What to eat in Uzbekistan: plov, samsa, lagman and more

Uzbekistan is worth a trip for the food alone. The cooking is hearty, honest and very regional — plov in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara is made differently, and locals love to argue whose is best.

Plov, the national dish

Plov is a ritual. It is traditionally eaten for lunch: by evening the best places have scraped their cauldrons clean. In Tashkent, visit the plov centre, where it is cooked in huge kazans right in front of you.

Samsa and bread

Samsa is baked in a tandoor oven — with lamb, pumpkin or herbs. Samarkand bread is famous across the country: dense, stamped with a pattern and long-lasting. People often take it home as a gift.

What else to try

• Lagman — hand-pulled noodles with meat and vegetables, in soup or fried
• Shurpa — a rich lamb and vegetable soup
• Manti — large steamed dumplings with meat and onion
• Shashlik — especially the minced-meat kind (lyulya)
• Naryn — cold chopped noodles with horse meat, a festive dish
• Fruit and dried fruit at the bazaar — melons, grapes, apricots

Tea and the chaikhana

Green tea is drunk all day, and the chaikhana (teahouse) is where evenings are spent. Tea is poured a little at a time — a sign of attention, not stinginess. To show you have had enough, simply cover your cup with your hand.

The teahouse owner will remember you by your second visit. By the third, you’ll be offered things that aren’t on the menu.

Tips for travellers

• Portions are big — start with one dish for two
• Drink bottled water
• Tasting at the bazaar is welcome — vendors will offer
• Vegetarians do best with pumpkin samsa, salads and meat-free soups

On our Uzbekistan tours the guide knows the trusted teahouses and the best plov in every city.