the evening, and very rarely after 10pm. Green tea, black tea or Uzbek tea flavored with various flowers and herbs is excellent. You'll find them at bazaar stalls.

Coffee shops and kiosks can be found in every tourist town: they are open from sunrise to sunset, depending on the season.

Bar-restaurants fill their menus with alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails (very aromatic with freshly squeezed fruit juices and very little sugar - a treat!), glasses of wine, vodka, or a selection of beers, some of which are Uzbek.

While credit cards are accepted in tourist areas, cash is still the rule. It's best to pay in soum.

Alcohol consumption is reserved for adults.

A cup of black or green tea, a tangy sweet or slice of alva and a game of backgammon on a takhtan are the most local way to take a break!

Chaikhanas are often open-air and allow smoking. Smoking is prohibited indoors.