A vegetarian in Uzbekistan

‘Eating vegetarian doesn’t mean you have to eat boring, humdrum dishes.’ – Marcus Samuelsson.

What our (outdated) guidebook said

Our 2nd edition Brandt guidebook, published in August 2016, painted a bleak picture for vegetarians looking to visit Uzbekistan. I scanned the section titled ‘Eating and Drinking’ and sighed as I looked up at Mum.

“Sounds like I’m in for a hard time,” I said, “Listen.”

‘Bread, noodles and mutton all feature heavily in Uzbek cuisine, and vegetarians are in for a tough time. The concept is little understood, and even less frequently catered for.’

“Basically, I’m going to starve!” I wailed plaintively.

We made practical plans to pack extra snacks. If Uzbek cuisine really was as bad as the guidebook told us, I wouldn’t literally starve for ten days. I reassured myself as much as possible that I’d been to other countries where vegetarians were supposedly not catered for. On all occasions, I’d survived and even sometimes thrived!

The biggest reassurance I could give myself was that the outlook for vegetarians had been just as bleak in Mongolia. However, upon arrival, I’d found that people definitely did understand the concept of vegetarianism. Not only that, but they also cooked some pretty awesome meat-free dishes too! Often time, they’d even gone out of their way to provide vegetarian versions of their national dishes. Surely things couldn’t be as bad in Uzbekistan as the guidebook had suggested.

Never trust an (outdated) guidebook

Thankfully, I was right.

Just after the publication of the 2nd edition Brandt guidebook, a new president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who was elected in Uzbekistan. He quickly recognised the opportunities for tourism within the country. As a result, it is now so much easier to visit Uzbekistan, with no need for a visa if you’re travelling from a multitude of different countries. During the last three years, as more tourists begin to arrive in Uzbekistan, the country has undergone changes.

And one of the biggest changes and the best thing for vegetarians, and even vegans, is that the food seems to be moved far beyond a diet of bread, noodles and mutton. I was overjoyed to discover that there wasn’t only meat-free food available, there were actually many wonderful and delicious dishes that I could enjoy! Uzbek cuisine, thankfully, fully delivered.

Breakfast

For me, the best meal of the day throughout our trip was breakfast. Without fail, we were greeted every single morning with a veritable feast of treats.

Breakfast in Uzbekistan is traditionally a selection of small dishes meant to be shared out among the diners. It is perfect for vegetarians since it means we can avoid meat and eat the other delicious options!

The spread we usually ate each morning included hot dishes like porridge or semolina with jam and cinnamon, a selection of breads, cheese, cold meats, eggs (usually fried or boiled), juice, green tea or coffee, fresh, stewed or dried fruits (or often, all three!) and hot options like fritters, sausages or potato cakes. Everything was invariably delicious and I found myself eating things I’d never normally try, such as semolina! With a touch of jam, it really wasn’t that bad either.

We were often so full after breakfast that we didn’t eat lunch, preferring to have a snack and have dinner later in the evening.

National dishes

Shashlik (V, Ve)

Similar to a kebab, the meat shashlik we encountered throughout Uzbekistan usually consisted of chicken or lamb cooked over hot coals. Mum tried several throughout the trip and enjoyed them, usually finding the meat tender and well cooked.

In all the restaurants we ate at throughout our trip, vegetable shashlik were also available. These usually comprised of larger pieces of bell pepper, onion, courgette, tomato and aubergine on a skewer, served with a side of sauce, salad, pickles and occasionally chips.

I found vegetable shashlik to be the most common vegetarian option on the menus at restaurants we ate at. I had it a few times throughout our trip and will admit it grew a little tiresome by the end of our stay. However, I was grateful to always have a backup plan whenever we ate out if nothing else was available.

Laghman noodles (V)

Once again, this noodle dish was often served with meat, but there were a few restaurants that offered vegetarian versions. The best way I can describe these noodles is as a slightly strange tomato pasta dish. The noodles were usually varying widths and lengths (hand pulled?) and smothered in a tomato sauce, usually with a number of other vegetables mixed in such as carrots, courgettes and sweetcorn.

I ate this noodle dish a few times and tended to find myself wishing I had some cheese grated over the top! The dish was a pleasant interlude between shashlik and provided a slightly more filling, carb-y option when I felt I’d eaten one too many vegetables!

Manti (V)

These steamed dumplings have various names across the continent of Asia and I ate similar dumplings with a different name attached while I was in Nepal in 2018. In Uzbekistan, the steamed dumplings are known as ‘manti‘. As elsewhere, meat was the common filling, but there were options to pick pumpkin as a filling.

I ate these a couple of times. They were not my favourite option but it was lovely to see another national dish have a vegetarian alternative available and it meant I didn’t have to miss out.

Samsa (V)

These were among some of my favourite things to eat while I was in Uzbekistan! They are similar to pasties in the UK, usually baked in a special clay oven named a tandoor. These tasty snacks are usually filled with meat and onions, but we found ones filled with potato and onion and even cheese. They were incredibly moreish!

The best ones we ate were in a small guesthouse in Nurota, where we stopped for lunch on our way to the yurt camp we stayed at in the Kyzylkum Desert.

