Came here for a friend's birthday and I was really excited to try Uzbeki cuisine! The hostesses were efficient at greeting and seating our group but they should be more friendly. Two people trickled in after our group was seated and our waitress was only concerned about taking everyone's orders, while everyone's glass was not filled with water (the water came AFTER the appetizers came out). Then they never came back to refill our glasses either...we had to flag down one of the servers twice and ask them for water...so service needs improvement (I don't even know if they even deserve that automatic 10% tip posted outside the front door). As for the food, the portions are small but can be shared, similar to tapas. We ordered samsas (pumpkin, meat) garlic fries, all the different kebabs, liver cubes, yogurt drink, naan, eggplant salad, etc. The kebabs paired well with my yogurt drink and I'll definitely get this again next time I'm in the area. Highly recommend the samsas as well! Overall the food is pretty good and affordable and I enjoyed my first Uzbeki meal. read more

4.5/5. Truly deserving of the accolades it gets. This reputed establishment serves the best Uzbek food in NYC. Salad Tashkent was prepared very well. It is topped with crunchy fried onions complementing this salad containing the green radish, egg, and the boiled tongue with a creamy dressing. The use of scallion adds nice acidity. The only con is that it was a challenge serving it from the serving plate onto your own. You have to maneuver cautiously, otherwise the heap of onions will fall onto the table. Bojon, the roasted eggplant spread went perfect with the Turkish round bread. It is very garlicky, with a pronounced grilled flavor (For those worried about bad breath courtesy of all the garlic, your check comes with the gum for the table). Salad Nargis was very basic but all the better for it : The cabbage, cucumber, onion, tomatoes,and dill are tossed together in olive oil and vinegar. This salad goes very well with the Plov. And what Plov it is! Unlike many disappointing iterations I've encountered through the years, it was not overly oily nor fatty. The rice is cooked and seasoned perfectly. The secondary ingredients such as carrots and chickpeas shine through and add depth to the dish. The portion gets a generous amount tender, stewed lamb. The Turkish style fried veal liver cubes were cooked just right, with crispy exterior and soft middle. The yogurt sauce works very well alongside, adding acidic tang to this savory dish. This sauce also works wonders when poured over Plov, so make sure to ask for extra. The only gripe that I had with this dish is its presentation - the garnish of the lettuce serving as a vessel for the liver is rather uninspiring. The lamb kebabs were the real deal : marinated very well and cooked just right. The Shish-kebab sauce could benefit from more heat, however. The service was surprisingly expeditious and accommodating considering the place was %85 full on a Tuesday night. Unlike some others on Yelp, we did not have any waiting issues. Perhaps lady luck was on our side that night. Majority of the dishes here are home-style in terms of the portions and are great for sharing. Can anybody tell that I loved this restaurant??? read more

Nothing to say but this is just comfort food. After you'll wanna take a nice nap! It's heavy a little greasy but yummy yummy food!!! Salads were all amazing! And meat was perfectly prepared! read more

This is my second visit to this place, and both times were absolutely fantastic. This is, what I call, an "honest restaurant, honest foods, honest service." Everything in balance. Highly recommended! The management there is pretty amazing, and the young people who make the waiting and support staff are incredibly well trained and nice. Nargis Cafe is best appreciated when you already have some experience with this style of cuisine, and/or have been in a similar restaurant before. Only then you truly can truly recognize just how unique it is. read more

The lamb kebab and salad I had a chance to try were delicious, but the kebab looses its temperature fast. I would say the food is good there but the atmosphere is definitely not. A lot of negativity from customers that were sitting around us, disputes between them and staff. This place is not for a peaceful dinner with your friends or family. Better order to go:) read more

Sat here for a last minute lunch and was surprised pleasantly with the restaurant. The avocado salad was very delicious and so was the humous. The meat was well cooked and the lamp kebab was mouth watering. Great food combined with great service is so refreshing. read more

