| rev:text
| - For years I heard about borscht and pirozhki amongst other Russian and East European favorites. I always wondered what the hype was about borscht. The problem is that there aren't many Russian eateries in Phoenix (just this place and another up north, that I know of) so I never had the chance to try out this cuisine. Then a Russian friend told me about a Russian-Uzbeki place he heard about called Samarkand Restaurant and naturally I went, and he came along with me. We've actually been there twice already.
Like Mr. K's review said, it's in a strip mall which sits directly across the street from another strip mall in which the Russian Market resides (I have reviewed the Russian Market too). We walked in and immediately got a whiff of some sort of soup (it was pelmeni soup, more on that later) and got an eye full of the nice decor (they did some decorating since Gina W's earlier review); mirrored walls with pictures of domed mosques, a chandelier, gold inlay adorned tile floors, fancy dishware set out on each table, and of course, traditional Uzbeki-Russian music playing overhead. Behind the counter there's a framed picture of Mike Tyson himself posing with with Svetlana and her husband at the restaurant. Apparantly Mike has a taste for more than just mutulated ears and he has stopped by a few times for a bite (no cheesy pun intended). We stepped forward and Svetlana greeted us, told us to take a seat, and handed us menus. The food is actually pretty good. This is what we ordered on our first and second visits:
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First visit: We weren't fully familiar with the menu, so Svetlana sat down and walked us through the menu. I got:
**Borscht - The infamous borscht that I had heard so much about. It was pretty good; tasted similar to what I thought it would taste like.
**Pirozhki - Small meat filled pies approximately the size of a dinner roll. You'll find these under the appetizer section as "Samsa", the Uzbek alternate name, but they'll know what you mean by pirozhki. My friend and myself loved these. We ate a couple of them. l recommend you get a couple of these, you won't regret it. Our second visit was mainly inspired by the pirozhki and lipioshka alone.
**Lipioshka - A danish-like round bread served hot and fresh. We shared it, and much like Mr. K, we also really liked it and it's very filling. This bread comes with a tasty sauce that you dip the lipioshka into. It's much like salsa but with a greener/leafier taste. I recommend also getting the lipioshka along with the pirozhki.
**My friend also got pelmeni soup and two marinated beef kebabs with a complimentary side of rice.
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Second visit: Like the first time, we asked for pirozhki and a lipioshka again. This time I decided to try the pelmeni soup and I came to find out that the whiff that you first get as you walk in is that of this soup. I really don't know why it smells like pelmeni, seeing as to how it's obviously not the only thing that's prepared there. Anyhow, the soup itself is simple but good. It's basically ravioli squares stuffed with beef in a broth with a sort of grass. Very filling. Again, my friend ordered some kebabs with rice and onions.
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Just like another reviewer said, you will be full for hours. We will be going back to Samarkand later on. (If you are wondering about price, my friend and myself spent $15-$17 each, both times there.) I recommend it because the food is good and filling and besides, how many other Russian-Uzbeki joints have you seen around town? None right? Then here you have the opportunity to experience a culinary rarity. And If a tough nail like Mike Tyson likes it, then you know it must be good. And besides, you wouldn't want to disagree with Mike's choice; we know what happens when someone has a disagreement with him. Just watch the news. It's not pretty.
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