HODown at The Old Bukhara, Freehold

Via the original post: 12:30 p.m.

Iā€™m falling the way of Marlboro Man ā€¦ seeing the kid in New Brunswick for Rutgers Day. Enjoy!!

Iā€™ll be there, still one!

Thanks for that reminder, Roz! Iā€™m going to order it tomorrow unless there are objectionsā€¦

So if I have this right, weā€™re at 12 people:
@CurlzNJ (2)
@RGR (2)
@BossaNova (2)
@MsBean (2)
@CoachDonna (2)
@heidicooksandbakes (1)
@joonjoon (1)

Everyone else, you have until Noon tomorrow (Tues) to chime inā€¦ Thanks

I wish to protest the exclusion of @seal despite his RSVP above.

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Iā€™ve been looking at the menu. I want to taste it all!

I think the word youā€™re looking for is ā€œomission.ā€

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Sooooo sorry @seal ! Lucky #13!

Okayā€¦reservation confirmed, Palov ordered! COME HUNGRY. :laughing:

ADDRESS is

4239 RT 9 N In freeholdā€¦ I missed the first number up above!

I am the first casualty. Iā€™ve been sick for two days and still am coughing way too much to share food with all you good people. Enjoy!

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Weā€™re almost there.

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Ok, I am feeling lousy, and it is only ten minutes before my bedtime, so I will put the lack of reviews up to food comas. But there better be some posts up here when I get up at 4 am.

@seal, So sorry are under the weather. You were missed! To make you feel betterā€¦

Old Bukhara ā€œHOdownā€ Photo Set

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David, the food was quite good. And we talked and laughed a lot. We had an assortment of appetizers and of course the Palov (so much of it), and four different kinds of kebabs. The lamb chop kebabs and the chicken were great. Actually they were all great. Roz took photos. I was too busy eating to take more than this one. Iā€™m sure someone more eloquent that me will post. Feel better.

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Nice pics ladies. So as far as the kebabs went, were you getting any of the charcoal flavor? Iā€™m almost certain this places cooks them over charcoal. That is one reason why I want to try it.

Apologies for the delay in posting, but after lunch I just kept going and didnā€™t get home until late last night (AP Music + Film Festival weekend)! As has already been posted, we had a really delicious and fun lunch together yesterdayā€¦ First of all, great to finally meet @CoachDonna @heidicooksandbakes and @RGR ! @seal we missed you, but you really sounded awful so we all agreed it was better you stayed home.

We let @BossaNova lead on ordering and we ended up with exactly the right variety and amount of food on the table (imo). I absolutely loved the chopped salad with avocado and green apple, although Iā€™m truly perplexed as I try to figure out how avocados got in to Uzbeki cuisine. We had 3 different types of lamb kebabs (traditional chunks of meat, ground (kofte style), and lamb short ribs. Had I been alone, I might have tackled half of the ground and the short ribs, but I was being polite :slight_smile: I also loved the dish thatā€™s listed as a 3000 year-old recipeā€“a braise that virtually every culture has on their respective menus! @corvette_johnny the kebabs were excellent; moist and flavorful, and Iā€™d guess thereā€™s charcoal involved. Sometimes Iā€™m disappointed by how these dry out but that was NOT the case.

The Palov was tasty but lacked the heavier-handed seasoning that I enjoyed on the kebabs. That may be traditional, but Iā€™d love a more jazzed-up version.

We finished the meal with shared baklava and honey cake, the latter of which was more like a napoleon with MANY layersā€“not what any of us were expecting, but very tasty!

All in all, a lovely way to spend the afternoon with a fun bunch. Thanks for coming, yā€™all!

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I think the charcoal flavor came thru in both the lamb short ribs and the beef kebabs. Donā€™t think it was as pronounced in the ground kebabs.

I would totally go back for those lamb short ribs and those crisp potatoes.

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@CurlzNJ, Very good write-up.

Of all the things we had, the one that really surprised me was the chicken, something I normally wouldnā€™t think to order as I much prefer lamb. Juicy and highly seasoned, it was delicious.

Do you (or anyone else) remember if the Qozon kebab (3,000-year-old recipe) was one of the skewers on the set that did not include the chicken? Iā€™d like to add that notation on the appropriate photo.

It was a pleasure meeting everyone and putting faces to on-line names.

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Thanks, @RGR ā€¦the Qozon was the plate with the two big chops (with bones), onions, and red peppers.

And omg @CoachDonna how could I forget those potatoes?? Think papas fritas but with a TON of garlicā€¦they were fantastic!