The immigration line into Tajikistan, if you can call it a line, is seemingly endless. Slow and purgatory-like. A frustrating and dense funneling of people and bags and passports. Three steps forward. One back. People are pushing. One policeman, husky and prominently mustached, pushes back. Tajik murmurs ebb and swell with the wave of pushing, and nobody seems to be getting anywhere. It’s a chaotic and undignified struggle. Against the line. Against logic. The unruly crowd and their banter. The pushing. One passport control official processing an entire plane of passengers. Three steps forward. One back.
It was a wild week in Dushanbe. The first night, my hotel room was propelled into a rumbling seizure from an Afghan-born earthquake aftershock. Considering I was six stories high, the experience was a startling introduction to life in Tajikistan.
Speaking of wild, did you know that Dushanbe has three Indian restaurants? I couldn’t believe it myself.
Ashoka, situated on Shevchenko Street, near the World War II memorial off Ayni, serves lunch and dinner. It’s a medium-size restaurant with a simple decor. The manager, cheery and seated at a table closest to the bar, is from Nepal. He attends to a large group of expatriates in the corner, bringing them tea and local Sim-Sim beer.
I order samosas, rice, and chicken tikka masala. My colleague orders french fries and spiced chicken fingers—sometimes I forget that not everyone is an Indian food fanatic. Considering Dushanbe, the heart of Central Asia, is so remote, I’m surprised how good the meal is. Who knows where their ingredients are sourced. The samosas are spiced well, the naan in perfect form.
If I find myself a second time in Dushanbe, I’ll probably head to Delhi Darbar off of Rudaki Street. Their atmosphere is supposedly more vibrant and from what I’ve read, there’s not a bad item on the menu.
Restaurant Details:
Ashoka
113 Shevchenko Street
(+93) 227 3278
ashoka_restaurant@yahoo.com
Hours: Daily from 11:00 to 23:00
Twitter Updates
@Jamie: Thanks for your comment! Didn’t get a sense of how big the Indian expat community was in Dushanbe, so interested to have read that. Also hadn’t heard anything about Anahita, but I’ll be sure to look it up next time my travels take me there!
Alan
I think the new place, Anahita, is the best. It’s a bit hard to get to, and certainly a bit pricer than Delhi Darbar, but well worth it.
With a vibrant Indian expat community, there is actually an abundance of ingredients funneled into the city through them. Plus Tajik food, like the Tajik language and many cultural elements, is actually not that different than certain types of Indian cuisine. Tajik samosas are amazing.
bangin post. beautiful picture and lush cinematography of words.