Hidden in the basement of a nondescript office building in Hatchobori is one of Tokyo's true rarities: an Uzbek restaurant, which also serves food from the greater Central Asian region (the Uzbek owner figured that the average Japanese person wouldn't be familiar with Uzbek cuisine, so decided to add in Russian and Turkish dishes as an introduction).
Their lunch plates are amazing value: your choice of main, plus a cup of soup and a side salad, starting at ¥500. Their one-coin option is a hearty kuru fasulye, a Turkish stew of white kidney beans simmered in a tomato sauce, served with a heap of buttery rice. Their other sets go for ¥700, and include anything from the Uzbek tabaka (oven-grilled chicken) to oven-grilled fish and a plate with pretty much all of the above (the only ¥900 option).
For dinner, start off with a fresh achichuk salad, full of roughly cut tomato and cucumber, or go for the Turkish sigara boregi, a cigar-shaped pastry packed with spinach and feta cheese. Main dishes range from Russian shashlik (meat skewers) to seafood stews, while Turkish köfte kebab is also available. Parties of six or more can order the speciality menu (¥3,500/person), which includes two salads, soup, bread, Samarkand-style pilaf, shashlik, and dessert – a worthy challenge even for big eaters. The drink menu includes Turkish beer, Georgian wine and Russian vodka.