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Simply a wonderful dining experience. Everything that we have had here is inexpensive and delicious. I recommend the salads, samsa and kebabs, but I think it would be tough to go wrong with anything that you order! read more

Ok, so the food was a 5, but the service was a 1. My colleague and I went here for lunch the other day before a meeting. The food I have to say is outstanding. I had some sort of dumplings with caramelized onions and a sour cream dipping sauce. Perfect seasoning, and they melted in my mouth. My colleague had the spring salad. He very much enjoyed it. They overdid it a little with the feta, but he still ate every last bit of it. We shared the babaganoush, and I must say I had dreams of it that night. My mouth is still watering thinking of it. Great texture and awesome flavor! Now for the bad. The service was plain awful. It wasn't busy, but the service was so slow, and our server was sort of rude. We got there and waited about 10 mins for our server. We waited another ten for water, and that was after we reminded him we had nothing to drink. They charge a 10% gratuity, keep that in mind. I'm not in this area often. So I doubt I will be back. Hopefully they improve their service here! read more

Truly an amazing place to get great international food! A raw seed in the restaurant business. Go here for something new and original, traditional Uzbekistan food. read more

Nargis, aka. meat lover's paradise. I was on a Pescatarian diet at the time (amongst meat eaters), but I still thoroughly enjoyed me experience. There weren't terribly many options for my diet restrictions but for the options that were available, they were truly authentic food. We got a mix of foods, but for the ones I was able to try and particularly liked were: - the Non (Uzbek style round bread - which I liked better than the Non-toki) - Pumpkin Samsa - it was sweeter than I expected it to be - Salmon ShishKebab - it was perfect, from the grilled taste, to the quality of the fish itself. - Napolean Nargis - it was the perfect way to end the meal. It wasn't as sweet as most desserts are (which is what I liked most about it) and it cleaned your palate from the oils of the meal. Texture of the layers were amazing. The one dish I particularly did not like was the Khonim. It didn't have any flavour except for oils and butter. It didn't leave a good residue/after taste. I wish I could come back here just for the Napolean Nargis. Tis, its too far. read more

I would give 6 stars for the food if it was possible,they serve the best uzbek food in America. I have been to almost 40 states, I try different food everywhere I go, so I am not easily satisfied. Their service is so disappointing, if you are standing in front of the door waiting to talk to the hostess, no one gives a damn, the manager might look at you, see you, turn around and just walk away. It is the restaurant staff's job to ask you what you are waiting for in front of the door, if you want a table or order food to go. Anyways, I love their food, so I usually order food to take out. Their delivery guy doesn't want to deliver the food if you live far from this restaurant, (10-15 blocks) once he said if I ever order food again, my order should be at least $70-100. I live with my friend, if we order food for $40, we can never finish it, it is just too much food for two of us. We used to live in Jersey City, restaurants deliver your food without a problem even if you live 5-7 miles away. The atmosphere is pretty noisy, sometimes you might be seated next to a big group of Russian speaking people, they talk so loud, I cant even hear myself talking. If they start discussing politics and religion, you better get outta there! I have nothing against Russian speaking people (I speak Russian too) but at least they should be considerate of others because you come to the restaurant to eat and relax, not to listen to their arguments about Barack Obama, Putin or Israel's politics. read more

Solid 4 stars. The only reason for -1 star is because there is nothing on the menu that is vegeterian except for salads. My wife lived in Uzbekistan for 7 years, so she was expecting to see traditional dishes with no meat. Interior was absolutely gorgeous, staff was phenomenal, "Kampot" was amazing. read more

Fantastic restaurant. My friend and I were the only English speakers in there. Once we realized that, we new we had a gem on our hands. The food is authentic. The service is top notch. The decor is on point. Thank you! read more

Yes, some say it is one of the best restaurants in Brooklyn, so who am i to argue. Last time i ate at Nargis was more then 2 years ago, and i was surprised to find that the place actually double itself, and it is no longer the best kept secret of Brooklyn ;)) I had the Avocado salad, and 4 different types of meat, and all of them were just perfect!!! But, 2 years ago it was so simple, come eat, and leave. Now it is so packed that i don't think i will ever go their again on Sunday. Go on the Weekend, and enjoy special food which you just feel that is made with love. read more

