Having just returned from a trip to Turkey where I enjoyed several good meals, I was anxious to visit Caravan, a restaurant on South Orange Avenue near Sand Lake Road.
Caravan features both Turkish and Uzbek cuisines. Why, you might wonder. The two countries aren’t all that close geographically to each other. Uzbekistan was never part of the Ottoman Empire, which centered around Turkey. Both were part of the fabled Silk Road, but then so were many other countries. So why a menu with the two cuisines?
“We have a Turkish chef and an Uzbek chef,” I was told. That’s good enough for me.
And the food is more than good enough that no further questions need be asked.
Caravan took over the building that was purpose-built for a Pizza Hut but for many of the past several years was home to Bauern-Stube. Its most recent tenant was the Steer, a steakhouse.
The dining room is bright and has a slight cafeterian feel. The iconic Pizza Hut windows are covered with green curtains sporting a geometric pattern. Tables have yellow cloths and patterned table runners, all under a clear plastic protector. Floors feature tiles with a sepia-toned pattern. You may notice fellow diners dressed in thobes or wearing hijabs or other clothing traditional in Muslim countries.
And by the way, this would be a good time to mention that Caravan does not serve alcohol. (It was fairly easy to find restaurants in Istanbul that served beer, wine and mixed drinks. Our guide told us to look for cafes with either blue or yellow awnings out front because those were colors associated with breweries.) The food is also certified halal.
While we contemplated the menu, my dinner companions and I ordered a mezze platter of dips accompanied by obi non, a traditional Uzbek bread. The platter had the more familiar hummus and babaganoush dips of chickpeas and eggplant respectively, but also ezme, a spicy Turkish dip with onions, tomatoes and Aleppo pepper; haydari, a cool Turkish yogurt dip; and creamy spinach with sauteed onions. I think I preferred the multilayered ezme but they were all delicious, especially when spooned on to the doughy bread.
For my entree I chose the chaykhana osh, an Uzbek dish of rice stewed with hunks of lamb, some with small bones but all with a wonderful oleaginous mouthfeel. It also had yellow carrots, half a head of roasted garlic, and a spicy roasted pepper.
One of my companions had the manti, large dumplings filled with a blend of ground beef and lamb, steamed and served with a thick yogurt sauce. Good, but would have been better as an appetizer.
Another companion had the fried laghman, a dish of hand-pulled noodles wokked with bell peppers and hunks of beef, topped with shreds of omelet. There was plenty of soy in the sauce, playing this firmly in the Uzbek column.
Those looking for more familiar fare will find an array of kebabs, including chicken shish kebab, which for some reason came out of the kitchen many minutes after the other entrees had been delivered.
Service could be more polished but everyone I met was friendly and welcoming.
The overall experience was good (though it could have been better with a glass of wine, in my opinion) and it’s nice to have a restaurant featuring two enticing cuisines under one roof.
Caravan Uzbek & Turkish Cuisine is at 8015 S. Orange Ave., Orlando (map). It is open for lunch and dinner daily. The phone number is 321-294-4444. (Note the website does not perform well in Chrome browsers.)
