Samarkand Restaurant — Restaurant in Plymouth

I don't typically write reviews but this place compelled me to warn others..... I had high hopes for this restaurant, especially since a friend recommended it, but unfortunately, it fell flat in several key areas. The food was good for the most part, but that’s about where the positives end. The wine selection is terrible, and the bartender clearly doesn’t know how to make basic cocktails—which is a problem if you're expecting even a halfway decent bar experience. The atmosphere was also not enjoyable: the space is dark, loud, and blaring music at a volume that made conversation nearly impossible. To top it off, the strobe lights on the dance floor were excessive and borderline dangerous—definitely not ideal for anyone with sensitivity to flashing lights. The biggest issue by far, though, is the service and the management's attitude toward customers. The host had a stone cold face on him and his greeting did not feel welcoming. No one at the establishment smiles, not the host, not the bartender, not the servers. It gives off a very strange vibe. There’s a serious lack of professionalism, and the way women are treated here is appalling. My friend who recommended the place failed to mention that the management seems to come from a culture where misogyny is normalized, and unfortunately, that mindset is very apparent in how they run the restaurant. Another Russian-speaking acquaintance of mine visited on a Sunday and told me she witnessed the owner of the restaurant berating a woman that was a part of my friend's table, yelling at her in front of everyone. They left feeling humiliated and unwelcome. If you believe in basic respect and equality, this is not the kind of establishment you’ll want to support. There are plenty of other places with good food that don’t come with a side of disrespect and outdated attitudes.

Update to my earlier review and reply back to the management:

Thank you for your response, though I find it unfortunate that instead of taking customer feedback seriously, you’ve chosen to double down with denial, defensiveness, and personal attacks. To clarify: I was not part of Group 20, nor was I present during the incident I referenced. That situation was relayed to me by a trusted Russian-speaking acquaintance who was part of that group and witnessed the behavior firsthand. She shared that a woman at their table was yelled at by someone in management. If you wish to deny that happened, that's your prerogative — but please don't assume my identity or try to discredit my review based on inaccurate information. In addition, I can see why a group of people would be speaking loud. As I mentioned in my original review the music is so loud it is impossible to have a conversation with the person next to you at normal conversational tone. As for the rest of my review: It was based on my personal experience, which I stand by. The lack of warmth or hospitality from the staff was apparent — no greetings, no smiles, and a cold, unwelcoming atmosphere. The bar was subpar, the environment was overwhelming, and the overall service felt impersonal and uncomfortable. What’s even more disturbing is how your response further validates my concerns. Rather than acknowledging areas for improvement, you’ve chosen to gaslight me and other women who share our experiences. Dismissing our feedback as “false narratives” and labeling it “slander” is a textbook example of deflecting accountability and silencing valid criticism — a continuation of the same misogynistic behavior I originally called out. When women speak up, we’re often labeled as emotional, dishonest, or vindictive — and your response fits that pattern perfectly. Also, implying that I should attach my full name to be “credible” is both unprofessional and frankly, threatening. Many people leave reviews anonymously to protect themselves from exactly this type of reaction. I hope this exchange helps others make an informed decision before choosing to support a business that responds to honest feedback with hostility instead...

To start off, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. I didn't know what to expect because I've never had Uzbeki food before but What a treat! I should have taken pictures but the food smelled so good and I was so anxious about trying it that I just dug right in when it all came. My family was celebrating a birthday and we were 5 people.

We ordered the Mantu and Samsa on a skewer for appetizers, the chicken shawarma and Plov Samarkand, the Lagman soup and the borscht, the Qovurma Lagmon, Lula Kebab with onions and tomatoes and chicken Kebab, chai and dessert (Napoleon and Medovik)

The Mantu came with a small side of sour cream and was really good. Everyone at my table liked it, the meat was a bit gamey for me personally but the sour cream helped with that.

I was going to try the samsa but then the soups arrived and I couldn't stop eating the Lagman soup! Yummmm! It had so many delicious layers of flavor that I'm hungry again just thinking about it. Warm, tender, chewy, house made, hand-pulled noodles in a delicious, savory tomato-y broth packed with savory vegetables and chunks of fall-apart tender meat. I've never had noodles with such a silky body and such good texture to them. I hate it when noodles in soups fall apart and you don't get a chance to enjoy another texture and this did not disappoint! I wanted to take a package home!

