Gareth P.
Yelp
It's pretty rare to find genuinely authentic Uzbek cuisine; it's even rarer to find it so expertly prepared and cooked! Tucked away, behind an unassuming exterior, Grandma's Secret delivers a culinary experience that enables you to sample some of the finest foods Uzbekistan offers.
The first, and most important dish, is the Plov (Tashkent Pilav here). Plov is common throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia but it is Uzbekistan's national dish. I have tried many and cooked many more, I never pass up plov when it is on offer! Although you can frequently find plov in Slavic restaurants and shops, if you want the very best search out an Uzbek restaurant.
Grandma's Secret delivers a mouth wateringly delicious plov that is on par with the best I have tried anywhere in the world. Perfectly slow cooked tender chunks of lamb that come apart at the touch of a fork adorn the surface of this delicious rice dish laced with julienned carrots and onion and garlic. This is all brought together with the perfect balance of cumin, coriander, garlic and fats to deliver that 100% authentic flavor. Getting all of these in the correct proportion is crucial to get the flavors to infuse and give you that 100% authentic experience. I could write a whole review just on the Plov alone! Consider it a must if you visit here.
Next, the Lamb kebabs. WOW! Beyond exceptional. For some reason Lamb is very difficult to cook well; I can't even begin to count the number of lamb kebabs/shashlik from various Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurants that have left me disappointed at how dried out, or chewy, the meat is. Once again we must turn to Uzbek cuisine as they demonstrate their true mastery of all things lamb/mutton. Mouth wateringly tender, juicy morsels of meat, deliciously marinaded, lined up on the skewer waiting to be devoured. The beef kebabs are also worthy of mention, again very tender and delicious, but if the beef was an A+ then the lamb was an A+++. You can't really go wrong with either ultimately.
Now let's talk about the Manti! These are a form of dumpling, similar in some ways to potstickers, pelmeni, vareniki etc Pretty much every country throughout Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia have some form of dumpling. There are a few subtle differences that make good Manti stand out however. First, unlike most other dumplings the meat for Manti is diced very finely, not ground. This makes a HUGE difference, they feel "meaty" and juicy at the same time, in fact they are often so juicy it can spill out. Once again they are infused with that classic cumin+corriander flavor to give it that authentic taste. They are also larger than most other dumplings so be careful; the outer shells are quite thin, which is a good sign of a quality Manti, but they can break letting the juices escape. Pick them up gently! :D
Other mentions, the Bread dish at the start was beautifully fresh and fluffy and came out piping hot, another Uzbek specialty.
The Samsa, a flaky, lightweight crust and bursting with flavorsome interior is worth a try.
The only nitpick I had was around another favorite of mine, Cheburek, a common street food through Central Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a form of meat turnover, deep fried in a crispy outer shell. A great cheburek, similar to the manti, is normally so meaty and juicy that the juices can have a tendency to come pouring out it not careful. This results in a delicious snack that bursts with flavor. Sadly the cheburek here was very light on meat filling and very light on juices. On a positive note the crust was thinner and less doughy than others I have tried, I prefer the thinner crispier crusts, I just wish there was more meat in the middle!
As for service? Well, it helps if you can speak Russian . I can only say a few choice phrases although I understand a lot more than I can say . Fortunately my wife is fluent. Overall not bad though, the staff are all polite and our food all came out in good time. It's a bit different (culturally) from what you might expect in a typical US restaurant but it's not bad.
Overall, Grandma's Secret is definitely going out of your way to try, especially if you are a fan of plov, manti or kebabs.
Must tries:
* Plov (Tashkent Pilav)
* Kebabs (preferably Lamb)
* Manti