Or do you need me to go and make sure it’s legit first? Spent grade school years in Uzbekistan
Zira = Cumin.
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Nice menu.
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Address: 7422 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Phone: (213) 332-4086
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Looks legit and cute interior. One of these days…
On the list with Saqartvelo
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You probably know this, but Uzbek and Georgian cuisines are very different.
Yes but similar in that they are cuisines from former soviet countries that are underrepresented here (Tashkent in the valley is the only semi-Uzbek place I’ve seen and haven’t seen any true Georgian places) and I am very happy to see both of them
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My SO and I went the other day. I definitely tasted the cumin for a while afterwards but it actually wasn’t super prominent in the meal (navruz salad, plov with beef, dolmas, Stroganoff). Huge fan of the dolmas. I admit I am used to thinking of them as something of a cold-case afterthought, so these hot ones really changed my perspective. Plov is certainly rice-focused; there’s not much meat but I dug it anyway. The place was really filling up by the time we left (5:00 PM on a Saturday), which was nice to see.
Is this where Ta-Eem used to be?
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Yes, sounds like youre the right person to go/report back!
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Yes it looks like the old ta-eem spot RIP!
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I know nothing about this cuisine. Are there certain fundamental dishes that I should be ordering?
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Yeah same boat here. @Nemroz could you guide us in case anyone can pop by before you make it over?
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How was the Stroganoff? It’s one of the main reasons I added to our list.
–Dommy!
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I didn’t try it since I wasn’t in the mood for creamy stuff. But my partner said that the noodles were very similar in texture to the dan-style noodles from Woon (a positive). She mentioned that the meat was on the fatty side but that this complemented the noodle texture and general richness of the dish. I was glad we had the vinegary eggplant and bell peppers of the navruz for balance.
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Plov.
My first visit i’d definitely have to try the plov (rice)… their baked flat breads that we called lepeshka… lagman is noodles. if they have the lamb pies called Samsa i’d always have that. . i cant speak to anything until i go there. uzbek cuisine is as similar to georgian as their language and music.. but i get why you said what you said. we were one
hot dolma, especially the grape variety is a huge armenian thing. one of the finest things in in life.. sadly my guts cant’ take more than 3 or 4..
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Plov (aka pilaf, rice, meat, other stuff)
Shashlik (shish kabob)
Samsa (meat pie)
Lagman (noodles)
but if and when I go, I’ve got my eyes on stuff like the bukhara, chosu honum, their soups, and the suzma, because I don’t think I’ve seen those around here
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same.. i want all the weird stuff that i forgot about or never knew.. definitely dont need their kabobs.. though i’m sure they do lamb right.
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I tried it for lunch.
First I will say it is a very cute place and the waitress couldn’t have been sweeter.
Here is a snap of the interior.
I had never eaten Uzbek food and was excited to try a variety of things even though I knew I was ordering way too much for one person.
I started with Markovcha, which is julienned carrots, garlic and spices mixed with white vinegar and olive oil. I didn’t really like it – it was bland and sugary with a small hint of vinegar. It was so sweet in fact that it caused me to Google “Do Uzbeks like everything sweet?” (According to Google, the answer was no Uzbek food is not known to be overly sweetened).
Markovcha
Next up was Uzbek bread, which comes with cream cheese. I was hoping that the bread would be revelatory, like the first time I had had good naan or good laffa fresh from the oven. It was not revelatory. I looked it up and saw that traditionally this bread is made in a tandoori oven. I didn’t look, but I’m not sure that the restaurant had a tandoori oven, which may have accounted for why the bread was just okay. Not inedible, but not really good either.
Uzbek bread.
Next was Olot Samsa, which is minced beef (menu says minced beef and lamb, but waitress said it was only beef) with red sauce. I didn’t like it all. The meat was bland and while usually anything fried is delicious this was not expertly fried and was not delicious. I HATED the red sauce. It was bland and tasted like overly sweetened ketchup. Not sure if that is just how the sauce is supposed to taste as I had never had it before, but it was another thing that caused me to Google “do Uzbeks like everything very sweet?”
Olot Samsa
Next up was spinach Chuchvara, which are fried dumplings. Not sure what I was thinking when I ordered this dish. I love Spanakopita and I saw spinach on the menu and thought well maybe they will be delicious like a good Spanakopita. They were not delicious like a good Spanakopita. They were extremely bland and again not expertly fried. I think I had three of them before I gave up.
Spinach Chuchvara
Finally I got the chicken Shashlik, which comes with rice or fries. I chose fries. The fries were not good – perhaps made from frozen? The chicken Shashlik was not good either. I took one bite and took the rest home for my dog. The chicken was very bland (the only discernible seasoning I tasted was salt) and had that rubbery thing going on like when chicken has been water injected.
Chicken Shashlik and fries.
I really really wanted to like this place, but . . . Your mileage may vary. Maybe I have just found the one cuisine in the world I don’t like.
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I’m not surprised with the sentiment above from someone new to the cuisine. I found the place average but I think your expectation may be a bit high for Uzbek. We lived there for 4 years and I would never describe the food as heavily spiced. flavorful via fats and aromatic. Lots of Russian influence which you’d call bland too.
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