The Qovurma Lagman had the most delicious sauce I've tasted for pasta. It was thick, and savory and had a slight background spiciness to it, paired with the chewy noodles. I could have just eaten those two dishes and been happy.

I tried the Lula Kebab and thought the flavor was delicious, the meat was tender and the cook down of the onions and tomatoes was flavorful. Another person at our table loved the borscht and couldn't stop eating it, I'm not a beet person so I didn't even attempt to try it. I kept working at my Lagmon soup and shared another person's Qovurma Lagmon. I heard the shawarma was good as was the Plov Samarkand.

The dessert was so so so good. The Napoleon had crispy layers that reminded me of a KitKat meeting Nutella and deciding to start a business together with Hershey's for the syrup. I wish I didn't have to share, I could have eaten both desserts myself even though I was full. The Medovik was buttery and had a slight crunch to it, it wasn't too sweet but had the sweetness that came with the biscuit and the sweetened freshly whipped cream layers in the middle, and the powdered sugar that was dusted on top. If it had a few sliced strawberries fanned out on the side it would have been perfect.

We ordered a pot of the honey lemon mint green tea. It was sweetened perfectly but was too lemon-forward for us, so we ordered another pot of the same tea without lemon which was perfect.

Some constructive criticism: We noticed that some dishes were salt heavy, while others needed salt. One of the people dining with us has a dietary restriction with salt that we didn't mention to our server because he was already having a hard time understanding us even for general questions or asking him for details for the dishes that looked good to us or making any requests, we found ourselves repeating multiple times, and different people having to re-explain to see if he understood them better. If someone else would have come to us we would have asked them but we felt bad because he was struggling with just taking a normal order. He would also just stare at us at times so we weren't sure he understood what we were trying to say. I would suggest for management to retrain him and make casual rounds of the dining room to make sure diners are having a good experience as well.

Overall, this halal meat-friendly restaurant is definitely worth trying out if...

Very disappointing service.

DO NOT GO HERE

Food was maybe 3 stars. Was nothing special. I ordered bread as an appetizer and shawarma platter. (Note the menu for dine in is apparently slightly different from inside. No fries with the platter. Also menu was absolutely filthy with splattered food. Gross!)

They brought the app and meal at the same time. Not a great sign but not a big deal. But especially something like bread, which is such a staple to eat before while enjoying your beverage and conversation. I had to ask for butter with the bread. Waiter looked at me like I had grown a second head, but the host came swooping in with a little wire bowl filled with individual serve butter apologizing. Clearly they were normally to give butter with the bread.

I then started on the main dish, which was fairly bland. It was also quite dry. It was basically a self-assemble gyro with a very plain rice on the side. But if it was a gyro you'd have some sort of greek yogurt type sauce. Ding ding ding. Menu said that the dish was to come with a white sauce and red sauce, but they hadn't bothered to include that. So I asked the waiter if there was some sort of sauce, like a yogurt or something that was supposed to be with this dish. He looked confused then wandered back to the kitchen, to reappear a few minutes later with a white sauce and red sauce. He didn't say anything just set them down and walked away. It was much better with the sauces.

To me, that's the biggest thing, not placing in front of the customer the entirety of what they paid for as described in the menu. When I was there I was literally the only customer for about half the time. While they were re-arranging tables after a large group, there weren't any other customers in the tiny restaurant yet they never checked in, I constantly had to wave them down. And really, they needed to check in being how they couldn't get a single dish right when there was only a single customer in the entire place.

Now, I personally always tip even if it's bad service. I don't think that really helps improve service. Telling the manager about bad service is what needs to happen. So I tipped 18% . And then as I packed up my stuff asked to speak to manager, and told him a brief version - that I was coming here to see what it was like thinking about bringing my extended family, but I wouldn't be doing that due to poor service, never being checked on, forgetting multiple items for a single diner in an empty restaurant, how would they ever handle...