New Yorkers love a hot bar and Tashkent has the hot bar to end all hot bars. It made quite a name for itself in Brighton Beach, so when it finally opened in Manhattan, I had to go. (Not sure why I waited a year to go – big mistake.)
Now, my fam has been in Savannah for about five generations; but way back when, we hailed from the Russia/Poland area. (And I married into a Slavic family too.) As I’m sure you can imagine, the ingredients to make these dishes are tough to come by in Coastal/South Georgia, so we leaned into southern foods. There were, however, always hints of the heritage, like my grandma’s stuffed cabbage or my dad’s sprat sandwiches – enough to seat this kind of cooking somewhere deep in my dna. There was a flicker of familiarity while I was eating the food I picked up here. It’s definitely what my grandma would have loved and made if she had the resources. I’m more than happy to carry the torch.
While it’s technically an Uzbek supermarket, there is plenty of Central Asian and Eastern European food because there’s been a lot of back and forth influence across countries in those areas. And it’s all LEGIT.
This is also where you can go to get some pantry or fridge staples like farmers cheese, caviar, sprats, or all sorts of pickled things.
I went to town. Palmeni/manti/vereniki, plov, kebab, salade Olivier, beet salad, stuffed breads, and so so sooo much more. Everything was incredibly tasty and reasonably priced. I highly suggest you fill up a clamshell (or two) and take your goodies to nearby Washington Square Park.
