We enjoy RusUz so much, we wanted to show you more pictures of their delicious food!

RusUz Restaurant - Uzbek, Central Asian and Russian Cuisine - Arlington (Ballston), VA

1000 N Randolph St
Arlington, VA 22201
(202) 468-8472

We've written about RusUz on this blog in the past, so we will not repeat ourselves. But we love it so much that we keep going back for more plov, more manty and more borscht. Russian and Central Asian food isn't for everyone, and we are the first to admit this. But for those who are not familiar with this kind of food, this is a great place to be introduced to it.

Food at RusUz has been great every time we have gone (about a dozen times since they opened a few years ago), and the service has gotten better with time.  We are not alone in thinking this. The restaurant is quite busy and often gets booked for private events, so we reservations are highly recommended, particularly on a Friday or Saturday evening, when the wait can be quite long without a reservation. The only drawback is the increasingly rocky chairs at some of the tables, but that's what an ethnic dive is all about! If you mention this to the staff, they will change out your chair....  The staff is very friendly, pleasant, knowledgeable and accommodating.

For those who drive everywhere, note that street parking is at a premium on weekend evenings in this busy area of Ballston, especially if there is a game in one of the surrounding bars, such as the awesome A-Town Bar & Grill. So, unless you're metroing, parking at the nearby Ballston Commons Mall parking lot is always an option, if you don't mind walking 3 short blocks.

By the way, here is a guide to Central Asian dishes http://www.buzzfeed.com/dianabruk/delicious-uzbek-dishes-you-need-to-try-immediately#.yrN4gzvEr and here is a partial list of Russian food that you will find at RusUz also http://www.buzzfeed.com/tashweenali/delicious-russian-foods-for-your-sochi-olympics-party#.rmpvoNJQP.  We've also offered a description of Central Asian food and geography in our previous posts about RusUz, as well as another excellent Central Asian restaurant in Gaithersburg, MD (yes, we crossed the border!) called Choyhona.  While the chef of Chayhona is from Samarkand, the chef at RusUz is from Tashkent.  Try both and see if you can tell the difference in their plov!  Each region and each town has their own recipe for this delicious dish.

Here are some more pictures of wonderful food at RusUz:

Appetizers starting from the far left: 

Bliny (a.k.a. Blinchiki) (Two orders of these here) - Russian traditional thin pancakes (crepes) filled with ground beef, topped with sour cream

Pirozhki - Russian traditional flaky crust pies stuffed with mashed potatoes and mushrooms 

Crab stick salad - Rice, hard-boiled eggs, sweet corn, and diced crab mixed with house mayonnaise

Manty (main course) - A staple in Uzbek cuisine. Large steamed dumplings with marinated dices of lamb and onions

Centered on the tray is a bowl of the beet and cabbage beef-based borscht with a dollop of sour cream, as traditionally served in Russia

Main course dishes starting with the top left:

Two orders of delicious Uzbek plov - Rice-based dish with either beef or lamb, as well as carrots, chickpeas, raisins and regional spices

Goluptsi - a Russian baked dish of seasoned ground beef and rice filling stuffed inside cabbage leaves, traditionally served with sour cream

Siberian pelmeni - Probably the best-known Russian dish of boiled delicate dumplings stuffed with ground beef served traditionally with sour cream (yes, again, sour cream) and dill

Chicken Shashlyk (kabob) served with a medley of green vegetables and topped with onions

 Delicious juicy Lamb Shank

Dolma - Stuffed Grape Leaves

Assortment of rich dessert cakes that are all calorie-free (wink wink)

Priatnovo Appetita! Bon Appetit!

  

Choyhona Authentic Uzbek Restaurant, Gaithersburg, MD

28 Bureau Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(301) 330-5262

From the outset, we have to say that this place is definitely worth a visit. If you are not familiar with Central Asian or particularly Uzbek cuisine, don’t worry. Take our recommendations on the menu selections and you will not be disappointed. You must have an open mind and an adventurous palate. Even for those of us who have traveled to Uzbekistan and Central Asia many times, this food was as authentic as you can get, and it saves a 20-hour flight each way with two layovers!