I adore this place, even if it's simple... Every time I'm there I always order pilaf (plov)...The tastiest pilaf in the world....My husband likes samsa, shurpa, Nargis salad... So I recommend this place if you want to get to know Uzbek cuisine, if you want to have a dinner in an interesting place and don't want to spend a lot.. read more

We were on our way to an afternoon at Coney Island. This restaurant was on the way and was recommended to us by a friend and colleague. Looking at the menu, we had a difficult time deciding what to order, as everything on the menu looked so wonderful. We ordered the mixed grill and requested that vegetables be substituted for the rice. The staff accommodated us and we were brought a platter of perfectly-cooked and wonderfully-tasty meats and vegetables. Wonderful food and service! As a bonus, we had glasses of wonderful wine at happy-hour pricing. We highly recommend this dining experience. read more

Oh my gawd. This place rocks. It's located near the neighborhood where I grew up, so my family has been coming to Nargis for years. Lemme tell you. First of all, the "shashlik" aka kebabs, are down right out of control. Second, the potatoes with mushrooms, third...samsa. The list goes on. Everything is so so so good. Two serious highlights: The sauce the serve you with the kebabs. Every time we go there, I buy a giant tub to go. I put that on everything. EVERYTHING!!!!! read more

Great place to eat!!! Very tasty food, good choice for delivery. Service was good, the tables needed a bit more scrubbing down as they slightly sticky Overall, prices were reasonable and the portions were generous read more

I usually don't leave reviews but this time is a must. Where do I start. So let's begin with the staff of this place. Hostess are very welcoming and friendly as well waitresses and others. Super friendly environment and great service ! Now let's begin with their menu. I was having their specials which was short ribs , fresh salad with feta cheese , beet salad , non bread (special of the house) . I was in love with their food. Delicious , hard to describe . I was full and still kept on eating . I'm really picky on food but this place made my day. Thanks for the great service and unbelievable delicious food. read more

I came here a total of two times on the request of my parents. (My dad seems to really like this style of food.) At first I was really biased towards it because it seemed like a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with not enough space to fit everyone in it. Both visits had an unusually long wait to get seated at a table (perhaps it was because we had a party of 6) but either way, unusually long for such a small cafe. However, once I got past these discrepancies, I realized the food was really really good. I usually don't enjoy going to a russian restaurant for a dinner out with my family because it's similar to the food we have on the kitchen table, but this place was surprisingly cheap yet served good food. I am a big fan of the lamb and beef kebabs that are served with that awesome red sauce. The salads are really good, I love the greek style one with the feta cheese piled on top. My dad loves their soups and my mother is a big fan of their chibureki! So all in all, be prepared to wait some time for good food! read more

Let me start by saying that i am glad that this great restaurant is very close by to where i live. The first thing i noticed was how nice and beautiful the nargis cafe ladies were. What an awesome staff! Very kind and helpful. Mom and sis got the lamb and chicken kebabs with fries and uzbek style round bread. They loved it. I myself went a more daring route with an order of crispy manti, chebureki, veal liver kebab, lamb ribs kebab, lulya kebab, and uzbek style round bread. I must say, everything was delicious! I will definitely be back to the nargis cafe! read more

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Hi, thanks for your prompt response It was last Wednesday that I ordered, 4 days ago. I was really surprised because the food at your place is usually very good. .don't know what happened that day. .I didn't know who to call that's why I posted the review...sad that good restaurants get to comfortable and they stop trying. .atleast that's how I felt that day .In the past I recommend your place so many times. ..so that was surprising to me. .. read more

Went there for my birthday, got seated very quickly, ordered plov (uzbek osh) 3 sticks of shish kebab (shishlik), bread and a salad. Everything was great even though it took forever the waiter to come around to get me another apple juice. Shish Kabob was kinda raw but tender + only got 2 and still paid for 3. Need to improve little on their service, to get check took forever should off just walked out. Still Recomend read more

