Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Italian food, professional English-speaking
service and subdued, candlelit ambience
combine to make this the obvious choice for
a romantic dinner. We prefer the shady ter-
race to the rather garish dining rooms inside,
but wherever you eat, the excellent Italian
food and large wine list are winners.
Afsona¨
UZBeK $$$
(Shevchenko 30; mains 15,000-30,000S;
h
noon-
11pm;
m
Ming oriq/oybek)
This smart new res-
taurant aims to deliver Uzbek cuisine with
a contemporary touch, by revivifying old fa-
vourites such as
plov
and
laghman,
cooking
with a wider range of flavours and - thank
god - by not employing the ethnographic
museum approach to décor. A good place
for imaginative takes on Uzbek food without
the Silk Road theme park treatment.
Affresco¨
iTALiAN $$$
(www.caravangroup.uz; Bobur 14; 20,000-
50,000S;
h
noon-11pm)
Pricey and somewhat
kitschy, Affresco remains riotously popular
with locals and travellers. Its full Italian
menu is well-realised and there's a large
wine list to boot.
6
¨Drinking¨&¨Nightlife
Tashkent has a lively and rapidly changing
nightlife, although it's aimed largely at the
Landcruiser classes and you may well feel
conspicuous arriving at some clubs' velvet
ropes without designer threads, sunglasses
worn at midnight and a bevvie of models by
your side. Reservations are a good idea to
ensure entrance. The website www.afisha.uz
(Russian only) is an invaluable and regularly
updated guide to what's on.
Irish¨Pub¨
PUB
(Shevchenko 30; beer from 5000S;
h
11am-11pm;
m
oybek)
There's Irish homebrew here, along
with overpriced food and usually at least a
smattering of expats who gather here for
Happy Hour on Fridays.
VM¨
BAR
(Shakhrisabz 33a;
h
7pm-late;
m
Amir Timur hiy-
oboni)
For flat-out debauchery, it's hard to
beat this hipsterish student venue. Osten-
sibly a warm-up (or warm-down) bar for
club-goers, its small dance floor often takes
on a life of its own, obviating the need to go
elsewhere.
Traktir¨Sam¨Prishyol¨
PUB
(Navoi 2; mains 18,000-40,000S;
h
11am-midnight;
m
Mustaqillik Maydoni)
Occupying a prime,
shady nook right on the Ankhor Canal,
this microbrewery has some of the best
(and best-priced) homebrew in town. Their
recipe was supposedly invented by German
monks in 1514. Tuck into a large menu of
grilled meats, fresh fish and pizza in one of
the shaded eaves, or just knock back several
cold beers or cocktails.
Brauhaus¨
PUB
(Shakhrisabz 5; beer from 5000S;
h
11am-mid-
night;
W
;
m
Toshkent)
Sports fans flock here to
watch big football matches on one of several
screens in the cavernous basement. Upstairs
features live music, German sausages and
other beer-hall classics, which you can wash
down with any of 12 varieties of homebrew,
including a
weissbier
(wheat beer).
K.T.¨Komba¨
NighTCLUB
(Catacoomba; Rakatboshi 23; admission from
15,000S;
h
Fri & Sat;
m
Kosmonavtlar)
This is the
premier weekend playground for the young,
smart local set. It gets going after midnight
and the party goes on until dawn. Music is
kept interesting by guest DJs and live acts.
3
¨Entertainment
Opera, theatre and ballet options are readily
available, most performing from traditional
repertoires with the exception of the Ilkhom
Theatre, which is arguably Central Asia's
most progressive theatre. There are lots of
cinemas in Tashkent, but they show films
exclusively dubbed into Russian, so they're
unlikely to be of interest to most visitors.
For listings, check out www.tashkent-events.
info for expatriate-oriented events news,
and www.afisha.uz (in Russian) for general
entertainment listings.
o
Ilkhom¨Theatre¨
TheATRe
(inspiration Theatre;
%
241 22 41; www.ilkhom.
com; Pakhtakor 5; tickets 8000-15,000S;
h
box
office 11am-6.30pm, shows 6.30pm Tue-Sun;
m
Pa-
khtakor)
Tashkent's main cultural highlight
is this progressive theatre, which stages
productions in Russian but often with Eng-
lish subtitles. Known for bucking trends,
its productions often touch on gay themes
and racial subjects, putting off more con-
servative elements of Uzbek society. The
Ilkhom's director, Mark Weil, who founded
the theatre in 1976, was tragically stabbed
to death in 2007, allegedly for blaspheming
the Prophet Mohammed in his Pushkin-
inspired play
Imitations of the Koran
. But
the theatre continues to thrive and produce
