Having spent part of my summer doing research in Kazakhstan, I was excited to come home and share my experience with my fiance -- through food of course. Although this is a Uyghur restaurant, much of the region's cuisine share similar dishes; lagman (hand pulled noodles), plov (rice pilaf), and manti (dumplings) are are commonly served across Central Asia.
Knowing Brighton Beach was the place to go, I was excited to check out Cafe Kashkar after reading some pretty solid reviews. The restaurant itself is small and quaint. I immediately felt comfortable, nostalgic, and excited because it fit the criteria of a typical Central Asian restaurant: ethnic tchotchkes - check, TV looping music videos - check, Central Asian patrons (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, etc.) - check, ethnic Russian patrons drinking vodka and beer, while nibbling food and taking extended cigarette breaks at 5pm on a Wednesday - check!
I ordered the cold carrot and cucumber salad, manti, lagman soup, fried lagman, tea, and compot. The carrot and cucumber salad was perfect for a warm summer day, crunchy, pickled, and chilled, served with green beans, bell peppers, glass noodles and a perfectly tart, vinegar sauce.
Between the lagmans I ordered, I preferred the fried lagman, while my fiance preferred the lagman soup. The soup was great; thick, chewy, springy, hand pulled noodles in a slightly oily, rich, dark broth served with chunks of lamb, tomatoes, garlic, onion, celery, and green beans. The fried lagman was similar, except served without soup (as it's fried), and topped with a fried egg. Douse the crispy, slightly crunchy, sticky noodles with the vinegar on the table, and you're good to go. The only reason I preferred the fried lagman was because the lamb flavor was not as strong (I'm not a fan of lamb...and spending an extended amount of time in a country where I was an honored guest and served sheep brains and eyeballs among other things was quite an adventure!).
The manti came out last. In fact, they came out so far toward the end of the meal, I thought they had forgotten our order. The manti were HUGE. The largest manti I've ever had in my life. They were the size of hefty hamsters (or a small fist). Manti are similar to East Asian dumplings, but the filling is slightly different. Thick dumpling skin is wrapped around a lamb and sweet onion mixture, and steamed in a bamboo basket (or fried and served with sour cream -- or mayo, if you're really brave, though luckily they don't seem to do that at Cafe Kashkar). Again, the gamey lamb flavor was too strong for me (and I was also a little put off by a large chunk of fat or gristle in my first bite), but the flavor was meaty, sweet and peppery from the onions, and juicy...spot on, exactly how I had it overseas. My fiance, who likes lamb, and doesn't mind the funk of lamb meat, liked the manti a lot.
As for our drinks, the tea was okay, nothing special (wasn't served the traditional way with milk or jam), nor was the compot (fruit juice drink) anything to write home about.
Between the two servers, the Uyghur woman didn't seem to speak much English, so I got by on elementary Russian, for which she was very kind and patient. The tall, young Kazakh man's English was perfect though.
If you are unfamiliar with Central Asian cuisine, Cafe Kashkar is a welcoming and safe introduction. I am trying to find my way back to Central Asia as soon as possible, and until I'm brave enough to crack open the can of horse meat I got in Astana, Cafe Kashkar is a great place to temporarily quell my yearning and hunger. read more