Review of Tashkent

 

WHERE: UZBEKISTAN
Tashkent Restaurant, 800 Petrolia Road (Steeles & Dufferin area) 416.667.0737
http://www.torontobusinesspages.com/Tashkent.html

If we had known we were going to be guests at an Uzbek engagement party we would have dressed for it and would have been prepared let the other important guests at the restaurant get their meals first; this was indeed part of our experience at TFLC’s 70th dinner at the Taskhent Restaurant (500 Petrolia Avenue)-an experience in Uzbekistan cuisine. Approximately 25 members showed up to this remote dinner place in an industrial mall south of Steeles on a cold January night. For some of the people who attended, this was their first time and most members had never tried Uzbek cuisine before. With open minds and hungry bellies we tried to choose traditional Uzbek lamb dishes while others chose kebab meals accompanied with salad and rice.

The Taskhent restaurant is one large room with tables nicely set with Uzbek patterned plates and with traditional costumes fixed to the walls with a little stage near the entrance for the live musician (who actually plays decent guitar along to a karaoke backup track). Fortunately some of us at one end of the table got a translation of the lyrics as all of the songs sung were in Russian. Thanks to Barbara for her help here.

Appetizers from Uzbekistan include a lot of pastries stuffed with meats and cheeses. We first decided to order a sampling of appetizers to get to a sense of the Uzbek cuisine and tastes before eating our main course. We ordered three appetizers including Russian pirogues stuffed with shredded meat, Verenikies with sweet cheese and the specialty appetizer- Manti-steamed meat pastries with garlic sour cream. The Verenikies are like traditional Ukrainian pierogis stuffed with sweet cheese and boiled-these were a little watery. The Manti were my favourite and reminded me of Chinese dumplings-very tasty. The appetizers range from $3.99-$6.99. The appetizer plates were shared amongst 6 people so everyone could get a taste. Some of the other guests chose to have the fried eggplant that they enjoyed that was served with ricotta cheese and tomato.  Others diners order the Buharian chuchvara soup that had a chicken stock base with pieces of lamb and vegetables and rice. Some members said the soup was plentiful in its contents but lacked spices which they had anticipated.

For the main course there were about 12 options consisting of more traditional Uzbek dishes to also include a leg of lamb and kebab skewers. The skewers were like long swords and had many large pieces of meat on them and the leg of lamb had a significant portion of meat on it. My two friends and I ordered the large portion of Uzbek Plov-consisting of rice with carrot pieces and large pieces of lamb. Barbara and John sitting across from us ordered the Djez-Biz, also a traditional dish. Lamb appears to be a staple in the food of this region whether stewed in soup, on a sharp skewer or as we found it, in the Plov. Upon ordering her chicken kebab skewer meal, Danielle inquired if the fries that came with her meal were also Uzbek? (as most of the other things on the main course menu were labeled). I think the waitress missed the joke and sadly Danielle didn’t get the fries she ordered, instead she got bland rice like everyone else.

Jenn and Emma commented on how inexpensive the wine was that they ordered for $16/bottle. The Chilean wine complimented their food well. The portions of food were definitely generous, enough to share or sample with other people. The Uzbek Plov that we ordered was portioned for four people and was plenty for us to share. Moreover, the food was good value for your money. It is important to note however that this restaurant doesn’t accept VISA so make sure you bring your cash along to pay for your meal. Debit is accepted however.

It is very evident that the kitchen was not prepared to feed all 40 customers in the restaurant at one time. Those of us who arrived first placed our orders and were served and had finished eating our meals while several of our members still waited over 2 hours for their meals and then finally cancelled their order because they had waited so long. Unfortunately, I think that because of the significant number of guests the waitress got confused with the orders, gave a couple of people the wrong meal or even two dishes, when they had only ordered one, and was not able to rectify any errors in what people had ordered because of the extreme backup of orders coming out of the kitchen.

The real entertainment of the night were the guests at the table at the back of the restaurant-the true Uzbek guests, who were celebrating a recent wedding engagement. After their meal they took to the dance floor to be serenaded by the karaoke singer. The Russian music added to the mood but the volume was definitely too loud and at times made conversation difficult. There were definitely guests from the engagement party kicking up their heels and the bride was swept off her feet as we looked on.

Overall it was an interesting experience to try Uzbek food. The taste of the food was decent and the conversation with fellow dining travelers was great, but the service was not great in terms of speed of food getting to the table. I would give it 2.5/5 stars.

Uzbekistan was definitely an interesting start to 2007. I am looking forward to food court Burmese in February.

Written by: Katy Whitfield, TFLC Reviewer