Cafe Kashkar
“the lagman was like spicy spaghetti w/ lamb, and over there it was 50 to 75 cents for an enormous belt-busting bowl.”
“Outstanding…from pickled veggies to the bread, soup, dumplings, lagman…everything.”
“Look up the region and you will recognize the influences – yet nothing is like Uighur food.”
Cafe Kashkar
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Amaze-balls! This place is right next to the boardwalk at Brighton Beach. I brought my friend here, who grew up on Uzbek cuisine. She was blown away by the lamb kebabs. Supposedly, they beat out most of the places she frequents in California.
We got some soup called Shurpa lamb broth with potatoes, vegetables, and cut meat. For hot appetizer, we got the popular meat dumplings known as Manty and pastry Chebureki. Then came our order of both lamb and beef kebabs cooked to perfection. We couldn't leave without an order of the Polo fried rice with carrots, lamb and spices. We drank green tea in the traditional teapot. I left extremely full from the steamy meal of meats and rice. It was definitely on the heavier side, if you are used to grilled chicken and salad lunches.
I really appreciated the ethic feel of this restaurant. The walls were adorned with traditional ornaments- scarfs, hats, swords. And if you speak Russian, you can watch television. There were only 6 tables in the entire restaurant, but it made it homey. I lot of locals came for take out orders.
Overall, I really recommend this restaurant for those who enjoy ethnic food. If you have never had Uzbek food, it is somewhere between Russian and Chinese cuisine.
I came to this restaurant a year ago and was not impressed. I wanted to write a poor review, but actually felt bad because they seemed to be just started out and getting into their groove. After visiting this past weekend, my opinion has changed completely. They have really turned up the ethnic flavors of the Uzbek and Uyghur food. What a unique place!
Don't quote me on this, but they must be one of a kind in this country. Where else would they serve Uyghur food? The crowd here was very mixed, from Russians to Uzbeks, to Chinese customers coming in to enjoy the food. Our table ordered what seemed like most of the menu so that we could try as much as possible. We had eggplant and langsai salads, samsa, manty (steamed and fried), plenty of kebabs, and lagman. My favorite was the steamed manty, served in classic Chinese dim sum steamers.
The place is also BYOB and has great take-out options. I will absolutely get some take-out next time I am in Brooklyn. I loved the unique menu offerings and I'm very happy to see this place doing well!
It's so hard to find a truly unique food experience in New York when you're a native (or even if you've just lived here a while). Japanese food, Thai food, Chinese food, and Italian food you can find on every other corner, they're basically the staples of a New Yorker diet. And while there's always new fusion restaurants popping up, by the third try you realize they're all just reiterations of the same uninspired creations. I've found the truly best restaurants in New York City are the ones that showcase a cuisine and section of the world you never would have known about otherwise.
Enter Cafe Kashkar, a small mom & pop joint with amazing food you really can't find elsewhere in New York! The first time I had Uyghur food was in California and I've been pining after it ever since… Kashkar did not disappoint! Amazing Laghman, samsa, and sausage. Easy menu to navigate if you don't speak the language, they have photos of all of the food (even if they don't always have an english equivalent). The food is prepared as ordered and the ingredients are fresh. Service was pleasant and friendly and the decor is fantastic too- hand painted drums and colorful and intricate drapery all around, plus pink walls! I can't wait to come back and try everything else.
Cafe Kashkar is absolutely worth the trip down to Brighton Beach- just think, in the two hours wait it'll take for you to get into that newest fusion trendy restaurant in Williamsburg or Manhattan, you could have traveled down to Cafe Kashkar and had authentic Uzbek / Uyghur food in a great Brooklyn neighborhood that's remained largely unchanged for years.
This place is awesome! The lamb kebabs are amazing–juicy and fatty the way they're meant to be (yes, I've been to Xinjiang so I do know something about Uyghur food.) The samsa are also delicious and authentic, basically baked buns with a lamb+onion filling. The lagman was good although maybe a little less tomato-y than what I've had in Xinjiang and more celery but hey, every restaurant does things a little differently. The noodles in it had a good bite and were obviously handmade. Eggplant salad was great, with a mixture of pieces of eggplant and pepper doused in a delicious oily dressing. Service was friendly, quick, and unobtrusive. I'll definitely be coming back.
One of the best Uzbek restaurants I have ever been to. Absolutely delicious carrot salad, lagman, chebereuki, meat samsas, lamb chops, mixed grill (meat dish) chackchack (desert), eggplant dish & more.
The prices are very reasonable, the place has a limited amount of tables but the service is excellent.
Cafe Kashkar is a prime example on how service can make or break a dinner experience.
From the moment we walked in to the restaurant, all indications were that this small business would be up to the simple task of delivering the cuisine of Kaskar, waiting on the new clients hand and foot making for a pleasant dining experience. When we arrived, there were about twenty four total seats inside, some empty tables outside, so the waitstaff had four tables a piece. On the side of the restaurant I was seated at there was only one four top which is a piece of cake for any semi experienced server.
The appetizer I ordered came as a recommendation from the server (mentioned in my tip that I wrote in real time) was not available but the server assured me would be ready at some point. What point may that be? When it is time for dessert? Perhaps after we have left?
So I ordered distant second choice which was the Kashkar Salad. At seven bucks it was reasonable, filled with peppers both red and green, yet with a late onrush of spice which was not intrusive to my taste buds.
The Samsa was excellent, hard pastry shell with some nice thin cuts of lamb and translucent onion, very worth the two dollars and fifty cents per.
Ground beef ka-bob was burnt on the bottom which, as it is not cooked directly on open flame is not an easy task.
We ordered the Naan which was very fairly priced at two dollars to go with our entree Nokhat, which we shared, which was another lamb dish and was good, far from great.
Server errors:
~Telling me about an app that is unavailable.
~Never refilling the water even though we asked in two languages on three different occasions.
~Not serving butter with our bread, yet other tables had it.
~Serving us cold bread, this is such a simple one. Just ask it to be reheated. Like I am not going to notice the difference?
~Two tables were drinking wine and beer, but there was no liquor license. The server fumbled with reasons why the patrons were having beer and wine with their meals, he seemed to not have an answer. The best understanding I got was that they sneaked it in and the business was too embarrassed to ask them to not drink it in their restaurant. really? I must have looked simple to this guy, in that he could fabricate any reason to answer any of my questions and I would buy it hook, line and sinker.
~We asked for the check three times and in two languages as we were running late for an event. The server goes to the back, which I has to assume to prepare the check as it was out third request. Instead he comes out with place settings and begins to ready a table for customers that were not there. This guy must be related to the ownership as he would be canned on the spot if he were working in most establishments.
~I am sure I am leaving out a few gems of his inability to serve, however I am growing weary of listing and discussing his ineptitude.
Non server complaint:
~Whoever lives, occupies or squats in the space above the restaurant is in desperate need of a visit by managment, to express the immediacy urgency to avoid practicing the shot-putt for the 2016 Summer Games or practicing Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka's leap off the top rope or whatever the hell they are doing up there, Its obnoxious.
Georgaphical note: Kashkar is the westernmost Chinese city, located near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
The best Samsas in Brooklyn hands down!
The fried lamb ribs with soy sauce, garlic, tomato, pepper and cheese wasn't as exotic as it sounded, and I didn't notice the cheese, but the ribs were excellent and the sauce was compelling enough that I regretted not getting bread to soak up the leftovers.
The assorted pickles were great for a hot day (and an effective psychological counterpoint to high-fat food.) One of the cherry tomatoes was wilted, but the green tomatoes and cabbage were good examples of why more things in the world should be pickled.