Chronicle Travels to Uzbekistan Through Uzeat’s Dishes

Chronicle writer Emily Beyda took a successful trip to Uzbekistan through the flavorful fare of what is possibly Austin’s first Uzbek restaurant Uzeat. The homey Northwest Austin restaurant focuses on making everything by hand, which means certain dishes are available by pre-order only, so nothing is rushed.

The restaurant’s’ Central Asian roots mesh together Turkish, Mongolian, and European influences, leading to stellar dishes like somsas (baked pastries filled with meat and vegetables), pirozhki (“that felt more like miniature loaves of bread than dumplings”), and the juicy shashlik lamb Beyda’s favorite was the stuffed cabbage:

[I]ncredibly tender little packages of rice and ground meat, wrapped in cabbage and slow-cooked to sweetness and topped with a sweet tangle of carrots, zucchini, and tomatoes. The flavor is complex and unfamiliar. We sense cumin, we think, maybe cinnamon, maybe dill? It seems strange and comforting all at once. On the side, there’s a couple of slabs of the dense, crumbly white bread our waitress says she makes herself. It’s perfect for sopping up all that sauce.

For Austin Monthly, writer Darcie Duttweiler wasn’t disappointed with the crowded Southern restaurant Colleen’s Kitchen in Mueller. There she found good takes on the regional fare, like chicharrones covered in dark chocolate, the biscuit trio with pimento cheese, fried chicken, and country ham, and pie. Her standout dish was the pork chop,

[...] which was juicy and served with heavenly accoutrements: apricot-and-ginger chutney, vanilla-roasted fennel, and black-pepper applesauce.

On the blogs: South Austin Foodie enjoyed Regal Ravioli’s new sibling trailer Lunar Pizza with New Jersey-style pies; Feed This House ate everything at brunch restaurant The Funkadelic.

• Restaurant Review: UZeat Serves Cultural Mash-Up Cuisine From Uzbekistan [Chronicle]
• Restaurant Review: Colleen’s Kitchen [Austin Monthly]
• Austin’s First Uzbek Restaurant Is Open With Halal Dumplings and Crepes [EATX]
• All Coverage of Colleen’s Kitchen [EATX]