Where Tashkent Locals Eat: The Restaurants Worth Booking

As a student at MGIMO, I often spent my evenings at Syrovarnya in Moscow. I still choose the group for its greatest virtue: consistency. Wherever I may be, I know the experience will be good. My favourites are the focaccia with stracciatella, the medovik and the turkey cutlets.

I adore seafood, and La Mer is my benchmark. Oysters, meltingly tender octopus and a glass of Riesling make up my ideal order.

 Founder of Faces, an influencer agency

Caravan has been open for 27 years and, for as long as I can remember, it has been the city’s most authentic address for Uzbek food. Antique furniture, an atmospheric old courtyard, live music played on traditional instruments — whenever guests come to the capital, Caravan is where we take them.

When we want to eat well but have no particular dish in mind, we go to Ora and simply choose whatever appeals. The quality is as dependable as tomorrow’s sunrise. I return most often to the chicken with jus and the lime-and-basil lemonade.

Founder of Lyogkoye Retro and former editor-in-chief of ELLE Uzbekistan

As the mother of two girls, I regard Ribambelle as one of the very few places where I can drink a coffee in peace, without the running soundtrack of «Mum, Mum, Mum». It is a miniature town devoted to children’s — and parents’ — happiness, complete with an enormous play area, workshops, gifts and a menu broad enough to satisfy every exacting little princess. The real prize, however, is sunset on the terrace. Just you, a properly hot coffee, good food, children absorbed in games with the entertainers, and a sky beyond description. Nothing more needs to be said. Mothers will understand.

Whenever we want fish or any other denizen of the sea, with quality never in question, we choose La Mer. The food is faultless: pristine ingredients, a vibrant Japanese menu and beautiful tableware.

PR and communications expert, lifestyle influencer

At some restaurants, the food is only part of the pull; I return just as much for the way the place makes me feel. Syrovarnya is where I go for a quiet, unhurried dinner. The room is a pleasure to sit in: greenery, generous light, panoramic windows and an open kitchen. I have a particular weakness for the chicken fritters with mushroom sauce. The cooking is unfussy, easy to understand and very good.

Kaspiyka is another world entirely. For a couple of hours, you could almost be somewhere by the sea: pale interiors, sand, maritime details, ropes and shells. I like to come with friends and cover the table with fish and seafood starters, tasting our way through the different flavours and dressings.

Cucucina is my own little Italy in Tashkent. Among the lemons, greenery and yellow Fiat, the dolce vita mood comes naturally. Pizza is my usual order, but the vitello tonnato is the dish I tell everyone to try.

Anyone who files Ribambelle under children’s restaurants has never lingered on its terrace overlooking Tashkent City Park with an affogato. I return for the generous menu and the pleasure of watching the sun set to the city’s low hum. Just as importantly, I can arrive with a friend and our children, leave them in the team’s care with a clear conscience, and enjoy an uninterrupted conversation.

Zira has become Tashkent City’s dependable address whenever I want assured quality and flavour. Coffee comes in every conceivable guise; Nikita Bychkov’s menu is excellent; breakfast runs all day; and there is even a separate drinks list for pairing. Everything is where it should be.

Guide to Tashkent hedonism; co-founder and creative director of Naked Eye Studio

The legendary Afsona has had my heart for around eight years. Whenever I want to introduce visitors to the food of Tashkent, it is always my first choice. I am especially fond of the mashkichiri and the hot, crisp flatbreads, served with scalding sweet tea and lemon. To my mind, this is some of the finest Uzbek cooking in the city.

What I love about KU is the izakaya format: a table crowded with small plates, where flavours that should not, in theory, belong together somehow do. It is best enjoyed with people you like enough to pilfer from their plates — and let them do the same to yours — because food really does taste better that way. The room has the same playful spirit: made for frivolity and a little giggling.

Photos: restaurant websites and social media; Yandex Maps

Kitana is where I go for Asian cooking with real fire at its heart: the kitchen centres on a Japanese robata. It also offers a rare Tashkent luxury — breathing room. Low light, panoramic windows, generously spaced tables and a terrace that makes it easy to let an evening run on, especially in the shoulder season.