Chayhana Salom

Chayhana Salom Review
I have always looked forward to trying exotic cuisines, and came to my mind was Xinjiang food, the food of the Uighurs of Northwest China. These people are known for their mutton kebabs and their thick pulled lagman. As I searched on Unilocal,I saw Café Kashkar which has Chinese, Halal and Uzbek food. On that page, I found Chayhana Salom. One of its reviews said that it had a warm, inviting atmosphere and the author said that everything from the appetizers down to the lamb plov was all satisfactorily prepared. So we decided to give this place a try.
It took less than half an hour to get here from Bensonhurst, and it was relatively easy to find a parking spot located nearby. I found it to be a warm and relaxed place, like a European coffee shop. The menus were very helpful and precise to even people who don’t have knowledge about Uzbek cuisine. Below are our selections:
Tashkent Plov
The lamb’s texture is tender and juicy and combines well with the carrots and chickpeas with the rice that has soaked up the juices and fats of the lamb. On top is a quail egg.
Herring w/​potato
This probably comes from when the Russians ruled over Uzbekistan. The pickled herring with its mild taste is good. The yoghurt, lemon slices and red onion were a good accompaniment to the dish.
Steamed Manty
These are filled with ground lamb, potatoes and lamb fat, that allows the dumplings to have an attractive aroma. They come with yoghurt which makes it very appetizing.
Chicken, lamb and beef skewers
They were all tender and juicy, of a very high standard.
Homemade Bread
Was light and puffy and had a slightly savory taste, so it went well with the babagaounush dip.
Babagaounush dip
Eggplant dip mixed with garlic, lemon and olive oil. This is best eaten cold and opens up your appetite for the following main course.
Samsa with lamb, chicken and pumpkin
Deep fried filo pastry with a rich meat flavor that can be eaten as a light snack. Loved the crust and its soft, moist interior.
Shurpa soup
Soup that comes with tomatoes, peppers and onions with cubes of lamb which was of good quality.
Chuchvara in Lagman sauce
Small dumplings filled with lamb covered with a bowl of tomato based sauce that goes well with it.

The food was amazing and the service was just as amazing. The guys were so sweet and patient as we ordered for a family of 10. The lamb and chicken were delicious and tender. The cigars had a kick to it and the potatoes and mushroom was amazing. Coming back for more Sunday family dinners.

Delicious food! The babaganoush was awesome and we tried an appetizer of pickled vegetables that was really yummy. And the entrée was huge and delicious! Will definitely be coming here again — can’t wait to try something else. :-) A diamond in the rough find.

**Stop what you are doing and come eat here** NOW-​seriously-​NOW
This by far, hands down, the Uzbek King of all Uzbek restaurants.
Good location. Warm and inviting atmosphere. Super super clean place all the way down to the baseboards.
Staff is courteous, and attentive even though the place got busy.
Everything was fresh and burst with flavor
Avocado salad –all the veggies were crisp
Carrot salad –absolutely delicious
Sigar-​you can taste the dill mixed in with the cheese
Potato w/​mushroom-​sounds like not a big deal but oh my lord I must’ve gotten some pretty weird looks when I leaned in and inhaled the harmoniously balanced combo of garlic, scallions, mushrooms & potatoes
Kutabi spinach-​fried dough filled with wonderfully green seasoned spinach delightfully tasty
Samsa pumpkin-​ooohhhhh sooo fresh, perfectly filled with cubed ripe pieces of pumpkin-it’s a sin not to try this
Khanum-​potato filled wonder with tomato sauce on top-​the best I have ever had at any Uzbek place
Plov ‘Tashkent’- lamb cubes cooked to perfection on top of rice w/​chickpeas
Chak-​chak-​made with love & patience-​a fried noodle like desert with homemade syrup, not too sweet, not too sticky, not to hard, but PERFECT
I checked in on Unilocal and was able to use a coupon of $ 5 off.
Will I return? You better believe it, and I’m bringing everyone and their mamas here.

Can’t here on a quiet Sunday afternoon, the place had some tables occupied but wasn’t particularly busy. We ordered some lamb shishkebab and liver shishkebab, fried potatoes with mushrooms, samsa, and achichuk salad.
The achichuk (chopped tomatoes with onions) was well prepared and tasted fresh. The samsa was some of the best I’ve had in any Uzbek place, not overly greasy, generous amount of meat inside and very fresh.
The shishkabebab was soft and delicious and not overly burnt.
Overall the food was great.

