Review Begim Cafe - Calgary

We ordered 5 dishes and it took them almost an hour to finish. We were so disappointed with the service. And it’s not even busy in the restaurant. I had high hopes for the food but it was also disappointing. The Kare-Kare shown in the picture doesn’t taste and look like it at all! It’s so watery and very bland. The Bulalo doesn’t even have Bulalo (bone marrow) in it. And the most disappointing of it all is that we found hair both on the fried rice (as seen in the picture) and the crispy pata.

First time I ordered in this restaurant, it was disappointing . The food would have been properly sealed and securely wrapped specially if being handed over courier, found a hair in the plastic and have no idea who it was. The kare kare as shown in the photo looks like sinigang or bulalo ( the color was bad and far beyond the filipino kare kare) i cant recognize the peanut taste , its more like a sauteed beef in salt, thats the perfect description of it , the meat texture needs more time, IT'S HARD like you're chewing a gum! . The sisig arrived cold so i cannot blame it all to the cook, more on to the delivery guy who took 1 hr. to reach, but over and all it was an unpleasant experience.. please if you want value of your money, dont ever eat here.

Food is good. Service is worst! It took 45 mins before pur order arrived and the food is cold already cold...

First time I ordered food here and what I ordered was sisig and lechon kawali binagoongan for take out because I wanted to taste it but I was disappointed because at first it took me 25 minutes to wait. Secondly, it's not worth it because the portion of sisig and binagoongan is too small ant it's too expensive. Third, the binagoongan was too sweet for me it was like I ate dessert.

Food was not good at all. The kare kare doesn’t look like kare kare at all felt like I was eating vegetables with gravy. Ordered bangus sisig it was more of tofu sisig instead of bangus, the only bangus part there was the head and tail part of bangus displayed in plate. Lastly we found a hair in garlic rice. Overly priced based on the quality of food.

I’ve been here before with family and I had a good time so I decided to come back. However this time, I’m very disappointed with both the quality of the food and the customer service. We had to wait for our order for an hour. They didn’t even give us any water while we were waiting. Definitely don’t order the Kare-Kare, it doesn’t look and taste like it at all! We also found hairs on some of the food! Very disgusting. Not coming back again.

Food was great. Gotta eat with hands for the best experience!

I will definitely be back for the Crispy Pata. It was my first time having it and it will not be the last. Thanks again for lunch.

The food was so good!! Good pricing, cute decor and friendly staff. All handmade fresh food not frozen. I absolutely recommend this place!

I had a great lunch at Begin today. It was my first experience with Uzbikistani food. Asked the waiter for help in ordering. He made some great suggestions. The food was wonderful. All home made. Healthy and flavorful. This is my new regular place.

I love this place! Small, but beautifully decorated place, friendly service. Food is excellent, especially somsa. I could eat it every day :-)

We were fortunate to be invited to opening night by our good friends and clients. I had never been to a Uzbek restaurant (I came to learn that Begim is the only such restaurant in Alberta and the next closest is in Toronto) and wasn't too sure what to expect. The food. service and ambiance were perfect; we felt like we were sitting in a friends dining room as they encouraged us to try more and stay as long as we wanted. The flaky, hand made beef samosa was delicious and our sampling of deserts (we tried 3) were anything but ordinary but the lamb kebab was outstanding; cooked perfectly and with so much flavor. It's funny, we may have never visited Begim without an invitation but we will most certainly be back.

Excellent food, very carefully prepared, delicate flavours, gracious hosts, I think Calgary is lucky to have Begim!

Great place with warm atmosphere and delicious Uzbek food!

The food and service excellent, I recommend the Napoleon dessert. It is amazing! I went with all my family and we think that it is outstanding good restaurant, it's cool to see the owners explained to you their own traditional foods.

This place is awesome. Great family owned restaurant with delicious soups, appetizers, and kebabs. Congratulations to Begim restaurant and the Akbar family, the first Uzbeki restaurant in Alberta and a great place to enjoy life!!

Very delicious food! Practically tried everything on the menu with friends. Family owned restaurant - owners were very nice and friendly. I am definitely going back to have more of their scrumptious food!

The food was so bad we left the restaurant hungry , the food was not fresh at all !!!

We had a wonderful experience there. Food is very tasty and delicious, having unique tasting color of Uzbekistan. Prices are reasonable and service is great. Nice family-run business, we will return again for sure!

We love this place, and try to go at least once a month. The food is excellent. Service is friendly. It is a converted house that is clean and nicely decorated. As I type this, I am developing a craving and will probably go there tonight.

Fantastic! The food was so good! All fresh, hand made and not frozen. Highly recommended!

Большое спасибо за вкусный ужин! Симпатичное место!! Будем в след раз в Калгари, мимо не пройдём ��

Superb restaurant. Kebabs are among the best if not the best in town.

Always Great food and friendly service! All meats were grilled to perfection. Took our son visiting from B.C.; he loved it as much as we do!

