Zarafshon

Note: I wrote this review months ago and never got around to posting it, so apologies if anything is out of date, as I’ve been out of town since June.
We’ve been working our way through the Russian/​Central Asian restaurants in NE Philly, and this one is definitely going on the regular rotation. It caught our attention because of the Tajik name, and the owners turned out to be Samarkand Tajiks.
Our waitress didn’t seem to speak much English, so my husband ended up ordering in Tajik. She was friendlier, in a timid sort of way, than the mostly Russian waitresses at Uzbekistan, etc.
We tried a bunch of stuff to get a feel for how it compares to the other restaurants in the area, but forgot to try their pilaf.
1. Garden salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions with dill and dressing) — I would have liked a little more lettuce, but very tasty
2. Lagman — Good noodles and broth, green beans seemed canned
3. Tandyr kebab — My husband was REALLY excited to see this on the menu, as he hasn’t had it in the US so far. It’s baked lamb ribs crusted with rosemary and spices and was super tender and juicy. It may be too fatty for some American tastebuds, but our Central Asian-​ified ones were delighted.
4. Nan — Good. Didn’t really stand out in any way from any of the other Russian/​Central Asian restaurants — neither better, nor worse.
5. Manti — Really good traditional-​style manti made with chopped meat instead of ground
6. Chicken kebab — tasted smoked, and some pieces were a little dry. We didn’t like it as well as the ones at Uzbekistan or Dyadin Dvor.
7. Lamb kebab — Like the nan, good, but not standout in any way.

While seeing that my favorite central asian restauarnt was jam packed last weekend, we decided to check out this joint as it is new and recently replaced Il Polpo. It looks just like Il Polpo used to, although they added some Uzebek décor on the walls.
We were seated right away, as the place was almost empty on a Saturday night. The server spoke not a word of English. Luckily for me, I was in the company of some Russian speakers, so they acted as my translators. I wouldn’t come here if you don’t have some level of foreign language fluency, Russian or Uzbek. The server made no effort to communicate with me in English, and almost seemed insulted that I was speaking English and that English was spoken at our table. Service was fine, with the exception of that. Also, they didn’t have any ice. I don’t know if I have ever been to a restaurant that didn’t have ice. They were not temporarily out of ice, they didn’t carry it.
The food was pretty good. We sampled a host of Uzbek specialties. I would recommend the Manti, which are dumplings filled with meat, but the stand out star of their menu are the beef (steak) kabobs. They were some of the best I’ve ever had. Everything else was fine. Had an interesting dessert that I would recommend, it was sort of like a typical russian sour cream layer cake (known as a smitanak) cross with a balklava like flavor. I liked it.
Prices were fair for everything except for the beverages. Three dollars for a 20 ounce bottle of coke or a 16 ounce bottle of ocean spray cranberry juice? A bit steep. Also, they automatically add the gratuity to the bill, so watch out for that.
Overall, it’s decent, but I probably won’t be back with so many other similar options in the area.

1 star is being generous with this place. i was curious to try this place for it is a new place in my neighborhood, and when i had stopped by on Friday evening and it was a full house, so i thought i should definitely come. When we walked in, the attendant didn’t acknowledge us, i called for him and he gave me the «hand». When he finally got to us, he looked us straight in the eye, and said” we serve different food here, you want to eat here?”. (WTF i thought) but we said yes, he looked at us again and said «we only take cash too». It wasn’t just what he was saying, but his tone was unwelcoming, so we left. I felt profiled, and i wouldn’t spend my money where its not appreciated.

We finished a movie and decided to try this new restaurant that just opened. Our group of 5 well-​dressed adults walked in and waited for at least a 3 minutes for the host/​waiter to even look at us. In the meanwhile, there were just 2 other diners in the restaurant, they saw us coming in, and literally froze in mid-​spoon. They stared at us, unblinking, like we had walked in with a horse or something. We were EXTREMELY uncomfortable.
The host/​waiter finally came over, and looked us over like we were lost. He was unfriendly, unsmiling, not welcoming at all. He immediately «warned» us that this is Central Asian and Russian food. He seemed reluctant to even bring us in. We sat down, and as he brought us the menus he immediately informed us that it’s a cash-​only operation. That’s when we went ahead and walked out. He didn’t attempt to stop us or ask why we were leaving.
My impression is that this restaurant is run by rural Russian/​Uzbekistani people, who don’t deal with anyone outside their race. Not even to take their money. I also got the strong impression that this is a money-​laundering front for the Russian mob, and the food is just a side-​thing.
I don’t recommend this restaurant to ANYONE. Take your hard-​earned money elsewhere.