Grandma's Secret

Grandma's Secret Dania Beach Blvd - just east of Federal Highway in Dania Beach 28 September 2024 My friend and I went back and forth and finally decided to try something totally new to us both, an Uzbek restaurant, right down the street from home.The waitress happily and patiently obliged to explain her favorites as well as what others seemed to order. Bravo to her in explaining it not just by ingredients but how it was to be prepared and what it maybe similar to in foods we would recognize.We started with cheburek, my apologies for the spelling. It was two deep friend turnovers (I wasn't sure if it was beef or lamb). Very similar to an empanada at any latin restaurant, except dough tastes home made and deep fried with a crispy shell and tender meat inside. Served with a side of a tomato-based almost like marinara sauce which complimented the meat and pastry shell.We both ordered separately but shared equally our meals to enjoy trying two different meals.My friend ordered the beef shaverma and side of home fries. Very similar to Turkish shawarma but compared to other ones we tried in the area, this was delicious, not dried out and filled with flavorful spices. Served in a wrap perfectly toasted and filled with various veggies and a white sauce inside. The home fries were crispy outside and soft inside. Almost like having a fried baked potato.I ordered the fried lagman, a homemade noodle with various sautéed vegetables and seasoned tender lamb meat. My friend and I tasted the paprika - almost like a dry sauce, with other spices which we couldn't make out, but combined made for an excellent choice as well. We both agreed this was something different and even better that it was in our neighborhood, small family owned restaurant. Definitely will be on our rotation when we don't want the same old, same old. The meal portions were large enough of for us to be so full (even with a small take-home package) that we didn't get around to ordering dessert this time.Hats off to this gem! Great job!Food - chose to give 5 as it is different from anything else around us. Service - small restaurant allowed individual non-rushed service and explanation of foods. Ambiance - loved the various cultural mementos. Only recommendation is provide tap water upon request to drink and have photos next to items on menu. -= we were hungry -= =- sorry not photographs =-What an exceptional treat for us both!Hats off to this gem! Great job!

It's awesome that there's a new ethnic of food spot in the area, with this Uzbeki restaurant. Overall not a bad place in the area for something different. It's very small, maybe holds 20 people max between indoor and outdoor seating. The food came out fairly quick, with 1 person taking care of all the customers. I ordered the spinach pie- came out warm, kind of traditional spinach and cheese filling, similar to what you'd get at a Mediterranean restaurant. I really enjoyed the yogurt dipping sauce with dill the most, and used it on the plov. I also got the Tashkent plov, a traditional uzbeki dish. I had never tried it before, so I can't speak to the authenticity but I thought it was a little bland. I was expecting more flavor and spices. The rice was cooked nicely, and the lamb was tender. There are soft carrots mixed in the rice. There was also a hard boiled quail egg on the side. It's a lot of rice and a decent portion of meat. Very filling for one person.

I went on a weekday for lunch. There was one customer dining when I arrived. There is parking behind the building. The staff is friendly. I ordered the pilav which is a rice dish with meats. It was flavorful. The lagman was tasty. It had an Asian taste to it. The Uzbeck bread was tasty, but I wish it was served with butter. My bill was $45 for the 3 items before tip. I was only charged $0.80 for bottled water. It's an open kitchen so you can watch the chefs cook. It was my first time trying Uzbeck food so I have no comparison.

2 stars- Food quality, quantity and price We ordered:Tashkent Pilav - the platter is good for 2, if you're from SE Asia you'd find the food non-flavorful. The spice level is 2 out of 10. I enjoyed it since I was hungry ‍.Cumin lamb: this was salty and oily. Beef kebab: 8 pieces, we enjoyed it.Ayran: the yogurt drink is just like the Mediterranean yogurt drink.Manti: bigger than an average momo/dumplings but the meat inside was less. Quantity & price - the foods is pricy, you may get 2x more for the price we paid elsewhere. 2 stars to the business- Bravo for opening the first ever Uzbek restaurant, the place is small and can easily get packed. It looked like they're doing pretty good as I spoke to the owner he seemed confident. Hope you can inspire other authentic cuisines from different parts of world to open in SoFlo. We need more local businesses to adopt halal food .

We got to check out this quaint new restaurant in Dania for the first time this evening and we really enjoyed. I must say, Grandma's Secret is actually the perfect name once you experience the food. The food tasted home cooked and fresh. I can highly recommend the lamb skewers and the bread! My husband ordered another order of the lamb. I also really love the unique (at least to me) garnishes they have. There was this onion salad with dill and pomegranate and that thing HIT so hard! I want to try to recreate it at home. Although the food was delicious, I will say the service is very slow. Even though the restaurant was not busy at all, we found it hard to get anyone's attention. They were in constant conversation and we never wanted to be rude so we waited. This area can afford to improve but I am wanting to go back for another experience

This establishment is a decorative space and my wife and I enjoyed the food. We have their small bread which was made in a tandoor oven. We also had the beef samosa, which was super delicious and baked perfectly. The chekurat is a fried empanada with a beef blend and was also fried to perfection. The dumpling soup for me had too much dill, but my wife enjoyed it as she loves dill. The manti with pumpkin was also good, but needed just a bit more salt. The service was friendly and professional. We enjoyed our meals and had a wonderful time. We will try this place again because there is not another restaurant like it

We went there on a Wednesday night at 7:30, there is parking in the back of the restaurant. There was only one group at the restaurant but within 10 minutes a number of parties arrived for to-go and on site orders. Even though they have a small team, they were able to keep up with fast service.The menu is quite extensive and offers a lot of options. We had the Lagman and the Shurpa. Both options were flavorful. While prices are quite reasonable, portions aren't too big. So you may want to go with an appetizer to share and a main dish if you have a big appetite.They have indoor and outdoor seating. It's a small place but feels cozy. It's such a treat to have an Uzbek restaurant. We liked everything about it and would recommend it.

