Sogdiana Cafe

Sogdiana Cafe is a cafe-restaurant at 62 Alisher Navoi Street, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, serving Italian and ice cream food. It is a cosy cafe suited to romantic dinners or family groups and is known locally for its ice cream. The menu is Italian-leaning, which gives a change from several days of plov and shashlik. Opening hours are listed as daily 07:30–23:30. The phone number given for the venue is +998 97 926 00 08; numbers on listing sites sometimes differ from reality, so a call before a special trip is sensible. A typical meal costs about 60,000–180,000 UZS (~$5–15) per person at the Central Bank rate of roughly 12,000 UZS per US dollar, with tea usually inexpensive and drinks extra. Walk-ins are normally fine; call ahead for groups of six or more. It lies on Alisher Navoi Street, a main road through the centre. Payment is by cash in Uzbek som or by card at most sit-down venues, and a service charge of about 10 percent is sometimes added to the bill, so a glance at the receipt avoids double tipping. Lunch tends to be calmer than the evening rush, and the Samarkand summer heat from June to August makes shaded or air-conditioned seating worth asking for.