Nargis Cafe - Outside - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

We always come here with friends but lately they don't honor reservations and over book. .... what's the point of making one if we still had to wait 45 min !!!! If they get better I'll change my review :) UPDATE - my friends been going there and they said that the service improved a lot and the food is great as it always been :) thank you :) read more

I came here on a Friday at around 7 PM and got a table right away. I would recommend asking for a table in the first room after the exit by the window so you can people watch but most important have room to eat ( try to get the table with the comfy couch seat). The décor of this place is very traditional to the Central Asian style, but also very modern and spacious. Service is okay and food comes out very quickly and promptly. They will offer you bread but be aware, while it is inexpensive, it is not free like you would expect. I am from Central Asia, so I understand a thing or two about this type of cuisine. The fresh salad was dope, good quality and super tasty. The chicken kebab was amazing and juicy. The liver was melt in your mouth awesome and the lamb was good as well. Overall, i like this place for an inexpensive, healthy and filling dinner option. read more

Today was our 2nd trip back to Nargis and we took the hour long train from Manhattan for the meal. It was so worth it. I'd dream about coming back for the lamb kebabs for months now and finally able to satisfy that craving. The lamb was perfectly cooked and amazingly tender. Nargis salad and roasted eggplant salad was amazing (again). But the absolute stars were the meat and pumpkin samsas (I wish we ordered more) and the special vegetable kebabs with feta cheese. The meal and service was amazing and I'm already planning my next trip back. Next time, extra helpings of the samas and the avocado salad! read more

3 stars only because the service was excellent, food.... i would say 2 stars. They used to serve an excellent food in the beginning...about 11- 12 years ago, last time i was here about 5 years ago and didnt like it, kebab was very dull. So today i wanted to give a chance and tried again, nothing changed, the kebab the same tasteless. Salad "Nargiz" was fresh. My son had plov and he said it was "OK". They have to try harder now, since they have so much competition. read more

We have been there yesterday (Tuesday, Sept 30) for very special occasion) i would like to express my best - very best appreciation to all your staff! Food is excellent, delicious and exact taste of my country (I'm from Kyrgyzstan). Special thanks to Sasha ( who was served us during a dinner) Thank you very much. Will come this week foe Tashkent salad and samsa. Thank you! read more

It has been a while since I visited nargis. The place is bigger, much nicer, and the food is still amazing. Whenever I visit nargis caffe, I know exactly what I'm am ordering, but actually everything they make is just amazing. But, this visit I had 2 things that bothered me: the manti and the chicken kebab weren't cooked enough, and that's a shame because they have such a delicious food. The service: maybe the best in Brooklyn. The waitresses are always ready to serve, and they always do it with a smile. The place is clean, extremely professional, and everything went smooth. I am about to leave Brooklyn soon, and I can say that this place is one of the places I will miss. read more

Okay my car is being worked on so I walked down Coney to find a bar. Kinda hungry too. I come across this place but walk by. No bars so I go back. I go in and two very nice girls show me the bar and set a place for me. I've never had Russian or Uzbek food before. Im the only non russian in the place and Im in work clothes (spotty filthy painter's clothes), but that's not an issue. Anyway, i ordered cigars with cheese, a lamb kabob, and a beef kebab. All I can say to wrap this up is OMG!!! Can't describe how fantastic the food was! Meat so tender, all these new flavors I've never tried. Thank you so much for the experience! I don't want my car to breakdown again, but if it does, I hope it happens on Coney Island ave! read more

They have amazing kebabs! The beef and chicken are very good! The avocado salad and the feta salad are both delicious! Would definitely come here again! read more

