Along the side streets branching off Rudaki Avenue, small family-run restaurants and chayhanas serve plov and shashlik from early morning until the food runs out. Plov is traditionally a breakfast dish — cooked in enormous kazan (iron cauldrons) starting at dawn — and the best is gone by 10 or 11am. Follow your nose or ask a local to point you to the current favorite.
Shashlik stands run through the day, with lamb and beef skewers grilled over charcoal and served with non (flatbread), raw onions, and tomato. A full meal costs almost nothing. The experience — eating at outdoor tables, watching Dushanbe go about its morning — is one of the pleasures of the city.