Very tasty food. Strongly recommended to visit the Begim cafe. Friendly atmosphere and very nice music and always fresh and delicious food. Traditional Uzbek food are very tasty and music is great .

Green tea - delicious! fruity aroma and very mild<br/><br/>Uzbek Osh (sp?) - delicate spices made this dish very flavourful. Topped with a whole roasted bulb of garlic that I pinched the pieces out to mix in with the meal. Generous portion so lots left for my lunch next day. <br/><br/>Meat Samsa - their version of a samosa. Again very big portion so half for my lunch next day. And well flavoured. <br/><br/>Nothing was spicy hot but definitely was spicy flavourful. <br/><br/>I recommend going if you want a leisurely meal. The venue isn't large but if it gets full the kitchen backs up because there isn't a large cooking staff and everything is made fresh from scratch except some of the desserts.

I’ve been here for dinner with friends. Never eaten Uzbeki food before, so we ordered a lot. The only thing I remember eating is something called Manti...because it was delicious. I couldn’t stop eating it and I wanted more, so I took some home for later. The service here is pretty amazing. Other than the bill at the end of our meal, I felt like I was having dinner at a friends house. It’s in a house, but it’s no longer a house. It feels like home. I will return for more Manti, soon!!!

Went on a Thursday night with a friend and I am so glad we did, because their Thursday night special is the meat-filled giant dumplings. Unbelievably delicious - light, fluffy dumpling dough, filled with delicious seasoned meat, and topped with some kind of tomato reduction sauce and fresh herbs. Unlike anything I had eaten before, but so good I have already made plans to go back and get more. We also tried their meat samosa, same beautiful meat filling as in the dumplings, but this time in a delicious, freshly made flaky pastry dough. I was in heaven. Their tomato & onion salad and Osh were also fantastic, albeit the Osh was slightly oily but I think that was from the roasted lamb chunks on top of the rice. The Osh came with a whole head of confit garlic on top, which seemed unusual at first, but the server explained you pop them out of the skins and eat it with the rice and meat and it adds an unbelievable sweet warmth to the meal. Not harsh like fresh garlic, the confit stuff was creamy and sweet. Service was attentive and warm, the decor is homey and the place is very clean. Prices were fair for everything being scratch made, and you could legit taste the love in every bite. I felt like I had gone to my Uzbek grandma's house for dinner, and I am not even Uzbek lol. This place defines family owned small business, and it's a fantastic adventure into a well kept secret and delicious new cuisine. I genuinely can't understand their rating on Zomato, please don't be deterred, go try the food for yourself and you'll be shocked that anyone would rate this place less than stellar.

I love this place! Small, but beautifully decorated place, friendly service. Food is excellent, especially somsa. I could eat it every day :-)

The decor is beautiful and service was excellent and very friendly.  We all enjoyed the food especially the somsas.  We will absolutely go back again.

Went there the other week and was utterly disappointed. It did not live up to the high reviews its getting. Quality does not justify the prices ($9 for a small bowl of soup or $17 for a handful of "salad" and dry meat). DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY

Was good when it first opened, but recently the food quality went down and the prices doubled. The kabobs were so over-salted that i can only imagine it was done to hide rotten meat. will NOT be going back or recommending to anyone.

I love every visit to Begim! Unique, delicious and hearty food priced fairly and served with great care. The staff will be more than happy to share their recommendations or answer any questions you have about the menu, although you cannot go wrong with any choice!

love this place! food is unique and delicious. the restaurant is small and a bit drafty, so sit away from the door on cold days. gets busy, so make a reso!

My friends and I went here with a plan to try as many different dishes as we could and this place did not disappoint! We had 6 mains and 4 desserts between the seven of us. When we left, we basically rolled out the door. Each of us had a different favourite - I really liked the Somsa and this dumpling dish. <br/><br/>The decor isn't fancy but it is comfortable and the owner was so friendly! We asked many questions about the food and culture of Uzbekistan and he took the time to answer all of them. <br/><br/>I'll definitely be back - possibly on a night when they make some of the speciality dishes that you can only get once a week!

You heard of Uzbekistan food? Yeah, me neither. That just means it’s the perfect time to become acquainted with a new cuisine. Uzbek food is a mix of Asian, Persian, Middle Eastern and Russian. If you look up where Uzbekistan is, it’ll make a lot more sense to you; it’s linked to the Silk Road (the ancient trade route). Hence, all the different influences. I randomly stumbled upon this gem when I was looking up new places to try! They’ve only been open for a few months but it sounds like they’re doing very well.