Me and my friend ordered same soups and it was spoiled!!! and guess what? Owner’s wife came out from kitchen and then she start to argue with us. She was just trying to make us idiots instead bringing FRESH soups. Cheap and rude people. Stay away from this place.

Even though I can eat for four people, a solo trip wasn’t ideal to test the vast offerings here, so consider this missive a preliminary one. I didn’t have any salads, which seemed big and colorful at a nearby table. Like S&P or Moody’s, I’ll place the rating on review for an upgrade.
I got the fried potato with mushroom and onion appetizer. This was huge. I liked it but it would have worked better as a communal starter. The lamb rib kabab was juicier than the regular lamb kabab. My standards have been altered by a couple of knockout Uzbek joints in NYC; those at Chayhana Salom didn’t win the taste test but were fine on their own merits. I enjoyed the red sauce.

OMG I came here for dinner today and the food was so so delicious. I would come here more often if I’m in the area, but unfortunately, it’s a bit out of the way for me. This is also my first time trying Russian food, and I think I’ve been missing out on this really amazing and underrated cuisine. For someone who has been paying a lot for food, I definitely appreciate the affordability of this place. Most dishes are under $ 10 you will not leave hungry because the portion sizes are very fair. My table ordered 4 things to share and it only came out to around $ 40 including tax (NOT BAD AT ALL!) The staff here is also very nice and customer service was excellent! Our table ordered a few things so I will go over them in more details.
1) Kutabi– this is a grilled pastry filled with either spinach or beef. We chose the beef because everything else we ordered already had meat in it. This was eaten with the yogurt. I thought it was okay… There wasn’t anything that really stood out for me. I really do like the fact that the pastry was very light almost fluffy! I love that melt in your mouth texture
2) LAGMAN– Oh my GOSH! This had to be my favorite new dish. Lagman is a beef noodle soup in a vegetable broth. It was so flavor packed in each bite that I don’t even know how to describe the taste! It was definitely really delicious and homey, which was exactly what I need on a cold snowy day like today. I thought the broth would be very heavy, but it’s actually very light and easy to eat. I enjoy it very much and would probably order it again.
3) Manty– these are dumplings filled with chopped lamb and onions. We decided to go with the steamed ones instead of the pan fried ones. Honestly to me, they tasted almost like an asian dumpling because the texture and taste of the dumpling skin is very similar to that of a Chinese dumpling (Russia and China being on the same continent and all — that cultural diffusion though). The filling was different for me because I’ve never had a lamb dumpling before. It was flavored just right! I guess it was pretty good but next time I’d opt for something else a little outside of the box.
4) Last but not least, the KEBABS! — We ordered 3, beef, lamb and ribs. I’m pretty sure that for the ribs they used lamb but correct me if I’m wrong. OMG these were to die for. The meat was so tender, especially the lamb. It was just cook perfectly. The beef was cooked medium rare which I really appreciate because I’ve eaten a lot of bad kebabs in the past. Lastly the ribs meat just slide off the bone! They were all pretty tasty but I think I like the lamb kebabs the most!!! So make sure you check it out.

Very delicious Uzbek food. We had two appetizers — the samsa and the fried liver cubes. I can highly recommend both. For entrees, we had the plov and the fried lagman. On reflection, perhaps it was unwise to order two starches, but both entrees were great! The lagman noodles were wonderfully chewy. The plov rice was very well seasoned. Service is friendly, and everything is served on lovely china. We saw some interesting skewer dishes being delivered to other tables and want to return to try them!
The one discordant note was the adjoining table at which was seated a party who had apparently read about Chayhana Salom in the NYT. The head of the table was a «mansplainer» who, of course, ordered for the table.
The restaurant is mere steps from the Sheepshead Bay stop on the Q line.

This was a great Uzbek restaurant. I enjoyed the lagman soup. The chicken shish kebab and plov rice was great. The best was the BYOB policy.

Love this place awesome people great food the liposhkas are great I would definitely recommend this place

I don’t know anything about Russian (or Uzbek) food. I’m not even sure what we ordered, my lady did the ordering. But it was all incredibly tasty. I had something with lamb and rice in it, something with potatoes in it. Both things in a pastry-​type bread. I had another dish, but I don’t remember what it was, but it was so tasty… As you can read, I have no idea what I’m talking about, but, if you think of it, what better critic can there be than someone who goes in there totally blind and unknowledgeable. All I know is, the food was fantastic, and dirt cheap. Two of us filled up for about 35 bucks. And the service was efficient. All I know is, I’m going back there.

