Fatboys Cafe

I would not recommend this joint. I ordered some sprite and it tasted like soda water with lemon juice and it was barely carbonated, but then again all of the soda there was tainted somehow. The beef stroganoff I ordered was small with no sauce on it and was very gristly, tough, and tasted gamy. There are better restaurants located within 10 minutes of walking that are much better.

This is a very well-situated cafe on Chuy Prospekt which happens to be run by the Honorary British Consul, Michael Atsopathis. There are tables on the wide pavement, and it is very pleasant in the summer to sit outside at lunchtime and watch the world go by. Although Chuy is busy, there is nothing like the traffic density that one experiences on a London main road, and so al fresco dining is that much more enjoyable.

We had Turkish plov, which is basically rice with spices, small pieces of pasta and vegetables stirred in; there is no meat. It was comfort food of a high order, and I recommend it. Irina does not recommend the Central Asian (Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Kazakh) plov which, she says, is made mostly with meat and a lot of grease, and is likely to upset stomachs not used to it.