The food was alright - we came specifically for the shashlik which was fine but not anything out of this world. The other dishes we ordered had a lack of seasoning throughout and an abundance of olive oil. We’re from Kazakhstan so we know our Uzbek food and this just wasn’t it. The service, however, left so much to be desired. The young man that waited on us seemed confused and disorganized, taking over 10 mins just to give us menus while there were only 2 other tables. We didn’t get our drinks until after the food came out and he seemed upset when I asked for some waters. I also suspect that because I had spoken to the waiter in English, we got the service we got. The tables that came in well into our meal all spoke purely Russian and got served much faster and better than us. Mind you, Russian is our first language but since the waiter started speaking to us in English, we followed suit. A review had compared this place to Nargiz in Brighton Beach - it is so far from it unfortunately. Maybe if you go there enough and are a regular you’ll get better food and service.
We just dined here for the first time. The food was amazing, the portions were big (too big for one person really so be prepared) and Alena, the waitress is wonderful. Whoever wrote an anti-Russian review below is just spouting their hatred in the wrong place.We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and service.
When my friend asked me where he should celebrate his big event, Samarkand was my number one recommendation. The night turned out to be incredible. Parvina was a huge help when it came to ordering the best food options for the night. It was delicious and a hit with every single person who came. The service was amazing also. If you want to celebrate an event with friends and family, Samarkand restaurant is the best choice!
*Edit in response to the owner*Sir/ma’am, I wouldn’t have taken the time of my day to leave a review had it not been true. I understand that it’s upsetting, my apologies, but instead of going after customers you better go after your place and make it more welcoming. You serve customers, you don’t cater to those who are supposed to work FOR your business, not against it. I also understand that truck drivers may ask for cold food, but we are a couple that asked to dine in, would that imply that we starved for cold food? I don’t think so.Anyways, саломат бошед, peace out.2 starts only because they claim to serve halal meat.If you come here to dine in, just don’t.Their service is horrible! Upon our arrival the server lady said “to go”, didn’t say hi, didn’t ask how we’re doing, basically lacked any decency to treat customers as customers, let alone attempting to make us feel welcomed. We traveled for about 30 minutes just to dine in, after insisting and repeating to her that we’d like to dine in since the place was neither fully booked nor had to close anytime soon - she allowed us to dine in. Her reasoning for “to go” was explained to us in russian. How can you expect to have a nice experience if there’s a language barrier? But hey, at least one needs no fluency to have morals though she knew neither.After having ordered the food, she asked whether to serve it warm or cold - plov and manti - meaning those weren’t fresh though fyi, they are supposed to always be served hot. Despite us asking for warm food she still brought it cold. I’ve had authentic Uzbek food before, I know what it’s supposed to taste like which leads me to believe that not only was the server russian, but cooks were too.The interior gives off a very USSR-like vibe; even dinnerware seemed to have been imported - cheap, old, chipped, and scratched.Russian men that dined in were drunk, loud, inconsiderate, and well… russian. That’s how they are. That’s not an Uzbeki place, it’s russian. Since the war began and their true colors are revealed, they now pretend to be anything but themselves? Hmm hmm hmm lol
Halal, delicious Uzbek cuisine! 5 stars. Green tea, Uzbek plov, somusa, kebab ? are the best!
Ok this is a really good and a bad place to dine in. Really good: their Manty, Lagman, samsy, olivye and shorpa are the best. And never forget to order their lepeshki. As long as they cooked them freshly. And the waitress lady Alena is amazing.The Bad: Items on the menu availability are very inconsistent. It’s always best to call ahead and see if they have everything on their menu and if they’re open to public. Sometimes if someone decides to throw a party they’ll just not accept walk ins. Which is wrong. They don’t care about return customers. Because no competition. Please, read this review and try to work on it. Thank you.
The food was AWESOME. Seriously delicious. Clean restaurant, good service. We will definitely be back!
Best place to try Uzbek food, Plov, kebab, fresh vegetables, fresh bread, and tea are my favorite. The server doesn't speak much English but I got a friend who speaks Russian so we were okay with our orders and the service.
Rude employees and salty food. I went to pick up order and employees wouldn't even smile at me. I requested two orders of the same food and they packed it in the same to go box (lazy?) when asked to split it because it was two separate orders, the employee looked angry and "slapped" the food in a different box.
I went there yesterday! The food is superb! True Uzbek cuisine. My son was crying, while eating the sambusa! He was like back to his home town Tashkent. His grandfather used to buy it for him on the street market. They call it Zakaz somsa. Nostalgia! Anyway I made a catering order from Samarkand restaurant for my wedding! I am sure they will get more visitors after my guests taste their food on my wedding!