Are you looking for how to eat vegan when travelling around Uzbekistan? You’ve come to the right place!
I visited Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand in November 2025 so I’ve got all the options for you here.
Yes it’s difficult to be vegan when in Uzbekistan, but it’s doable! You just need to keep the Happy Cow app on hand, and look up “Vegan” on Google Maps also. Having those two options helped me.
Veganism is not common at all in Uzbekistan and you’ll come across menus in restaurants that say “vegan” but then has egg or dairy listed in the dish. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t know what vegan means and struggle with working out what to give you other than raw vegetables. If you’re vegetarian, it’s much easier to find suitable food options.
When travelling in Uzbekistan, you’ll be eating mainly vegetable shashliks (skewers), chips, salads, manti, somsa and Non bread.
When you find an Indian restaurant, i recommend going there and getting your protein hit! Because you unfortunately won’t get a lot of protein unless you get some lentils or beans into you from an Indian restaurant.
If you’re travelling to Kathmandu, Hanoi or Brunei after or before Uzbekistan, check out my vegan food guides for those areas too
Here are some restaurants that I went to that have vegan friendly and plant based options. There’s even a coffee stand in Bukhara with alternative milk!
TASHKENT
Kaarvan the Indian kitchen
Only a few minutes walk from Chorsu Bazaar, this is an excellent Indian restaurant to get your protein from. They understand English and if you know about Indian food, you’ll already have an idea of what’s vegan. Get some Dal Tadka for your protein!
Bollywood Cafe
Inside “Magic City”, the Disney-esque amusement park (that is free to enter!), you’ll find Bollywood cafe. I didn’t go in but you can see on the photo below they have a sign out of the front of the restaurant with vegan written on it
BUKHARA
Chalet
I loved Chalet. The vibe inside was really nice and the staff were so friendly. They have the basic vegan options like veggie skewers and chips and a few other options. They are also a really good price compared to some other restaurants around. The Terrace restaurant in Bukhara is their sister restaurant. They have the same menu.
Coffee House
On a walking only path leading to Lyabi Khause Square, this place has a small amount of options. I got the veggie skillet. So just a bunch of veggies cooked and thrown together. They have side options too like salad and chips you could put together.
Silk Road Teahouse
I think I went here too early because the vibe was dead and to be honest the price was expensive for what you got. It’s a set menu. You can choose tea or coffee and they give you some traditional Uzbek sweets to try. The sesame ones are not vegan as they contain honey.
Amiri Kulcha
This small bakery is a 30 minute walk south from the main area of Bukhara and I highly recommend you take a morning walk to get here. I arrived and looked in the window and saw half a dozen young men making Non bread by hand. The older man opened the window and I asked for 1 bread and he went and got a fresh hot Non, gave it to me and as I went to hand him the cash he closed the window shaking his head and smiling. I was like wait what?! I tried again to give him money and he wouldn’t let me and I was so grateful! He gave me this beautiful fresh hot Non for free. It truly made my day and I was so touched. I walked 20 minutes up to Bolo Hauz Mosque and sat there eating half my Non feeling very content. If you do go, please try and give him money or pay for the next person’s order!
Kofexona
Next to the Ark of Bukhara, you’ll find this cute little coffee stand that has alternative milk. There are a few seats around and they blare out 90’s pop music for you to enjoy!
Terrace Restaurant
This is the sister restaurant to “Chalet” and they have the same menu. You can sit outside admiring the Ulugbek Madrassah and the Toqi Zargaron
SAMARKAND
Bibikhanum Teahouse
This was a nice place to eat at. Friendly staff near the Bibi-khanym Mosque. They have traditional tables you can sit at and tables with chairs too. There are good side options you can put together and the potato samosa was delicious!
Cafe Punjab
When you’re in Samarkand, you must go here to get your protein hit. There are no Indian restaurants in Bukhara so make sure to get some protein here (Dal Tadka). It’s about a 20 minute walk from Registan Square.
Siyob Bazaar
Watch the young men wheeling fresh Non bread up Tashkent Road towards the Bazaar. Follow them and buy your Non from them as you can tell that’s it’s fresh. Don’t buy any fresh nuts or sweets from Siyob Bazaar because I saw way too many pigeons in the nuts having a great breakfast time before the stall owners noticed haha
MAP
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