Cafe Arzu is only scary from the outside

From the outside, Cafe Arzu looks like no place you want to go into. But the few menu options from inside are sufficient reason . This Uzbek restaurant is Kosher and BYO.








I ordered the carrot salad on a whim, wondering how some carrots could justify a $5 price tag. But they are in fact awesome and they are in fact worth it. They do some kind of tangy preparation that makes the shreds of carrots addicting.

For me, the star of the pickle platter was the pink cabbage. They had a strong sour flavor and are oh so pretty. 

The lagman soup is the only one I ever order, though I bet the others are also outstanding. You can taste that the noodles are homemade and the beef-tomato broth is light and comforting














You can't go wrong with the skewers here. I think they are of a better quality than the Rego Park favorite Cheborechnaya. I particularly like ordering the beef, lamb rib, and kofta.

The cheborek is a decent fried snack, though the meat inside is not as good of quality as that of the kebobs. The samsy suffers the same problem. 

The manty come with a minimum order of 5. The filling choices are meat and squash. The meat are a bit more delicious, but both are worth ordering.

Don't be intimidated by the outside, you could be missing out on some solid home cooking.

101-05 Queens Blvd