Alay Bazaar: A Market for People Who Know Their Food

If Chorsu is Tashkent's most recognisable bazaar, Alay is the one where the city's own residents go for groceries. There is less exotica for tourists and more everyday life, and the selection is considered one of the best in the capital. It is an ideal place to understand what Tashkent cooking runs on.

How Alay differs from Chorsu

The main difference is character. Chorsu feels like a historic sight with a huge dome and tourist rows. Alay is first of all a working market: vendors are used to regular customers and arrange goods on the principle "best on top".

In short:

• Chorsu: bigger in scale, more tourists, striking architecture;
• Alay: calmer, a wider range of fresh produce, prices often closer to what locals pay;
• bargaining is possible at both, but fixed prices for groceries are more common at Alay.

What to see

The bazaar consists of covered pavilions and open rows. You can walk the whole thing in an hour or an hour and a half, but if you want to look and taste everything, allow two hours.

Vegetables and fruit

Seasonal produce is displayed here: tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and, in season, apricots, cherries, grapes, pomegranates, persimmons and melons. Uzbek tomatoes and melons are the main reason travellers come back.

How to choose:

1. Take what is sold in abundance: it is in season.
2. Ask to taste watermelon, grapes and melon: honest sellers always oblige.
3. Tomatoes should not be too hard or glossy.

Meat and sausages

The meat rows sell lamb, beef, horse meat and poultry. Kazy and other sausages can be found here too. For plov, buy meat in the morning when the choice is widest.

Herbs and greens

Dill, coriander, basil, mint and spring onions, sold in bunches. If you are staying in a guesthouse with a kitchen, you can buy a bunch of coriander just for flavour.

Dairy

Qatiq, suzma, sour cream, home curd and cheese. Vendors often offer samples. Qatiq in Uzbekistan is thicker and tangier than ordinary kefir.

Nuts, dried fruit and honey

Walnuts, almonds, apricots, raisins and dried apricots. Honey in jars of different sizes. Taste before buying and ask about the origin.

Sweets and baked goods

Flatbread, samsa, halva, navat and parvarda. Pastry sellers often stand near the exits: warm samsa is filling and a good snack on the go.

Market timing and rhythm

• The market comes alive early, from 6 or 7 am. By 10 or 11 the freshest goods are gone.
• At weekends it is crowded, especially at lunchtime.
• In the evening prices for perishables are sometimes lowered, but the selection is thinner.

Check opening hours in advance: they may differ by day.

How to bargain and shop

In Uzbekistan bargaining is a polite game, but for groceries the difference is usually small. What helps:

• greet in Uzbek: "Assalomu alaykum";
• do not grab goods without permission, especially fruit;
• buy a little: fresh food spoils quickly in the heat;
• bring your own bag or backpack;
• pay in cash, in small notes.

What to buy for the road

If you are heading from Tashkent to another city, the market is a handy place to assemble a light road kit:

• fresh flatbread and samsa;
• fruit that does not bruise: apples, pears, grapes;
• nuts and dried fruit;
• a bottle of water.

Do not take heavy or perishable items if you have several hours on the road in the heat ahead.

Safety and hygiene

Wash fruit before eating, and carry wet wipes and hand sanitiser. Watch your pockets in crowds and keep money in several places. Do not buy food from informal sellers outside the rows, especially meat and dairy.

Getting there and back

From central Tashkent, the easiest way is by metro or taxi. Residents of suburbs such as Chirchik often come here to shop and return with heavy bags. For such trips, shared rides are handy: on the Tashkent — Chirchik page drivers post departure times, and you can pick a morning ride there and an evening one back. You book a seat in the Yo'ldosh app, and the ride is usually cheaper than a taxi. Other directions are collected on the all routes page.

The takeaway

Alay Bazaar is not a postcard but a real food market. If you want to see how Tashkent residents buy meat for Sunday plov or pick a melon for the summer, come in the morning, with a small bag and without rushing. Here you can not only buy groceries but also talk to vendors about what to cook for dinner: they almost always give advice.

Cover photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.