The minute I heard about a kosher restaurant in the Tel Aviv area serving Uzbekistan food, I decided I must review it. The Jews of Uzbekistan seem to have an affinity for good food – well, we all love to eat – but they have perfected so many special dishes unique to that part of the world.
I realized this when my granddaughter Tamar married Netanel, whose family came from Uzbekistan, and at the wedding dinner every guest received a shoulder of lamb as a side dish.
The name of the restaurant, Oshpalao, is also the name of the classic Bukharan dish, consisting of rice, meat, and chickpeas. But until we got to that point, there was a great deal of other food leading up to it.
The restaurant is spacious and airy, with a decor of some vaguely arch-like features to give it a slightly exotic look. Service was quick and friendly.
What's on the menu at Oshpalao?
We started our meal with the very Israeli course of numerous salads. For NIS 28 per diner, about 11 salads arrived at our table. Everything was fresh and all had different herbs and spices, contributing to the great variety of flavors we enjoyed. There were avocado, corn, egg salad, sweet potato, mushroom, and red cabbage among the mix. We particularly liked the skinned cooked tomatoes in a lemon sauce, and the green pepper roasted until very soft.
The next dish to appear was goshtgizhda, a very thin pastry roll filled with a spicy meat mixture, with cumin very much in evidence and a faint taste of lamb (NIS 20 for one or NIS 56 for three).
Next up was a chebureki (NIS 24/64), which was a large triangular pastry, thin and crispy, filled with meat, and a piquant red sauce on the side.
For a main, we were of course obliged to take the oshpalao (also called plov), which was perched on top of the salads as if to emphasize its superiority. The classic oshpalo consists of rice, carrots, and soft stewing beef, with a garnish of chickpeas. It was very good and a very generous amount of food (NIS 55).
We also sampled two skewers off the tabun – one of lamb (NIS 55) and one of minced beef (NIS 45). The lamb was chewy but tender, and the beef perfectly flavored.
As it was lunchtime, we drank modestly. I had a glass of Golan Merlot (NIS 20), and my companion a Heineken beer. Plus gallons of ice water, as it was such a hot day.
The deputy manager, Shai, came over to say hello and suggested we try the Bukharan dessert platter (NIS 80), which seemed like a good idea.
There was a strange cake called chak-chak, which is a staple. It consists of pieces of fried dough bound together with syrup. The dessert plate also included a baklava-like cake with almonds; a kind of halva made from pistachios; and a dish of blackcurrant jam. A tray of green tea also appeared, which helped counteract all the sweetness of the desserts.
After such a feast, getting up from the table proved difficult but not impossible. We got home at about four, and neither of us ate another crumb for the rest of the day.
- Oshpalao
- 4 Sheshet Hayamim Road
- Bnei Brak
- Tel: 077-980-0448
- Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; Friday, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Sat. night, 1 hour after Shabbat until midnight
- Kashrut: Bnei Brak Rabbinate
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.