We don’t often venture across the state border into Maryland, but when we got a tip from a friend about how great the food is at Choyhona Authentic Uzbek Restaurant in Gaithersburg, and when we read on yelp that it has only been open 17 days, we just had to try it. And we were not disappointed. Even those of our friends who were skeptical at first, came around after the first course was served.

For those who want to know, “Choy” means “tea” and “hona” means “hall,” so Choyhona means literally Teahall, but in actuality means “restaurant” in Uzbek and Tajik languages. As one drives across Central Asia, one can see many “choyhonas” along the way, particularly along some of the larger roads, for travelers to stop and rest over a small teapot of black or green tea, have a good solid meal, and chat with others about the goings on of that community. Local families go to choyhonas to have a reliably good homecooked meal.

The owners of this new establishment hail from Samarkand, an ancient city on what was

known as The Silk Road centuries ago, that served as a bustling trade and transport corridor of all things that were basic necessities of life, but also wonderfully exotic, beautiful and delicious. Food preparation in this part has remained a very important tradition. The Uzbeks historically were a tribe of “settlers,” unlike some of their neighboring tribes who were “nomads,” such as the Kyrgyz and Kazakh people. Now all these tribes have become sovereign nations with their own geographical borders and continue their best ancient traditions in modern times.

Samarkand, considered a Tajik city in Uzbekistan because of the large Tajik population and many preservations of Tajik customs, is a peaceful, mysterious, beautiful and special place in the world, seldom visited by tourists in modern times. Registan Square is the most famous, ancient and well-preserved spot in Samarkand, a Muslim city, where Muslims, Jews and Christians have truly lived peacefully side by side since time began. If you come to this restaurant you will see some depictions of Samarkand on the walls painted on hide, as well as some beautifully embroidered fabrics typical of its ancient traditions. The china here – plates, cups and teapots – are also of typical Uzbek white and blue pattern. It is truly a small trip into Uzbekistan without the jetlag and the TSA.
 
We started our meal with salads and soups. The “Tashkent” salad (named after the capital of Uzbekistan) reminded us of the sopska salad served in the Balkans, made of sliced tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, and onions with a healthy dose of feta cheese on top. The “Lagman” soup was made with homemade egg noodles, beef (although traditionally in Central Asia it is made with horse meat), what looked like green beans (Choyhona’s chef’s tasty invention) in a red spicy sauce. This was prepared in an authentic way, which means it is rather oily, but delicious. We also had a dish of pickled herring and wonderfully prepared potatoes, which was the Russian influence on Uzbek cuisine, and

deliciously prepared at this restaurant. Another wonderful surprise was the Khonim, which was a steamed layered dumpling with beef and a bit of dill, served with sour cream. We also ordered a side of regular French Fries. Although they came out at the very end of our meal, they were friend to perfection and served with a salsa-like home-made spicy dip, which was great, but they also had a bottle of Heinz ketchup on hand. The only disappointment was the bread / naan / “lepioshka,” which was very dry, clearly overbaked, and bland.

Now for the entrees. A must-have is the plov, a Central Asian rice dish, which takes a full work day to cook in a large iron kettle. Although traditionally made with lamb, the more palatable meat for Americans is beef, so here it is made with beef, and it is delicious. Thinly sliced carrots, raisins and garbanzo beans add terrific flavor and texture. Plov must be eaten with a salad called “shakarap,” made of sliced tomatoes and onions, which can be ordered here as a side, and must be eaten together with plov, we cannot stress that enough. The fried pelmeni (also a Russian menu influence) sprinkled with dill were absolutely scrumptious. Ask for sour cream, which will complement ­the pelmeni.

Not to be missed is the assortment of kebabs. We ordered the salmon kebabs, the shrimp kebabs, and the liver kebabs. Very reasonable prices, which is why we ordered such a large variety. All were grilled and seasoned to utmost perfection. A little squirt of the lemon made them heavenly. Our stomachs seemed to have been transformed into a bottomless abyss because although we all were full after the second course, the deliciousness of the next wave of portions made us unable to stop eating. Yes, this is dangerous, but oh, so good!

There was a large party in the restaurant celebrating a couple’s 10-year anniversary. As the restaurant is a “hall,” basically one large room, the festivities of the party, particularly of the half a dozen toddlers playing loudly with toys on the beautifully-ornate floor rugs, was somewhat distracting. We wish that when we made reservations, we had been told about this. But on the other hand, this is clearly a family-oriented restaurant, where families are welcome, and this is a good thing.

