In his native Russia, Andrey Osinin says Uzbek restaurants are so popular there's one every few blocks.
"In Moscow, it is as popular as Japanese cuisine here, like sushi," Osinin tells V.I.A.
But in Vancouver, there were no Uzbek restaurants until Osinin launched Tashkent. The first-time restaurant operator saw the gap in the market, realizing that Vancouver's influx of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants might be longing for a taste of some familiar (and 100 per cent halal) Uzbek dishes, including a few that draw from other Eastern European and Asian cultures.
Tashkent, named for Uzbekistan's capital city, began as a catering and take-out operation using a commissary kitchen on Industrial Avenue as its home base. However, this spring, Osinin opened up a sit-down counter service restaurant location in the food court of Vancouver's quirky International Village shopping mall.
Employee came to Vancouver from Uzbekistan
There are about three to four hundred Uzbekis living in Vancouver, says Tashkent employee Nilufar Ruzibaeva, including herself.
Ruzibaeva came to Canada just last September from Tashkent, and, while she admits she was homesick for a spell, she's come to love living in Vancouver, including her job at the restaurant, where she handles customer orders and supports her fellow Uzbeki co-workers in the kitchen.
"I was planning to go back," says Ruzibaeva of her native Uzbekistan. "Now I'm good. I want to stay. I want to complete my studies and my work here."
As both Osinin and Ruzibaeva attest, the dishes on Tashkent's small but deliberate menu are all rooted in Uzbek tradition. It's a tradition in which home cooking is preferred over dining out and where families each often have their own take on cherished dishes.
Iconic Uzbek dishes on the menu at Tashkent
Building on those tenets, Tashkent's menu focuses on some of Uzbekistan's most popular dishes. It's a meat-heavy cuisine, but in order to ensure vegetarian guests have options, the restaurant has a couple of dishes drawn from Uzbek or neighbouring nations' cuisines. Similarly, Tashkent has a familiar Ukrainian dish, borscht (beet soup), as it would be comfort food for those expats and Uzbekis alike.
Osinin explains that as a former Soviet republic, Uzbekistan's location in Central Asia on the Silk Road means its culinary roots are a blend of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisine.
It wouldn't be an Uzbek restaurant if plov wasn't on the menu. Considered the national dish of Uzbekistan, plov (pilaf) is a rice dish made with onion, carrot, and, at Tashkent, cubed beef, chickpeas, and raisins.
Plov happens to be Ruzibaeva's favourite menu item. "It's the most traditional," she explains, adding it's common for an Uzbek household to make plov two or three times a week.
Tashkent's plov is hearty and aromatic, with the tender rice infused with a subtle sweetness. Osinin notes that while he wishes Tashkent could use the traditional variety of rice in Uzbek plov, the grain isn't readily available in Vancouver, so they use the next-closest kind they can easily source.
The dish is a perfect example of what Osinin says are the hallmarks of Uzbek food, particularly as executed by Tashkent. "It's fragrant, it's full of flavour," he describes. "It's pretty healthy, and it's pretty balanced in terms of nutrition," he adds, noting its components that represent proteins, grains, and vegetables.
"After having the plov for lunch, I can run," he jokes.
Dumplings an approachable option for those new to Uzbek cuisine
Another classic Uzbek dish is manti, steamed dumplings filled with pieces of beef that have been hand-cut, not ground, in order to keep them tender and juicy. The dumplings, which will strike a familiar chord with dumpling lovers who know the little bundles from multiple other global cuisines, are served with sour cream and a house-made hot sauce.
The hot sauce is a deviation from Uzbek tradition; Osinin says that the cuisine is not a spicy one, but Vancouverites tend to prefer a bit of a kick with some dishes, so they've created the condiment for the restaurant.
Meanwhile, the samsa is Uzbekistan's version of a stuffed pastry, akin to a samosa. The laminated dough is buttery and flaky and is filled with pieces of fragrant beef, and is among the most popular items on the Tashkent menu.
Other dishes on the menu include lagman (hand-pulled noodles with meat and vegetables), ganfan (rice with sauce, meat, and vegetables), some side salads, non (Uzbek flatbread), and a few sweets. In the sweets section, Tashkent has syrynky (sweet dumplings), wafer rolls with a caramel-like creamy filling, and chak-chak (a crispy honeyed dough that looks like a rice cereal treat but has a fluffy texture with mild sweetness.
Among the soft drinks at Tashkent is a traditional bottled yogurt drink popular with Uzbeks in the summertime, as well as pop and tea.
Many Uzbekis attest Tashkent offers comfort, community, authenticity
Keeping the menu small is crucial for Osinin, who believes consistency is key, as in "every dish should be tasty and it should be tasty every time."
To come up with the recipes, Osinin brought on a chef with a wealth of experience in Uzbek cuisine as a consultant. The chef had been a part of a now-closed Uzbek restaurant in Toronto, which means Tashkent may well be Canada's sole operating Uzbek restaurant.
That's why Osinin, and Tashkent employees like Ruzibaeva, take to heart the number of Uzbeks who dine at the restaurant, whether they are visiting from Seattle or have made the big move to Canada. Osinin takes pride in the number of online reviews from customers with Uzbek surnames who appreciate Tashkent for serving authentic food.
And for Ruzibaeva, one of the perks of the job is to meet the many fellow Uzbeks who come to Tashkent, who show up to the food court stall in search of comforting food and a sense of community.
"They come here to feel at home," says Ruzibaeva.
Video: Where to try food from Uzbekistan in Vancouver
@forkingawesomevia Discover Uzbek cuisine in Vancouver 🇺🇿🍽️ At Tashkent, a casual counter spot in Vancouver’s International Village mall's eclectic food court, you’ll find a menu rooted in the culinary traditions of Uzbekistan—a country whose food reflects its rich history along the Silk Road, with influences from Central Asia, the Middle East, India, and Eastern Europe. On the menu: Plov – Uzbekistan's most iconic rice dish, done here with beef, chickpeas, carrots, and raisins Manti – juicy beef dumplings served with sour cream and house-made hot sauce Samsa – flaky pastry stuffed with seasoned beef Chak-chak – fluffy, lightly-sweet honey-coated fried dough dessert Wafer rolls – a unique sweet with creamy caramel filling The food is made from scratch and reflects a deep respect for Uzbek culinary traditions. 📖 Want the full story behind Tashkent and the people behind it? Read the companion article now on Vancouver Is Awesome dot com in the Food and Drink section. #forkingawesome #vancouverbc #uzbekfood #uzbek ♬ Sway with Me - The Onlife Soul
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