Shash

Beijing's first Uzbek restaurant boasts an impressively cavernous interior, with a sweeping balcony and a small stage where a band play mid-tempo Central Asian music lit up by a slightly out-of-place laser light show.

The food is mostly excellent and includes regional staples such as shashlik, lamb skewers served with fresh onion, and samsa, a stuffed flatbread which is crispy on the outside and filled with piping hot ingredients like chicken, lamb and pumpkin.

Two versions of the Central Asian staple plov or pilaf are offered. Each region of Central Asia has a slightly different method of preparation for this ubiquitous dish, and the Uzbek way is to add raisins.

Both the Uzbek plov and horsemeat plov are satisfyingly greasy and diners are well-advised to accompany the dish with black lemon tea to counter the heaviness.

Also worth trying is the light, spicy tomato and cucumber salad, which tastes good but resembles a Thai papaya salad minus the papaya. Avoid the mash potato. 

The dessert range is also comprehensive, with baklava, a dry layered cake with raisins and pecan nuts, highly recommended.

The drinks list includes Chinese beers and European wines and the ever-important vodka range is commendable, with Russki Standard being the pick of the bunch.

Staff at Shash are attentive and knowledgeable, happy to offer recommendations from the tri-lingual menu (Chinese, Russian, English), and the restaurant's combination of good food served in both a bizarre and bazaar atmosphere makes for a satisfying dining and entertainment experience.

Semyon Davidovich