Food: Amazing food for great prices. The salads are all delicious, granted that I live half a block away and have tried most of them to the frequent visits. The samsa is delicious and must be eaten right away while it is still warm. The kebabs are all great and I adore the sauce that they are served with. One of the best parts of the meal is definitely the spiced french fries with garlic, absolutely delicious. Service: For a restaurant as packed and busy as they are, the service is great. THe waiters never stand still for a second and the managerial staff does a great job at running the place. Decor: Especially after their recent expansion, the decor is phenomenal. Overall: Great portions at great prices for great food! Definitely call ahead though and prepare to wait for some time. The food is worth it. read more

The service was excellent and the delicious filling food was unpretentious and cooked to perfection. The Samsa was a somewhat flaky dough pastry with meat or pumpkin inside with spices. The plov a mix of rice, a few chickpeas, spices, meat, scallions and some unidentifiable vegetables that were delicious. The oxtail was cooked in a dill broth with chickpeas and although it was simpler and not spiced, it was tender and tasty. The kabobs were perfectly cooked ans deliciously spiced. The only thing that was just okay was the bread, especially considering that our only introduction to Uzbeki food previously was amazing bread. The service was very well coordinated with waiters and waitresses continuously taking care of everything. They also had headsets and I was a bit concerned that they might have a tough boss since they seemed nervous about removing the plates right away even though we kept telling them that we wanted to keep them. You can peer into the sparkling clean open kitchen that is separated by glass. The fact that they are comfortable with allowing people to see into their kitchen and The fact that it was so clean was quite impressive. Altough the prices are generally reasonable for what you're getting, I have to take off one star for not offering tap water and claiming to sell us bottled water for $2 that was clearly refrigerated tap water. A piece of advice to the owners and/or managers would be to cover your costs in your food prices and to give free tap water just like basically every restaurant in NYC. It makes your well run restaurant seem scammy for a silly reason. Also the waiter was really trying to upsell. read more

This place is one of my favorites in the area; my family and I are always either stopping by or ordering in. They recently renovated and expanded, and I am so pleased with the result. The spacing and decor are much more pleasant. As for the food, the salads and the bread are fresh and delicious, and the meat, whether it's lamb, chicken, or beef, are all tender and mouth-watering! read more

Samsa has too big chunky pieces of meat you can't even chew!!!! Disgusting. Had to throw two of them away because the meat was not chewable ! read more

I know this place have a good reviews , and lots of my friends were suggesting me to come here, but I had really terrible experience at this place. I asked the host ( think her name was Lola ) if I could sit in another place , and she just said no and went away that fast that I could not even add a word. When I was going to wash my hands I heard how she was talking a really bad things about me with a waiters. I also saw the window where you can see the cooks, all cooks are working without masks and even gloves. It's not really clean there at usual time I am not even talking about Covid times. I could not get my food in time so I was offered just to take it with me for to go. I was okay with food not coming , I am really not complaining person, but this issue with host as well as cooks station, you could not imaging, All I wanted is to close my ears and ran out of this place. The person who is supposed to meet and great you gave that bad experience. read more

I USED TO LOVE THIS PLACE i dont know whatS up with this place but its not the same anymore. the FOOD use to be so much better and AND THE SERVICE GOT BAD. I use to go to this place 2wice a month AND get deliveries and for the last few times i went there i got disappointing experience. IT was different then i was use to be i dont know if they changed the cooks or manager but its not the same anymore 3 stars A-ok the place i clean and the food it B but IT WAS A-A+ i will probably will go again TO GIVE IT A TRY, read more

Nothing to complain, wonderful experience. Delicious fresh food, tastes amazing, wonderful and quick service. Wait staff are friendly and efficient. My wife even got a tour of the kitchen and to her amazement, it was clean and spot less. read more

This place never disappoints as far as their food is concerned. Made an order for pick up yesterday and it all came out on time and amazing quality as usual. The problem is, none of the workers at the restaurant were wearing masks! Not a single person. I that just ignorance or poor management? My son was picking up the food inside and he felt very uncomfortable. read more

Very good food, kebabs very sexy , the fries very also sexy, big b the owner also very bald and very sexy. Trust me on this one very yummy very sexy read more