Glenn C
Google
Short review- Order the qurutob or shashlik. Rating is for those dishes. Would be an upper/mid 3 outside of said two dishes.
I went to this spot in Sheepshead Bay, specifically in Homecrest, a couple of weeks ago. They serve the rare Tajik food, similar to that of other Central Asian countries, except for their additional national dish, qurutob. The restaurant was unfortunately out of many dishes as they apparently had a big party on Saturday, but I would still recommend this place at least for most of the dishes we ordered.
The main reason to go here is the Qurutob for $21.90, with fatir, sour yogurt, fresh vegetables, herbs, and linseed oil. The only other place to find this dish is Registan in Gravesend, which isn't good (and replaced Vernissage, which was excellent.) Anyway, I'm happy to say that the version here, while not as good as Vernissage, was fantastic. There were plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers, the yogurt and fatir added some sourness and richness, and the fresh jalapenos added heat. There's also a version with meat for an extra $6, which we would have ordered, but it wasn't available.
The other main reason to try this place is their excellent kabobs/shashlik. You can either order a Karavan Mix Kabob for four ($69) or eight ($140,) or instead order individual kabobs. We went with the latter because we were ordering many other dishes and chose two sets of three kabobs. The best of the bunch was the Lamb Luleh for $9 each, which had very tender and flavorful ground lamb. The Jigar or Veal Liver Kabob for $14 each was also very tasty. The liver was cooked perfectly, not too rare, still tender, and had only a mild iron flavor. The Karavan Lamb Kabob for $12.90 was more standard but tasty. Compared to other Central Asian spots, I preferred the liver over most others, but found the lulya, for instance, better nearby at Baku Nights.
For the salads, our preference was the Karavan for $13.90, with beef, cucumber, pickles, tomato, lemon juice, spices, grated potato fries, salad oil, and white dressing. This reminded me of a lighter version of Tashkent salad with beef instead of tongue, pickles, a lighter dressing, and no grilled onions. It was tasty, and we were tempted to order another later, since many dishes were out. The portion was also large, and I would recommend this.
There was also the Sogdiana for the same price with veal tongue, tomato, scallions, and spices. This was a smaller portion, but it tasted heavier as the sauce was, I believe, mostly mayo. There was plenty of sliced tongue and a lot of tomatoes. This was nice, but we preferred the various textures and flavors from the other side.
Short description for the rest as I'd be out of room otherwise-
Sambusa Pumpkin- $3.50 each, Very tasty
Tajik (or Tandyr) Non, for $3.40. Excellent version
Fried Tushbera (or Chuchvara/Dushbara) at $10.90. A bit doughy but good enough
Qutabi. $3.90 each. Alright (dough is better at other spots)
(Turkish Style) Liver Cubes. $11.90. Alright
Herring With Potato- $10.90. We didn't like
Homestyle Potato With Mushrooms for $13.90. Decent portion but the potatoes weren't well-fried. Just OK.
Desserts- Chocolate cake and tiramisu (both $7.50) were decent (likely store bought and fine)
A bit inconsistent, but good. Just know what to order.