Plov House serves the tasty wonders of Uzbekistan 24 hours a day

I look forward to eating a great plov any time of day. Few things are more satisfying to share with a group than a wide platter of cumin-scented Uzbek pilaf piled high with tender chunks of meat, its rendered fat and juices glazing each grain of rice beneath sweet carrot laces and plump raisins. The ability to order such a wonder at 3 a.m., though, is what makes Plov House particularly special: It’s open 24 hours a day in Northeast Philadelphia.

The 24-hour restaurant has become an endangered species in Philadelphia these days, down to just a handful of classic diners and the cheesesteak titans at South Ninth Street and East Passyunk Avenue. But with a full Uzbek menu of manti, grilled kebabs, and flaky samsa turnovers on the menu at Plov House, I know where my stomach will vote to go after a late night on the town.

Why 24 hours? “People from my country who drive trucks for Walmart and other stores late through the night kept calling and asking me to stay open,” says Plov House’s Uzbek-born owner Umed Minhurov, 54. He’s a former Russian language teacher from Samarkand who emigrated to the United States in 2004. “After the Soviet Union broke up and Uzbekistan’s economy broke down, nobody cared about Russian literature anymore.”

Minhurov, who opened Plov House three years ago in a Bustleton Avenue strip mall, has discovered that Philadelphians care plenty about traditional Uzbek cooking, which explains why he recently opened a second restaurant, Amir Kebab, nearby in the previously named Kebab USA. At his 34-seat Plov House, where the plastic-covered booths each have a view of the glass fridge in back brimming with halal meat skewers, the appeal is pure Uzbek comfort served in a simple setting with homemade style.

There’s a toothsome chew to the house-rolled noodles in the lagman soup filled with vegetables, tender beef, and fistfuls of fresh dill. The juicy kebabs are scented from the grill and their deep marinades. Heaping mounds of plov anchor virtually every table, swelling exponentially to meet the size of the group. Plov House’s signature dish also features tender chunks of slow-braised beef.

But Plov House also has another coveted dish I’ve yet to try in any of Northeast Philly’s many Uzbek restaurants: honim. This national specialty arrives as a plate-size crescent roll of steamy dough and looks like a cross between a strudel and a dumpling. Its sheer white sheet of dough is scattered with potatoes, minced beef, and onions, then rolled into a plump multilayered coil. Served alongside a dollop of sour cream, each forkful delivers both the delicate snap of noodle and hearty savory filling. It’s certainly big enough to feed two as an appetizer or snack at a midday meal. But at 3 a.m.? This Uzbek mega-dumpling is all mine.

Plov House, 9969 Bustleton Ave., 267-571-1111; plovhousephiladelphia.com