******UPDATE NOW CLOSED for business*******Cafe Chenar is a Bukharian (also spelled Bukharean) Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. Most of us have never heard of Bukharian Cuisine so you might be wondering what it is….. Bukharian Cuisine is a distant kosher cuisine of the former central Asian State E Mirate of Bukhara (now Uzbekistan). Bukharian Cuisine is an offshoot of pan-central Asian Cooking. Cafe Chenar serves foods such as Grilled Kababs, Meat and Potato Stuffed Pies, Salads and Soups. The food served has Russian, Muslim, Uzbek, and Korean Influences.

The restaurant is small but cozy. The walls are decorated with  patterned large tiles.  All the fixtures are encrusted with rhinestones that you don’t see unless you take a close look.

The front is a large window that lets in lots of natural light during the day.

There are many interesting dishes on the menu. Even after two visits I still have many dishes that I want to try because everything I tried so far was delicious.

This time we started with Crusty Lepyoshka Bread and Markovcha Salad (Russian/Korean Carrot Salad).

The carrots are shaped just like spaghetti. The salad is garlicy with a little cayenne kind of heat and pickled.  It’s a bit onion-ee and slightly sweet.

The Lepyoshka Bread has a think crust and a pillow-ee soft interior. The bread is shaped just like the bagel’s cousin the Bialy. It’s round but the center is pressed down. The Lepyoshka Bread is also very large and is enough for four people.

We shared the Pelmeni Soup.

It’s a very developed with flavor……..Beef vegetable dumpling soup.

When you taste this soup……you taste a lot of cooking here. This is the real deal…a real broth. It’s carefully seasoned with about six carefully made seasoned ground beef dumplings called Pelmeni that look similar to tortellini.

We also shared the Plov. It’s a Russian Beef and Chicken Vegetable Rice Stew.

The rice is developed with stock-ee flavor.  There are carrots, chickpeas and scallions that is topped with succulent tender flavorful chunks of brisket? or Brisket-like beef. I’m not really a beef person but this is delicious and it’s seasoned just so…..

From my first visit we started with-

We also shared- Very ginger-ee Kimchi, Belyash and Piroshki (seasoned potato and beef filled hand pies with a tomato sort of salsa like condiment) (( I thought they’d be tiny since they were $3.00@ but they weren’t so tiny))

Onion-ee Fatir Bread (this can feed a family) and Chicken, Lulya (seasoned ground beef) Kababs

All the food was delicious! Portions run large and prices are low.

Our server was helpful and efficient. This is a very interesting cuisine…..Fit for Foodies!

Cafe Chenar is still…………Worth a Fork!

It’s important to know that Cafe Chenar’s hours do differ from other restaurants and are subject to close for holidays that you might not be aware of. It’s best to give them a call to be certain they will be there for your visit. 602-354-4505

*****UPDATE NOW CLOSED for business*******

I haven’t found a website for Cafe Chenar but they are on Facebook.

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

reference www.Momentmag.com