Samarkand Restaurant Tips by Trekki Top 5 Page for this destination

As you might have read, I came from Bukhara, where I had caught nice “Montezuma”, which kept me busy (running to special places) all the time. So I didn’t quite much pay attention to good food (but more to food which would stay with me for a while). Most of the time I had cookies, watermelon and bread, “at home”, at Bahodir’s.

Some exceptions though:

Market/Bazaar:
As almost everywhere in Uzbekistan, the bazaar is an excellent spot to grab good and reasonable food, either snacks in one of the countless stands or in the chaikhanas. One chaikhana in the bazaar had very tasty food, plov and salad and laghman soup. Leave Tashkent street (the pedestrian street between Registan and Shah-i-Zinda) approx. 100 m after Bibi Khanum Mosque and turn left through a gate into the bazaar. It is the red brick building with veranda upstairs. For plov, salad, tea and soup I paid 2300 som.

Food stands in Penjikent street (east of Registan):
Good and very tasty snacks, such as quick shashlyk, fried food, fruits and bread you can get here, in one of the shops or outside food stands. Very much reasonable.

Favorite Dish: Macro Polo Restaurant (crossing of Dagbitskaya and Registan)
On my last evening in Samarkand I tried Marco Polo Restaurant and it was a good choice! The restaurant is located at the corner of Dagbitskaya and Registan street, hidden behind bamboo “fences”. Inside, you have the choice between seatings in the green courtyard or inside. Food is excellent, a big variety in all kinds of salads, which was a good diversification to the tomato-cucumber-onion salad, I got in most of the other restaurants or food stalls. Oh, and they had real espresso ! When I was there, a group of women had a celebration dinner (looked like birthday), and it ended very funny, the women dancing and inviting all of us foreigners who dined here to join them. Very much fun, and very lovely girls :-) Dinner is not cheap of course, for salad and a meat meal, tea and espresso I paid 7300 som.

One warning (from my experience): Tea room Chorsu, located at the crossing of Mullokandov (where Bahodir B&B is) and Tashkent street, was rip off for me. It is recommended in Lonely Planet (Central Asia), but the food I got there was awful, lukewarm soup, salad which did see better days and tasteless lukewarm tea. No need to say that I only had the tea and a spoonful of the soup – I feared to feed my “Montezuma”…

Address: Samarkand

Rating: 0

Theme: Local