Gourmet products local specialties and wines Uzbekistan

The best place in Samarkand for gourmet souvenirs: under the large bazaar hall are stalls of sweets (honey, roasted peanuts, sweets of all kinds) and dried fruit: pistachios from Kyrgyzstan, almonds from Andijan, Kashgar grapes... Tasty products to offer to your guests, to take on a trip to brighten up long journeys or to take home to share the flavours of the country. You can also find tioupés, those traditional little skullcaps that Uzbeks all wear on their heads.

On the second floor of the large Chorsu market hall, you will find the dried fruit stalls for which Central Asia is famous. One stall follows another with the same merchandise: dried apricots, raisins, almonds (the best come from Andijan!), pistachios, sesame-roasted peanuts... Everything is of course negotiable, and above all, everything can be tasted because the qualities and origins often differ from one stall to another. Perfect for a small travel pantry or to bring home souvenirs.

This elegant café offers a quality service and concocts all day long very beautiful pastries around a menu where a nice choice of teas and coffees, rare in the capital, stands out. Ideal to stop for a gourmet break if you are out and about in the neighborhood, but you can also come there to start the evening. The wine list is indeed well supplied and the place offers a perfect setting for a quiet aperitif. It is also possible to eat there, but the menu was not yet established.

Mixtures of spices and plants to make infusions: tea with ginger, tea to saffron, coffee to cardamom, cinnamon coffee, halva, nuts… On the right, at the exit of the coupole dome, stop in order to taste an excellent blend of tea or to buy a no less tasty blend of 14 spices capable of making a haché steak or a poisson fish. Mirfays Ubaydov combines his blends with the order and also keeps the tea salon facing her shop.

Under the large hall you will find all kinds of spices and dried fruits, including the famous Andijan almonds. The bazaar is also the right place to buy chapans, those traditional Uzbek coats, at the best price, or the tioupés. Above the bazaar on Zakirova Street, several small handicraft shops sell coats of slightly better quality (made of silk), traditional musical instruments, small Uzbek cribs... A visit to Chorsu is a must on any visit to Tashkent.