Where to Eat in Bukhara: 5 Restaurants In and Around the Old Town

Bukhara's old town is compact, and most of its restaurants are a short walk from the Lyabi-Hauz pond. That makes it easy to eat well here — and easy to end up in a tourist trap. For the sights, see our Bukhara destination page. This guide picks five places that are well known, have recent reviews, and are still open as of October 2026: one plov centre outside the old town and four places inside it.

Key facts

• Five places: The Plov (plov centre), Lyabi-Hauz teahouse, Ayvan, JOY Chaikhana Lounge and Zargaron Restaurant Terrace.
• Walking distance: four of the five are in the old town around Lyabi-Hauz and the Poi-Kalyan ensemble; The Plov is a short taxi ride away.
• Plov is a lunch dish: plov centres cook it in the morning and close when it is sold out.
• Dinner: the popular old-town restaurants fill up in the evening; book a day ahead in spring and autumn.
• Bill: several restaurants add a service charge; check the menu.
• Diet: vegetable dishes such as aubergine salad, pumpkin dumplings and soups are easy to find in the old town.

How we chose these restaurants

We kept only places with recent reviews dated 2025–2026 on at least two independent platforms, and we left out several famous names whose reviews had turned mixed or whose status we could not confirm. Opening hours and prices change, so we do not print them. None of these restaurants pays for a mention, and none is a partner of TravelBliss.

The Plov

The Plov is a large modern restaurant with Bukharan decor and an open plov kitchen, popular with locals at lunchtime. It is outside the old town, so take a taxi and show the driver the name in a map app.

What to order: Bukhara-style plov, or the Samarkand style for comparison, with toppings such as quail eggs, qazi horse sausage, raisins or apricots, plus a salad and tea. No alcohol is served.

Good to know: it serves lunch only and closes when the plov is sold out, so go around noon.

Lyabi-Hauz teahouse

The open-air teahouse on the edge of the Lyabi-Hauz pond, on Mekhtar Anbar street, is the classic place to sit in Bukhara: tables and tapchan platforms under old mulberry trees, the historic madrasas around the water, and live music on many evenings.

What to order: green tea and shashlik, or plov, samsa, manti and lagman for a full meal.

Good to know: you pay for the setting — prices are higher than in the streets nearby, and recent reviews mention slow service when it is busy. Come for tea in the late afternoon or a simple dinner, and check the bill.

Ayvan

Ayvan is the restaurant of the Lyabi House Hotel on N. Husainov street, near Lyabi-Hauz. It occupies a restored Bukharan merchant's house with a decorated hall and a balcony, and there is live music in the evenings.

What to order: the menu is largely international, with Uzbek dishes such as manti and a warm aubergine salad; ask whether Bukhara plov is available on the day.

Good to know: book for dinner, especially if you want a balcony table. The menu shows a service charge, and it is one of the more expensive places in the old town.

JOY Chaikhana Lounge

JOY Chaikhana Lounge — also listed as JOY Gastro Restaurant — is on Sarrafon street in the old town. It is set in a restored historic building with a courtyard and a terrace, and live music plays in the evenings. As of October 2026 it is one of the most popular restaurants in Bukhara with visitors.

What to order: samsa, fried lagman, manti, osh (plov), lamb shashlik, crispy aubergine salad and spinach dumplings; the cheesecake for dessert.

Good to know: mid-range. It is often full in the evening, so book a day ahead in season.

Zargaron Restaurant Terrace

Zargaron, part of the Zargaron boutique hotel on Haqiqat street behind the Mir-i-Arab Madrasa, has an indoor hall and a terrace that looks at the Kalon Minaret and the Kalon Mosque. It is a newer restaurant that has quickly gathered strong reviews.

What to order: lagman, manti, plov, shashlik and lula kebab, and the house dessert, the "Zargaron special".

Good to know: book a terrace table for sunset. As a newer place, it has a shorter track record than the others on this list.

Which one to choose

• A plov lunch with locals: The Plov.
• Tea by the water in the late afternoon: Lyabi-Hauz teahouse.
• Dinner in a historic house: Ayvan or JOY Chaikhana Lounge.
• Sunset with a view of the Kalon Minaret: Zargaron Restaurant Terrace.

Practical tips

• Book dinner a day ahead in spring and autumn: the popular old-town restaurants are full most evenings.
• Check the bill: service charges are common, and prices on the Lyabi-Hauz square are higher than one street away.
• Ask before you order: whether cards are accepted; carry some cash in som as a back-up.
• For a tea break: the Silk Road Tea House by Silk Road Spices, next to the Telpak Furushon trading dome, serves spiced and saffron teas with sweets.
• Evenings are cooler: in summer, terraces are most pleasant after sunset; take a light layer in spring and autumn.

Plan it with TravelBliss

Our Bukhara city tour walks you through the old town, and on Golden Bukhara in 2 days there is time for a long lunch and an evening by the pond. On our gastronomic tour you cook plov yourself in Bukhara — see the guide to the gastronomic tour. For other cities, see where to eat in Samarkand and Khiva. Prices depend on the number of travellers and the season — see the tour page or contact us.