Glad I finally sat down at this place & had dinner. The food was amazing, so much flavor but not overwhelming. Best rice dish I've ever had, I could not explain how delicious it was but I am obsessed. Definitely my favorite dish I had. I tried the lamb chops as well, such tender & flavorful meat. Also had the pumpkin & meat dumplings. The pumpkin dumplings felt more like a desert, it was an interesting choice but with the white sauce it comes together so nicely. The meat dumplings were better in my opinion though. Enjoyed the salad, very refreshing light starter. I will be returning to try more stuff for sure. The waitress was kind & very informative on the dishes. Honestly the best authentic restaurant in this neighborhood. Looks like a mom & pop shop which is a plus for me.

Grandma's Secret, Uzbek cuisine. 50 E Dania Beach Blvd, open 4 months. Owned and operated by ethnic Uzbeks, super nice people. We ordered a few of the typical dishes: Tashkent Pilav (rice dish with braised meat, the national dish, with yellow carrots imported from NYC), Manti (large dumplings with chunky meat inside), a Samsa pastry with pumpkin (excellent), traditional yeast bread (excellent), Ayran (salty yogurt drink), Compote (dried fruit tea).The smell coming off the charcoal grill with meat and roasting chiles is intoxicating. The food has a heavy taste of cumin, although their rice dish is not as heavily spiced as you would find in Afghanistan or Iran.Lots of Russians and central asians hanging out here. It doesn't feel like you're in SoFL, so for the experience, I would say, by all means, go. I'm unsure if Rachel and I are a fan of the overall cuisine style (compared to say, Georgian or Afghan/Persian) although I think I might prefer the grilled kebabs over the braised meat that was in the pilav. But we'd still come back, with more people.

It's pretty rare to find genuinely authentic Uzbek cuisine; it's even rarer to find it so expertly prepared and cooked! Tucked away, behind an unassuming exterior, Grandma's Secret delivers a culinary experience that enables you to sample some of the finest foods Uzbekistan offers.The first, and most important dish, is the Plov (Tashkent Pilav here). Plov is common throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia but it is Uzbekistan's national dish. I have tried many and cooked many more, I never pass up plov when it is on offer! Although you can frequently find plov in Slavic restaurants and shops, if you want the very best search out an Uzbek restaurant. Grandma's Secret delivers a mouth wateringly delicious plov that is on par with the best I have tried anywhere in the world. Perfectly slow cooked tender chunks of lamb that come apart at the touch of a fork adorn the surface of this delicious rice dish laced with julienned carrots and onion and garlic. This is all brought together with the perfect balance of cumin, coriander, garlic and fats to deliver that 100% authentic flavor. Getting all of these in the correct proportion is crucial to get the flavors to infuse and give you that 100% authentic experience. I could write a whole review just on the Plov alone! Consider it a must if you visit here.Next, the Lamb kebabs. WOW! Beyond exceptional. For some reason Lamb is very difficult to cook well; I can't even begin to count the number of lamb kebabs/shashlik from various Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurants that have left me disappointed at how dried out, or chewy, the meat is. Once again we must turn to Uzbek cuisine as they demonstrate their true mastery of all things lamb/mutton. Mouth wateringly tender, juicy morsels of meat, deliciously marinaded, lined up on the skewer waiting to be devoured. The beef kebabs are also worthy of mention, again very tender and delicious, but if the beef was an A+ then the lamb was an A+++. You can't really go wrong with either ultimately.Now let's talk about the Manti! These are a form of dumpling, similar in some ways to potstickers, pelmeni, vareniki etc Pretty much every country throughout Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia have some form of dumpling. There are a few subtle differences that make good Manti stand out however. First, unlike most other dumplings the meat for Manti is diced very finely, not ground. This makes a HUGE difference, they feel "meaty" and juicy at the same time, in fact they are often so juicy it can spill out. Once again they are infused with that classic cumin+corriander flavor to give it that authentic taste. They are also larger than most other dumplings so be careful; the outer shells are quite thin, which is a good sign of a quality Manti, but they can break letting the juices escape. Pick them up gently! :DOther mentions, the Bread dish at the start was beautifully fresh and fluffy and came out piping hot, another Uzbek specialty.The Samsa, a flaky, lightweight crust and bursting with flavorsome interior is worth a try.The only nitpick I had was around another favorite of mine, Cheburek, a common street food through Central Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a form of meat turnover, deep fried in a crispy outer shell. A great cheburek, similar to the manti, is normally so meaty and juicy that the juices can have a tendency to come pouring out it not careful. This results in a delicious snack that bursts with flavor. Sadly the cheburek here was very light on meat filling and very light on juices. On a positive note the crust was thinner and less doughy than others I have tried, I prefer the thinner crispier crusts, I just wish there was more meat in the middle!As for service? Well, it helps if you can speak Russian . I can only say a few choice phrases although I understand a lot more than I can say . Fortunately my wife is fluent. Overall not bad though, the staff are all polite and our food all came out in good time. It's a bit different (culturally) from what you might expect in a typical US restaurant but it's not bad.Overall, Grandma's Secret is definitely going out of your way to try, especially if you are a fan of plov, manti or kebabs.Must tries:* Plov (Tashkent Pilav)* Kebabs (preferably Lamb)* Manti