Silk Road Tea House and Spice Shop, Bukhara

 Sacks of spices. In front, charming chekichs used to stamp bread

Bukhara is a city to roam and discover by foot. Taking small alleyways and wandering into caravanserai and courtyards is delightful. Sooner or later you'll need to quench your thirst and one of the best places to do so is the Silk Road tea house and spice shop.

Owned by Mirfayz Ubaydov, whose family has been in the spice trade since 1400, the tea house is heady with the smells of cardamom, clove, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, anise, caraway, fennel and peppermint.

Here you can stretch out with a pot of ginger or saffron tea, or a freshly brewed cardamon coffee. Select from delicious accompaniments such as sesame or pistachio oil halvah, traditional crystallized sugar candy, or dried fruit and nuts.

Mr. Ubaydov is passionate about the health properties of teas and spices; he gathers ingredients not just from Uzbekistan, but from neighbouring Central Asian countries, Sri Lanka and the Middle East. He has also participated several times in the Terra Madre Slow Food fair in Turin, Italy.

Mirfayz Ubaydov 'Spice Man' of Bukhara

Aromatic spice teas in small Uzbek silk pouches make lovely souvenirs. Find the tea house at 5 Halim Ibodov Street, Bukhara, close to the second cupola, Telpak Furushon.

Related posts:
Chekichs: Uzbek Bread Stamps 
The Glory of Uzbek Bread
Khiva: Bread Making Master Class