Not the places on the tourist map. Six addresses, and what to order at each.
Samarkand plov is different from the Tashkent version — no chickpeas, sweeter with the carrots, served with a boiled egg and horse sausage if you are lucky. Here is where to find the good one, plus five other things worth the walk.
Plov, before noon
Osh comes out of the kazan in the morning and is finished by one o'clock. Anywhere serving it at eight in the evening reheated it. The plov centre near the Siyob bazaar is the reliable choice; go at eleven.
Samsa from a tandoor you can see
If the oven is in the room, the samsa is fresh. Lamb and onion, flaky in autumn when the new flour arrives.
Shashlik in the evening
Order the lamb ribs rather than the minced. Ask for non and a tomato-onion salad with it; that is the whole meal, and it should cost less than you expect.
Bread
Samarkand non keeps for weeks and is stamped with a chekich. Buy it warm from a tandoor before nine in the morning, not from the supermarket.
Melons, in season
From late July. The vendors will cut one open for you to try — this is normal, accept it.
Coffee
It has arrived, mostly around the university. Ask us for the current best; it changes every year, which is a good sign.
