When David travels throughout town to various dog training things, he always keeps his eyes open for new restaurants that we can try. One day he came home and told me about an Uzbek restaurant…. In the middle of a truck stop?
Curious because I’ve never tried Uzbek cuisine, we piled in the car to this one of a kind place.
The building was cheery and inviting. I was surprised to find out that it was formerly a Wendy’s restaurant. Once inside, the lighting is pleasant, the music is soothing and spa-like, with wooden accents on the walls and comfortable booths and chairs.
Looking at a globe, one could place the country of Uzbekistan in the vicinity of territories directly opposite the Toledo, OH, area. Near the intersection of I-280 and the Ohio Turnpike (80/90), this restaurant seems out of place amid the truck stops that occupy the other three corners of the intersection of I-280 and Libby Rd.
This seems like an unlikely location for an eatery serving the cuisine of Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country that was formerly part of the Soviet Union. But then I learned that Chayhana is owned by brothers who emigrated to the US years ago, and by one in particular who landed in Toledo and then became an over-the-road truck driver.
Mirzo Khalilov explains that in driving long distances, he found healthy food choices, those prepared in the tradition of Halal, were almost impossible to find. Halal is an Arabic word that means “lawful” or “permitted”. It’s used in Islam to describe what life practices are allowed. The opposite of halal is haram, which means “unlawful” or “not allowed”.
Chayhana serves traditional Uzbek food, prepared in the halal tradition, to many truck drivers and others who visit the location.
“Many drivers place take out orders for food to keep them fed for several days or a week,” Mirzo said. “They keep them in the refrigerators in their trucks and eat the food for several days.”
Brothers Tillo (also a co-owner) and Akram (our waiter) also work at Chayhana, providing a family friendly atmosphere. Other employees of the establishment are from Uzbekistan, including the cooks preparing the food. Serving hundreds of customers each day, at the crossroads of America, is a pleasant surprise in Chayhana.
Video screens mounted on the walls show footage of Uzbek cooking, an interesting and informative series of preparation steps along with cooking in a kazan oven (think tandoori oven).
For drinks, I had ordered a pot of black tea ($3.99) and David ordered a sparkling water ($2.50). The drinks came swiftly, and David’s “sparkling water” turned out to be a bottle of Dasani. We were a little confused at that, but we just went with it. The tea was tasty and very hot, which warmed my bones on the cold night.
For my entrée I ordered the Pelmeny ($11.99) which were meat dumplings, boiled and served with sour cream.
David ordered the Jiz-Biz ($19.99) which was cast iron seared lamb, served with homemade potatoes and onion.
When my meal came, I was a little taken aback. The picture that was shown on the menu made the dumplings look fairly big, like pierogi size. What were on my plate were about 10 nickel size dumplings. It was more of an appetizer portion. It was very good, however, the seasoning on the meat was subtle, and I wanted more of it. I unfortunately was not full when I finished.
David fared slightly better with his meal. He got a decent portion of lamb but was only served 3 small potato wedges on the side. The lamb, the part that counted, was tender but also lacked in seasoning.
With our meals we decided to try the bread called Uzbek Obi Non, ($2.99) an 8-inch round with the texture of a large pretzel or bagel but with a slight hint of sweetness. It had a shiny egg-wash finish with toasted seeds. I didn’t find anything special about it. I appreciated that it was pleasantly warm, but it was just bread. I would have loved butter to go with it.
Desserts, made by the owners’ sister, include the milk and honey based cakes and a Napoleon. However, on this visit, we passed on dessert.
Chayhana is a unique restaurant to go and try at least once. Just keep in mind, their portions are not very big so if you have a big appetite like I do, you’ll have to try several things or just come when you want a lighter meal. The ambience is comfortable, and the service was pleasant, so that alone will be worth a second trip one of these days.
Chayhana
- 3565 Libbey Road, Perrysburg, Ohio 43551
- 419-603-4800
- Chayhana
- 4.7 on Yelp