Choyhona is situated in a Giant plaza, and can be easily passed over in favor of those restaurants that are more familiar, such as the Subway next door, the Asian buffet across the lot, or any of the other fast-food establishments in the area. Choyhona is definitely not fast food—it is slow-cooked goodness that is worth a visit! 

And by the way, if you're wondering what to order for a gastronomic feast, here are more tips http://www.buzzfeed.com/dianabruk/delicious-uzbek-dishes-you-need-to-try-immediately.

RusUz Restaurant - Uzbek, Central Asian and Russian Cuisine - Arlington (Ballston), VA

RusUz was named one of Washington area's 100 Very Best Restaurants by the Washingtonian Magazine in January 2014!  Congrats, well-deserved!!  Below is our review from February 2013.  And by the way---  If you are wondering what to order when you go there, here are some certain gastronomic hits http://www.buzzfeed.com/dianabruk/delicious-uzbek-dishes-you-need-to-try-immediately.

1000 N Randolph St
Arlington, VA 22201
(202) 468-8472

We were amazed how crowded RusUz was after being open for only a month and no advertising that we know of, only word of mouth.  We definitely recommend trying this tiny new restaurant in Ballston. 

Be forewarned – they still haven’t received their liquor license, and they will be the first ones to suggest that the 7/11, about a minute-walk from them, will gladly sell you a few bottles of wine, with no corking fee charged. 

In a nutshell, the food is terrific, but the service… well…  they’re still getting the hang of it, so I am certain that it will improve with time. The waiters, all very nice and friendly, were clearly rushing around, so it’s possible that the kitchen could not keep up with the crowd.  Every table was taken and some people had to wait to be seated, so business was definitely booming. And this was on an early Sunday evening!  In other words, be prepared for a longer dinner time!

RusUz is owned and operated by a family from Uzbekistan, who has lived in Alexandria for several years.  They catered food to the local community for about 3 years and after being convinced by their regular clientele to start a business, have decided to open RusUz.  We have used them as caterers before and were thrilled to find out that they have opened a restaurant.

The menu selection in RusUz is a combination of two cuisines – Russian (rather Slavic), such as the all-familiar Borscht, Blinchiki, Pirozhki, Chicken Kiev, and Pelmeni (hope you like dill, as it is used ubiquitously in almost every Russian dish), and Uzbek (rather Central Asian), such as Plov, Manti, Dolma, and Lagman. We came to RusUz with a fun group of 7 friends.  Between all of us, we tried virtually everything on the menu, including the shashlyk, and all was delicious.  Our friends who had never had this food before and those who were somewhat familiar with it, all liked it, and even said they would come back.  As for me, I know this cuisine very well and can certainly attest that the food is good!

One of my all-time favorite foods is plov, a typical Central Asian staple meal to be shared with friends for dinner, which is always topped off with tea to help digest the heavy meal.  Plov is a rice-based dish, traditionally made with lamb, usually cooked slowly in a cast iron cauldron, with carrots and raisins and flavorful (not hot) spices.  For those of you familiar with Indian food, it is close to a biryiani, close, but not the same.  Plov is usually served with a tomato-onion side salad, which brings out the richness of the rice.  To try plov is to fall in love with it!  I have traveled to Central Asia many times and can attest that plov in RusUz is as authentic as it can get (although the tomato salad includes cucumbers, which is a local addition).  In the U.S. lamb is not nearly as popular as in Central Asia, so if you call a few days in advance, you can pre-order plov with either beef or chicken, but be prepared to order at least 5 portions, otherwise the busy kitchen will be unable to accommodate your request.

Our hope is that RusUz can find the right formula to stay in business.  Several Russian restaurants have come and gone in the Washington DC metro area over the years, some stayed longer, some shorter, but all disappeared with the exception of the landmark Russia House, which is not our cup of chai (pardon the pun).  A relatively new Café Assorti that also serves a mix of Russian and Central Asian food, has not risen to popularity in this area (we have never even been there, but maybe one day we will try it).  RusUz is definitely worth a go, and who knows, next stop for you may be somewhere along the Silk Road, like Samarkand or Bukhara!