Loved it <br/>Lunch for 1. <br/>Pumpkin somsa - fresh and hot. Seriously, let it cool down for a long while. Seriously.<br/>Mohora soup - strangely light and delicate with hearty veggies.<br/>manti - steamed pastry stuffed with meat and covered in tomatoes & onions - hearty and filling. <br/>*** the Osh on the menu says 11-2 only. After paying they let me know it's available all day as their Russian clients wanted it all day long ... <br/>I can't wait to go back and sample some more. <br/>Tiny and with a friendly staff.<br/>

Came in looking to try something new and wasn't expecting much, ended up being very pleasantly surprised. Kebabs were delicious, salads were fresh and tasty, rice was nice fluffy and very flavorful. Highly recommend coming on a Thursday since it's the only day of the week they serve mantis, these amazing dumplings filled with seasoned lamb.

Lunch: Fantastic. Authentic Uzbek food. Spicing is perfect. Lamb so tender. Kebabs, Uzbek osh, Somsa, Tomato & Onion Salad. Walking in the door, the aromas coming out of the kitchen are wonderful.The decor is really adds to the experience.  Such friendly service by Nodir. Reasonable cost. We can hardly wait to return!

At the time of this review the aggregate review score for this restaurant shows 2.8 on Zomato however the few reviews it has are very favorable so I'm not sure why this discrepancy exists. This restaurant should easily be a 4.0 or above. It currently has a 4.5 on yelp. <br/><br/>The food at Begim is absolutely fantastic. The flavors are familiar yet authentic and delicious. The meat is tender and succulent. Every single dish we ordered was excellent.<br/><br/>The Mahora soup is light soup with hearty toppings, almost as if a you were having a winter stew in the form of a soup.<br/>The Chuchvara soup is also light with similarities to a won-ton soup but with lamb dumplings and rich broth.<br/>The Tok Osh is wrapped vine leaf dish similar to greek dolmades but with more meat.<br/>The Uzbek Osh is a hearty rice pilaf  with lamb and garlic that is cooked to perfection.<br/>The Chalop Salad was a good compliment to the Uzbek Osh with its fresh yogurt and dill flavors<br/>The Honim is a steamed dumpling pastry dish filled with potato.<br/>The Kebabs were succulent and tender. We had both the beef and the lamb and they were both very flavorful.<br/>The Begim Cake was light and fluffy while the other desert, the name of which escapes me was dense and chewy similar to rice crispy square but very delicious.  <br/> <br/>The prices are very fair. For my group of 4 and all the dishes above we only racked up $65 bill.<br/>It's a tiny restaurant with houses on either side of it on 17th Ave SE, but the outside of the restaurant itself is definitely unique and vibrant. A reservation is definitely recommended. You'll notice that even though the space has been carved out of a house it's decorated like a proper restaurant. You must give this place a try. The food is excellent, the owners are friendly and courteous and service is fast. The price is too good to be true.

Unique and delicious new restaurant serving a cuisine which we had never had - Uzbekistan. We saw a Herald review and thought we'd try it - and it was delicious!  We had read that the cuisine is Central Asian, with influences from Indian, Chinese, Persian and Middle Eastern foods.  We found it more related to the latter two; very tasty but not particularly spicy. It is family-run with excellent but understated service, and they are more than happy to explain these unique dishes to you. Try the kebabs, the somsas (like a samosa but baked not deep fried), the honim and definitely the osh, which I think is the signature dish. It is in a renovated house on a service road facing 17th Ave SE, and you can angle-park right out front. We'll be back!

Such delicious food. Very flavourful, great prices, friendly service. Try the Osh! It has just a small hint of the gamey lamb. Also the somsas fresh are good. We had a pumpkin one that wasn't fresh and it was not as good. A bit soggy but our meat one right out of the oven was crispy. The small dumplings (sorry I forget the name- come in groups of 10) are delicious. Although they look like tortellinis and are filled with meat not unlike Chinese dumplings their texture is like neither of these. A bit chewier and skin is thinner than tortellinis. Lamb skewer was good too. <br/><br/>The restaurant is small and really only has one table that can fit more than 5 people. I would recommend you make a reservation or come in a smaller group. There were many more tables for groups of 4. You might also want to call in to see if they have the dish you want to try. Some dishes are not available all the time like the Osh and the manti.

Fun, fascinating and friendly introduction to Uzbek cuisine. You will have to try the fresh baked somsa. The achichuk salad. The honim. Manti. Chuchvara and Mohora. And of course the kebabs. We didn't leave room to try the famous osh - next time for sure. But we did somehow fit in a couple of unusual, traditional desserts.<br/><br/>It's a family run place that deserves to succeed. Delicious, interesting food made with care and served by genuine people. A rare chance to try central Asian cuisine. Most of the other guests the night we visited were from the former Soviet Union - it felt like we had stepped off of the map. No liquor served. But lots of fun. I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

Our lunch team visited Begim today and were very pleased with the experience. Located in an old house on 17 Ave SE, it was easy to find. We were warmly greeted and seated. As we knew nothing about Uzbek food the four of us decided to share a number of dishes including some kabobs, salads, somsos and a soup. All were very tasty; unique but recognizable. Service was great even though they were short staffed. We all heartily recommend a visit to Begim!