Possibly the best restaurant in Samarkand, Platan has a classy interior and a summer terrace for shady al fresco dining in the summer. The menu includes some Middle Eastern and Thai influences alongside regional dishes like Russian-style red caviar or cooling Uzbek chalop (cucumber, dill, green onion and sour cream soup).
The salad menu is particularly good: try the excellent lobio (a Georgian bean, walnut, garlic, lemon and parsley salad), the Thai beef salad or the zingy Bloody Mary salad. Reservations are advised for dinner.