Golubsky at Samarkand restaurant in Central Asia Street in Gwanghui-dong, Seoul / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Years ago, Seoul would become a ghost town over the major holidays (Chuseok in the fall and Lunar New Year in winter). The streets were empty of cars, businesses shut down and it was hard to find a restaurant that would be open.

I reasoned that foreign restaurants stood a high chance of staying open, and rather than ending up in Itaewon, I decided to try out another foreign enclave — Central Asia Street in Gwanghui-dong. Located just south of Dongdaemun Market, this area is packed full of restaurants catering to various former Soviet countries, mainly Uzbekistan and Mongolia.

When I showed up on one of these major holidays, I wasn't prepared for the throngs of foreigners who filled Gwanghui-dong's narrow alleys and the tiny restaurants throughout. Chuseok is traditionally when Koreans commute to their hometowns, but it's also when factories close, and foreign migrant workers gravitate to their communities, including in locales such as this. At times when the restaurants are too crowded, they sometimes offer seating in other spaces of the neighborhood, or sometimes directly in the alleyway itself. I've learned to trust wherever they offer seating.

I've visited many restaurants in the area, and most of them are named Samarkand, after the third-largest city in Uzbekistan— some are just Samarkand, while there are also Star Samarkand and Samarkand City. (There are also similar restaurants in other neighborhoods, but this is the biggest cluster, and the most lively on the major holidays.) Many of these have the same owners, hard to tell which exactly, and I've heard they may even share a kitchen, at least for some goods — such as breads and possibly some foods prepared in advance. Each one is a little different in subtle ways, so people who frequent them tend to pick out a favorite.

A robe from Uzbekistan decorates the wall of Samarkand restaurant in Central Asia Street in Gwanghui-dong, Seoul. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Each of these restaurants — half a dozen of which are all within a couple of alleys — is decorated with the cultural items of Uzbekistan, adding a unique atmosphere. In some of them, the service is better than in others.

Uzbek food is sort of a crossroads between Middle Eastern cuisine and Russian. You can find shashlik, grilled beef, lamb or chicken (or tomatoes) impaled on long skewers, and manti, a dumpling that resembles but surpasses Korea's mandu. A staple of these restaurants is pilov (or pilaf, plov), a plate of rice, meat and vegetables.

Pilov at Samarkand restaurant in Central Asia Street in Gwanghui-dong, Seoul / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

You can also find morkovcha, a food of the Koryo-in people of Central Asia, who attempted to apply kimchi-making skills to local ingredients. Without napa cabbage and other important ingredients, they ended up with this side dish, sometimes known as "Korean carrot."

There are also recognizably more Russian/Ukrainian dishes such as golubsky (meat-stuffed cabbage rolls) and borscht (beet soup). And the alcohol is usually mostly Russian — vodka and Baltika beer.

Lamb is an acquired taste that has grown on Koreans in the years since I started coming to this area. I've watched many Korean friends try lamb for the first time in this area, and while a little cautious at first, it wins almost every one of them over quickly. Over time, these restaurants have seen more and more domestic Koreans coming here, after previously seeing only foreign clientele.

Don't miss out on the breads, including the samsa, a pastry filled with beef and onion. The desserts (or "deserts" on some of the menus) are also great; my favorite is a slice of honey cake, enjoyed with a Baltika porter beer (#6) — a shockingly perfect combination.

Bread is stacked out front of Samarkand restaurant in Central Asia Street in Gwanghui-dong, Seoul. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Some of the restaurants in this neighborhood may have menus that are only in Cyrillic, or in some cases Korean. If you can't read the menu, a helpful trick is to look around at what other diners are eating and choose your food that way.

Expect to eat way too much whenever you come to this area. It is best accessed from exits 5, 9 or 12 of Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station on Seoul Metro lines 2, 4 and 5.