Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Venetsia¨
CENTRAL ASIAN $$
(cnr Kayyrbekov & Tole Bi; mains 1000-1800T;
h
11am-midnight)
Hugely popular Venetsia
sits beside the little Malaya Almatinka River
and its outdoor terrace is a great place to eat
on a summer evening. There's a huge choice
of Central Asian and Caucasian dishes, in-
cluding Kazakh
beshbarmak
(flat noodles
with meat cooked in a vegetable broth which
is eaten separately), and the many varieties
of shashlyk are among the best choices.
For accompaniment order the
zakuska
kavkazskaya,
a huge plate of fresh greens.
A singer and keyboardist play inside from
8pm and things often get lively with a bit
of dancing.
Khodja¨Nasreddin¨
UZBEK $$
(Lugansky 54; mains 1100-2500T;
h
noon-mid-
night)
This is one of Almaty's best Uzbek
restaurants and especially nice in summer
when you can sit around the courtyard. Go
for the
plov prazdnichny
(festival
plov
),
kazan kebab
(lamb ribs and fried potatoes)
or a good old shashlyk with spicy
adzhuka
sauce. The
pichini
(potato and cheese pies)
make a good side dish.
Restoran¨Printsessa¨
CHINESE $$
(Princess;
%
261 06 27; Tolebaev 53; dishes 1000-
4500T;
h
noon-midnight;
n
)
Come to this
large, bustling restaurant for a filling, good-
value Chinese meal. The menu offers a big
choice including an excellent chicken, chilli
and peanut dish.
Eldoro¨
INTERNATIONAL $$
(Pushkin 44; mains 850-2250T;
h
24hr;
WE
)
This informal place near Panfilov Park has
such a long, varied menu that you can't
imagine they'd do it all justice - but the
crowds day and night testify that they pretty
much do. Go for breakfast, a burger, shash-
lyk, a steak, lasagne, salads, drinks - or the
good-value set lunch served from 11.30am to
2.30pm Monday to Friday.
Mama¨Mia¨
ITALIAN $$
(
%
273 38 73; gogol 87; dishes 1300-2300T;
h
11am-midnight;
n
)
A bright, relaxed, little
pizza/pasta/salad house, with efficient serv-
ice and a good choice of tasty food.
Zheti¨Kazyna¨
CENTRAL ASIAN $$$
(
%
273 25 87; Abylay Khan 58A; mains 1000-
10,000T;
h
noon-midnight;
nE
)
This ex-
otically decorated, Central Asian-themed
restaurant is a place to come for quality
regional cooking. Old favourites such as
manty, laghman,
shashlyk,
plov
and spicy
Dungan noodles are styled for the Western
palate, and it's a good place to try Kazakh
specialities including
beshbarmak
and
horse steaks.
You can have a two-course meal with a
couple of drinks for 4000T to 5000T. The
entrance is actually on Makataev.
Café¨de¨Paris¨
FRENCH $$$
(Shevchenko 18; mains 1300-3500T;
h
11am-
midnight;
nWE
)
This is an excellent
French cafe/restaurant where you can
eat light on a croque monsieur or crea-
tive salad, or tuck into a steak haché, beef
entrecôte or veal ragout. The dining room
has white tablecloths and old-Paris prints,
or you can sit under streetside trees on the
outdoor terrace.
Entrecôte¨
EUROPEAN $$$
(Bogenbay Batyr 132; mains 1950-4500T;
h
noon-midnight;
E
)
Come to this cellar-
style restaurant with dark-wood tables
and panelling for a meaty feast. Regulars
vouch for the pepper steak as the best
in the city, and there are fine salads too.
Don't be alarmed by the karaoke sign out-
side - it's in a separate room.
6
¨Drinking¨&¨Nightlife
Finding a drink for any budget isn't difficult
in Almaty, as the distinction between cafes,
restaurants and bars is blurred, to say the
least. Beer gardens under sunshades sprout
around the city in summer.
The nouveau-riche crowd and Almaty's
students and 20-somethings have spawned
a hedonistic nocturnal scene. There are lots
of special events and parties: www.timeout.
kz, www.afisha.kz and www.night.kz all have
good listings (in Russian).
o
Chukotka¨
BAR, CLUB
(www.chukotka.kz; gogol 40;
h
noon-3am Fri &
Sat;
W
)
Good rock bands from around 9pm
and DJs spinning house, soul, hip-hop and
disco after midnight make sure the dance
floor is never still at this hippest of Almaty
nightspots, inside Panfilov Park. The crowd
is open-minded, student-to-30s and gay-
friendly. The free admission helps, as do the
relatively reasonable drink prices.
The upstairs section, called Dacha, has
DJs only and a slightly more sedate atmos-
phere, and opens every night except Monday
(but can be dead midweek). You can eat in
both sections.