I love this place. If you want some authentic, excellent, delicious Uzbek food, this is where to go. I have not ordered for takeout from here, and have only been here twice. On both occasions it was with a friend, and we ordered way too much. I don’t have any particular recommendations, because we ordered blind on both occasions: a soup, a hot appetizer, two entrees, or some combination thereof. Every dish we got was excellent. I can’t get the people whinging about the place.
One point: be sure to ASK for the kompot — traditional beverage — because I don’t think it’s on the menu, and sometimes they are all out. Oh yeah, and get a tea as well. I wish I had the food vocabulary to go into some exquisite descriptions etc. etc. etc. — I don’t. It’s just bloody delicious. Love this place.

Have been to this place twice by now, even brought my American husband to introduce him to Uzbekistan cuisine and he liked it a lot.
Food tastes really good, personally I love their soup selection, especially lagman. And their traditional bread is fantastic.
Great spot to have a nice quiet lunch or dinner.
I highly recommend to stop by.

What a great little Uzbek restaurant in Sheepshead Bay! Had the Manty, Samosa, and pan-​fried noodles with meat and veggies with egg. (Forgot the name) service is wonderful and attentive without bothering you constantly. Presentation was pleasing to they eye and the flavor of the food was wonderful! If you’re in the neighborhood drop in!

The food was very good and we enjoyed ourselves. I really enjoyed the beautiful full pot of tea. It really set the mood to slow down and enjoy our meal. We ordered the mantou and felt it was a little greasy, though. I loved the sauce that came with it.
The pilav was really different from anything that I’ve experienced. I wish that I could have eaten more, but I was stuffed. We took leftovers home, so know that the portions are generous and the cost was really affordable– I love Brooklyn!
They have a large TV and were playing a futbol/​soccer match and another customer was sitting and enjoying the game complimented by a pot of tea. The restaurant looks newly renovated and is brightly colored– it is very clean. Most of the tables seated four, but I imagine that you could easily accommodate a larger group.
There are lots of great shops in the area, so you can stroll around and buy a little bit of everything from the groceries there.

Came here with my boyfriend for lunch. Normally Uzbekistan places give you bread with your meal but this place charged us for it and it wasn’t even the kind of bread you get at other places. I found a hair in my food but their English is so terrible it probably wasn’t worth it to take it up to management.

I am kind of confused by the 4.5 star ratings for this place. Let me start at the beginning about my experience, and where it all started to go down the tubes.
1. Order took 1:30 hours to be delivered, attempted to call the place over 10x without a response (may be they should invest in a call waiting).
2. I ordered specifically NO ONIONS due to my allergy, but what do I get? I get a dinner full off «delicious onions». I could not eat 85% of my order. NO BREAD, NO SIDES, NO UTENSILS, AND MY SNAPPLE WAS MISSING :(
3. The food was OK quality, I’ve had much better.
4. Delivery man tried to charge me for my order twice.
As you all can tell, I am highly disappointed and this will be my first and last time ordering from this spot! I do NOT recommend!!! The only reason they are getting the «2 stars» I gave is because the Samsa was good.

The plov with an added quail egg and lamb kebabs are delicious. The portions are generous as well. I’ve never dined in as I op for take out but the staff are very friendly.

This place is good for a fast meal after work. A few of their dishes would make a decent workday lunch. I would stick to traditional Uzbek dishes and avoid anything thay sounds like the chef’s creation. For example the Chayhana salad is advertised as having tongue. Well, it had a homeopathic dose of the stuff. Can it be so hard to source enough tongue? The salad was also bland. Add mint to the yogurt sauce, and we may have something. Get the lulya kebab. Now THAT was delicious!
The shurpa soup was great, except my bowl had a huge piece of boiled carrot and two tiny pieces of lamb most of which was fat. The broth was delicious, but would it be so hard to make sure each bowl contains meat and properly portioned vegetables?
The kebabs were decent, but nothing one can’t make at home with a charcoal grill. These were served with a yogurt sauce, and this is yet another sticking point. The sauce tasted like diluted sour cream (which is NOT the problem). The problem is that it adds nothing to the dish. Where is the cumin? Mint? Paprika? Something to add a dimension to the food!
Finally, the famous Uzbek tea, for which my expectations were high, was weak. That’s all I can say about it. Please put more leaves in the pot. How much does bulk green tea cost? Certainly not enough to skimp on it!
The service was fast and courteous. The place has a clean décor, although I would go for a more cozy layout with soft ottomans and low tables to create a far eastern charm.

