Tashkent General Shopping

General Shopping

Local produce - fruit, nuts, vegetables can be very good, especially when in season. In the late summer, local melons appear on the streets and in the bazaars and are rich in flavor and very cheap. Most local residents do their primary shopping in bazaars. There are many of them in Tashkent, the largest of which is the Chorsu Bazaar. It is huge, colorful, teaming with humanity and offers just about anything that can be purchased locally, from produce to locally-made furniture and hardware. Hand-crafted items, including crockery, rugs, traditional dress, etc., are also available and far less expensive than in the shops frequented by tourists. Have a local go with you to the bazaars if at all possible. Foreigners are inevitably charged higher prices. Bargaining is common, but requires some language skills. Saligokh Street, known locally as 'Broadway', has some street artists, etc. The street is easy to find from the Amir Temur monument, just head away from the Uzbekistan Hotel. The 'mirstore' just off of Saligokh Street has a modern supermarket, coffee bar and hugely overpriced fashion stores. This area, known locally as "Demir," also has MirBurger, which has burgers, pizza and local dishes at generally reasonable prices. There is also a Georgian restaurant ("Tblisi") and a chinese restaurant. There is a heavy police (militsiya) presence here and foreigners are not often, but occasionally asked for their documents. It is advisable to keep a photocopy of your passport and visa with you, but leave the originals in your hotel safe. Recently, modern designer fashion and luxury goods shops from the famous international brands have started to appear in Tashkent. Catering for the wealthy, these can be found in the Broadway area, Amir Temur street and Pushkin street. There is a shop on Shota Rustavelli street, not far from the Grand Mir hotel called Human House. It features hand made crafts and clothing of all sorts, ranging from full outfits to purses, beautiful hand-painted tea sets, ceramics, etc., at very reasonable prices. It is operated by a non-profit and is meant to help provide income to the craftspersons, who are often from remote, very poor villages. Note: From the start of September 2006, all of the outdoor shops, private sellers and restaurants have been cleared from Saligokh Street and other city parks. This could be becasue they were unlicensed. However, this has largely killed the atmosphere of the Broadway area and in many of the parks.