Afsona Restaurant is Naples’ newest restaurant, specializing
in Uzbek and Eastern European cuisine. It opened Christmas Eve, Dec 24, 2020 in the cozy 900 square feet quarters
at the south end of Trinity Plaza, formerly occupied by Maria D’Anna, who served Polish
and Eastern European cuisine since 2013.
The coziness of Maria D’Anna’s remains, and Afsona’s cuisine features quite a
few authentic Uzbek dishes such as Vinegret, Morkovcha, Hohnim, Olivier, as well as more well know
dishes with salmon, Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, etc., for the less
adventurous.
I came for take out to bring to a Russian friend’s January birthday, and was
told by several Russians that the food was both delicious and authentic. Social
distancing is observed, and personnel wear masks.
I placed my order over the phone, and when I came to pick
up, the restaurant had perhaps 30% occupancy inside. It was clear a birthday
party was to soon occur there-it’s already a popular spot. The take out food
was wonderful-double packed and insulated, with foil -wrapped food placed in
Styrofoam containers, and then in plastic bags with handles. The soup-like
portion of the Lagman was in a sealed plastic container, further bound by tape
to prevent accidental spilling. Other restaurants should take such care of
takeout. As a result, the food was still quite hot 20 minutes later when it got
to the party!
Here’s what we had:
Lagman ($20) is classic Uzbek. Ours came in two parts to preserve the integrity of the noodles. Here’s the bottled “soup” part, and the separate house-made noodles. Add the “soup” of home made vegetables, seasoned with herbs to top off the tasty noodles.
Palov ($20) is the classic dish of Uzbekistan, rich with beef, carrot, onion, raisins and chickpeas in rice, with quartered dolma and quail eggs on the side, accompanied by an “achuchuk” salad of tomatoes, red onions and cucumbers with a light dressing. Recommended.
Chuchvara ($16) are house-made beef ravioli served with sour
cream and dill. Highly recommended.
Not sure what to get? Get the Moshhorda soup ($8), and the Afsona Combo ($55), a large platter with lula
kebab, lamb chip, dolma, somsa, manti, fried chuchvara, lettuce, grilled
tomatoes and red sauce. Wow!
The folks seated indoors and outdoors appeared very pleased with their meals,
and one gave me the “thumbs up.” I look
forward to a second visit, to try more authentic dishes. Thank you for this
treat, co-owners Gholibjon (Jon) Absamatov,
and Mamlakat (Maya) Tadjieva, who is also the Executive Chef.
(239) 263-6892 300 Tamiami Tr North, open Monday to Friday 11:30 a.m-2 p.m. for lunch, and 4:30-9:00 p.m. for dinner. Closed Sunday
http://www.afsonarestaurant.com/
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