Silk Road Choyhona Bistro

[1000yregg]

Went to a real find in past weekend. An Uzbek restaurant in Pikesville called Silk Road Choyhona Bistro. It was recommended by some folks I met, one who was from Uzbekistan.

I've had Uzbek food in Brooklyn a few years ago, and with some little knowledge of the cuisine, it made this meal really great.

The place is BYOB, but we started with a pitcher of their housemade fruit drink- kind of like a less sweet kool-aid with pear halves floating in it.

We started with a sampling of Uzbek "salads": Smak- tomato, croutons, cheese & mayo; suzma with radish- a sour yogurt with dill & cucumbers; Markovcha, a Korean influenced shredded carrot salad with garlic, vinegar, dill; and fried eggplant served cold folded with garlic & tomato.

We had the Uzbek Tandoori Nan bread which is not flat like Indian naan, rather it is like a boule with the middle collapsed. It's very dense.

The Pilav is like "pilaf"- a rice dish with carrots and lamb.

We ordered several kinds of kebab- including beef lulya, lamb, lamb rib (which is on a bone), veal liver, and the "delicatessen" kebab, which is a nice way of describing the lamb testicle.

My favorite was the lamb rib. The testicle reminded of fish balls or less dense chicken gizzard. They serve the meats with a spicy sauce, pickled onions, and pomengranate juice.

For dessert, I tried the baklava, which unlike it's Mediterranean counterpart, is not wet & syrupy- it's more like a dry flaky pastry. I also had the "chocolate ball" which is like a dense cake doughnut hole drizzled with chocolate sauce.

Total bill for 8 people- $100.

Well worth a return trip.

PICS

607 Reisterstown Road

Baltimore, MD

(410)878-2929

[theminx]

Based on your recommendation, we went to Choyhona and tried both the lamb rib and the delicatessen kabobs, plus the "jiz biz." It was all good, especially the ribs.

The baklava pastry reminded me of a French millefeuille.