Fresh food, minimal wait time, fair prices and JUICY kebobs
I definitely recommend Chayhana Salom over Nargis Café!
Waiters don’t speak much English, so be prepared to have pictures or do hand signals. Other than that– i’d definitely come back and bring more of my friends & family!

The food was sooo salty!
we ordered salad-​lettuce wasn’t so fresh. Meat in Samsa was salty, but it had a lot of meat though for $ 2. My chicken kebab was decent ($ 3.99). We also ordered Uygur lagman ($ 9)-it was ok, but again very salty:(((
They are charging service charge (10% of your bill) I don’t think we’ll go back …

Read some previous reviews before trying this place and I agree… there is a lot of fat used in the cooking. I got over it quickly. The food was, for the most part, delicious. We started with a beef and veggie soup that, while hearty, was still light. The samsa were excellent, especially the lamb, but the pumpkin was also very good. The lamb dumplings were amazing also. I didn’t really love the bread– it lacked substance. A chicken kebab was our poorest choice. To me it tasted sour. But the owner checked it out and said it might be the spice that I’m not used to. In any event, she removed it from the check. I will definitely return, but the kebabs will not be in my order.

Excellent! First time trying Usbek cuisine.
Ordered the Sansa, the lamb liver cubes and the eggplant salad for appetizer. The Plov and the lamb Kebab for main course. Everything amazing.

The Reviews are FAKEEEEEEEEEE!!!
With 10 other same style cuisine restaurants in the area who do not come close to this amount of reviews and this amount of stars is just simply beyond me.
We ordered lunch for the office for about 5 – 6 people and it came out to 100 bucks which is fair if the food was edible. As you can see by my reviews I have a good heart and If a place of business forces me to leave anything below a 3 star review means they left a nasty impression on me.
Not one of my partners or co workers said anything good about this place. I was the moron who suggested it based on its outstanding reviews out of nowhere I knew it had to be a FAUX!!!
The delivery took over an hour and the place is down the block from us. literary a 3 – 4 minute walk. Food was taste less. Chicken was to dry and flavor less and the salads were not sliced or mixed properly. Tomatoes tasted like rubber. As if no effort was put into making the food and preparing the dishes.
STAY AWAY!

Fabulous, authentic uzbek food. I became obsessed with uzbek and uyghur food when I lived in China. Have been craving it ever since I’ve left. This fabulous restaurant finally satiated that need last night.
Firstly the place is impeccably clean. The service was attentive and provided everything we asked for promptly. It was an incredible value for the amount and quality of food delivered.
This is a fun restaurant to go with a group so that you can try the full variety of dishes.
We ordered: the lamb and the lamb rib kebabs, the eggplant salad, the Daikon and beef tongue salad, traditional bread, the sour yogurt and veggies, the fried Lang man noodles with egg on top, the lamb samsa, the uyghur noodles which come with the meaty sauce on the side and the pickle plate.
It was all delightful and we’ll executed. The fried Lang man noodles, the lamb kebab, and the sour yogurt were the highlights.
The lamb kebab and lamb ribs we perfectly cooked and juicy.
Also they allow BYOB, no charge.

The food was good and authentic. It didn’t wow me, but enough where I would come back. We ordered the plov, khanam, and kebab. It was a nice little restaurant that provided good service. I would come back and try other things on the menu.

Great food, great service, relatively cheap.
Was surprised with the quality of food.
Highly recommend.

I had been dying to try this place, and finally after a long run on the boardwalk decided to stop in. You can’t miss the bright green and red awning outside on sheepshead bay road. Of course there is street parking out front but to the right where the road divides there is a pay for parking area.
The place is tiny and homey with a total of 9 areas to sit, mostly 4 tops but some 6. I was seated promptly and started in on the menu. Which was both in English and in Russian. I started my meal with some hot green tea and the bread. It was warm and toasted and delicious.
For dinner I tried the Plov and the lamb samsa. I wasn’t able to eat all of it but had dinner for the next day. The plov was wonderful, heavenly, seasoned well, and the rice very soft. The lamb samsa was nice and tender, not overcooked, and well seasoned.
The waiter was very friendly, checking in frequently but not too much that it became bothersome. He spoke very good English and was easy to understand. At one point even the chef stopped by the table to say hello and asked if I enjoyed my meal. The answer: definite yes.
Any time you are in Brooklyn and looking for Uzbeki food, definitely stop in here. You will not be disappointed!