Monday, June 27, 2016

Uzbekistan: Love those Stans

With no Uzbekistani restaurant to be found in Berlin, I decided to hit up the neighborhood Uzbek joint while visiting my parents in the States. I love Ruz-Uz, a Russian-Uzbek restaurant that just appeared a few years ago and has thankfully managed to stay in business. I'm more a fan of their Uzbek dishes, than the Russian items (though of course there is cross-over in the cuisines) as much fun as it is to order "Fish Under Coat" (basically a herring salad with potatoes). The Uzbek dishes have such complexity of flavor and taste so unlike other cuisines I'm more familiar with, they stay with you somehow. As such, I have never been able to order anything other than qovurma
lagmon, described in the most literal of terms on the menu as "homemade pasta fried with beef, tomato, squash, celery and spices." I suppose that is all true, but the spices and the delicacy of the noodles! It's also the most unusual pasta dish - nothing like any Italian or Asian noodle dish, but completely delicious. Go to Ruz-Uz now and order this dish! For what it's worth, I can also recommend the Plov (the most festive and delicately flavored version of this rice dish I've had), the manti and the borscht. It wouldn't kill Ruz-Uz to get rid of the televisions (I think there are two). This isn't a hole-in-the-wall (I think they might even have white table clothes?), they aren't showing Russian or Uzbek games, and the showing of random American athletic events does nothing to add to the dining experience.  Still, that's a minor complaint - definitely worth overlooking to eat this food.

1000 N. Randolph St., Arlington

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