For dinner a terrace opens just in front of the façade of the Allakuli Khan Madrasa, a great location were it not for the annoying 'Jeux de Lumière' every night, to which came very loud calls of a muezzin, mixing with the restaurant's pop music....During daytime there is a downstairs restaurant. On a board the various German organisations are mentioned, which helped establish this place. I came here twice and the terrace was never too busy, which was good, since the only waiter had to cover quite a distance to the kitchen each time. Understandably it always took a while to get served, so while waiting I tried a Qibray beer (from the district of that name outside Tashkent), which I hadn't encountered before, since usually one gets Sorbast or Pulsar. Naturally in Khiva I had to try the famous speciality of that town, which one hardly finds elsewhere in Uzbekistan: Shivit Oshi. With the menu card also comes a booklet with Khorezm dishes, where there is a recipe for it. The specially shaped noodles are completely green, because dill had been mixed with the dough. It is served with a small stew on top, consisting of meat (very little here), potatoes and carrots in a tomato sauce. Strange to me was the combination of potatoes with pasta. There was also a separate small bowl of sour cream, that according to the waiter one has to mix with the whole meal, but which I didn't do. Before the main course I had an 'Achik Chuchuk', expecting something very special, but in fact it was just a salad with tomatoes and onions and a small bit of very hot red pepper, that just looked like a piece of tomato. Naturally a Non bread had to come with it as well. The second evening I got as a starter a 'Green Pepper Salad', which to me was much more of a speciality and maybe the best dish I had here: halved, lightly fried green peppers filled with a fresh tomato purée. My main course on the second evening was a 'Khorezm Kebab', thin and thoroughly cooked slices of beef of quite good quality, that came with some slices of tomatoes, onions and unpeeled cucumbers plus a small bowl of spicy tomato sauce. Of the desserts mentioned only Pakhlava was available, which was even tougher than the one I had in Bukhara (and no comparison to anything in Turkey). With it I tried an Uzbek Cognac, which came in a long drink glass. Quite okay, but definitely not like an Armenian one. Special mention should go to the waiter, probably the best on my whole Uzbekistan trip. Despite the stress of being alone and having to constantly cover the distance between kitchen and terrace, involving stairs, he always stayed cool and polite. He also spoke good English and was well informed about all the dishes and drinks.More
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