Other dishes (V, Ve)

As well as these stand out vegetarian versions of traditionally meat dishes, we enjoyed a wide variety of delicious, fresh salads. Before I continue, I should caveat this with an acknowledgment that we were travelling in Uzbekistan shortly after harvest season. I suspect fresh salad dishes may be harder to come by during the long winter months.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy tomato salads, Greek salads and multiple more traditional ‘salad’ dishes such as courgettes with a tomato sauce. There were salads made of pickled vegetables and coleslaw type mixes. These were normally served in small dishes as part of a wider meal. In fact, we never struggled to find fresh vegetables or salad, no matter where we travelled in the country.

And for anyone not sure about trying the local cuisine, we also found a reasonable number of ‘Western’ dishes as well. To add variety to my meal selections, I ate pizza a couple of times. None of them blew me away, but they were better than some other pizzas I’ve eaten in the past! I also ate chips reasonably frequently, and bread too.

Uzbek bread

Oh, the bread! So good! Uzbeks have a traditional circular, flat loaves of bread with a thin, crusty centre and fluffy, puffy edges. They’re known as ‘non’ and each region in Uzbekistan has a different style of baking the bread. My favourite bread region turned out to be Samarkand – the bread was delicious! Traditionally, the bread is cooked in a clay oven and is served with every meal. Stuff your face – it’s delicious!

Drink options

It would be amiss of me not to mention the ubiquitous green tea that could be found across the country. Mum drank copious amounts of it and even I had warmed to it a little by the end of our trip! Served into small china bowls from a teapot, it came with every meal and welcomed us at every guesthouse and B&B we stayed at.

I also drank coffee, which was remarkably good (e.g. not instant) and we were pleased to find cheap wine and beer available in most restaurants. Despite being a predominantly Muslim country, Uzbekistan is not dry and we enjoyed some delicious local wines and beers!

A few restaurant recommendations

Khiva – Terrassa Cafe

Khiva was the smallest of the four cities we visited, with fewer options for eating out. For the two nights we were there, we ate at Terrassa Cafe. It’s slap bang in the middle of the Itchan Kala, between Kuhna Ark and the Mohammed Rakhim Khan Madrassa.

Not only do they serve delicious food, but there is also a beautiful roof top terrace where you can sit out and enjoy your meal. There are excellent views and despite the chill, we sat out both evenings, huddled into blankets supplied by staff.

The staff are friendly, helpful and cheerful. They all spoke reasonably good English and gave us excellent service. When the bill came, we were offered free shots of vodka, much to Mum’s delight! On both evenings, the total cost of our meal never came to above £12 or so for two of us. That included wine, mains, sides, bread and a soft drinks. Exceptional value for such tasty food in such pleasant surroundings.

Samarkand – B&B Antica home cooking

Tired of eating out every night, we arranged for a home cooked meal at our second B&B in Samarkand. Both Mum and I were exceptionally grateful that we did, since the food was delicious and plentiful. It was such a treat not to have far to walk home!

We were treated to salads, soup and dumplings, along with wine and followed by green tea and cake. I would highly recommend an experience like this if you get the opportunity. It’s perhaps the closest that visitors to Uzbekistan will get to proper home cooking.

Another bonus about this situation was that we informed them beforehand that I was vegetarian, so I got everything made specially for me which was lovely. Delicious pumpkin dumplings and a vegetarian version of the meat soup Mum ate. It was nice to have the opportunity to eat a slightly wider variety of dishes. As this meal was attached to our B&B, the cost was slightly higher than other places we ate – around £15-20 for two of us.

Samarkand – Art Cafe Anorgis

Surprisingly, this cafe does not pop up on Google Maps. It is listed in the guidebook and was actually really great. It even had a full vegetarian menu available!

For those looking to visit, the cafe is situated right next door to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, on Tashkent Road. It is next to a tea house named Bibikhanum Teahouse. It has a pleasant decked area to sit outside, with a great view of the mosque. We did not eat a full meal here but snacked.

During our first visit, we shared a tomato salad, the freshest bread we’d yet eaten and a vegetable ‘dip’ made from aubergine during our first visit. We drank tea and read our books in the last, warm day of our trip. The next day we nursed coffee and tea as we whiled away time before catching our train back to Tashkent. The food was delicious and the small meal we shared cost around £10.

One last option…

For a really cheap meal that is still pretty tasty, head to Ресторан Besh Chinor. It is located a little out of the way from the tourist trail in Samarkand. We only visited as it was the closest place to eat near the first B&B we stayed at.

It was not the greatest meal we ate, but the staff were incredibly friendly, spoke impeccable English and it was insanely cheap. Two mains, a side, bread, beer, water and a soft drink came to a grand total of £6 for two people! An absolute steal. Don’t be put off that the menu is all in Russian (the staff will translate) and they will give vegetarians a shashlik which was just as good as others I’d eaten elsewhere.

The takeaway

If you’re a vegetarian who has been longing to visit Uzbekistan but you’ve been nervous about the food, worry no more. There are plenty of options for vegetarians (even vegans!), and if you have been looking to get off the beaten track, now is the time to go.

Uzbekistan is changing massively. I suspect these will be the last couple of years of ‘quiet’ before tourism explodes in this incredible country. Only a month or so ago, Lonely Planet announced the Central Asian Silk Road region had been given the top spot in it’s ‘Best in Travel 2020 Top 10 Regions‘. It’s only a matter of time before Uzbekistan gets onto everyone’s radar.

The food options for vegetarians are likely to only improve as Uzbekistan becomes a more popular travel destination, but I think it’s better to go now, while it is still relatively unknown. You will not be disappointed – by the food or by the country itself!

You can read more about my trip to Uzbekistan here. More posts coming soon!