Ashgabat Restaurants

2 more images

The second day in town we visited in the cytrcentre the Altyn Dan Restaurant. It was a a pleasant place with international food. I didn't see many restaurants in town. No terraces outside anyway. All happens inside in airconditioned rooms.

Favorite Dish: As starter we had several tasty salads ( see picture 3). The main course with rice I can't remember very well. I think I skipped this part and took the dessert of sweet melon instead.

1 more image

For lunch we went to the Coffeehouse. It was a surprise to find a interior with an international European atmosphere. The more surprised I was about the African ethnografic decorations.

Favorite Dish: Of ocurse the coffee was very good with a nice selection. There was a menu with a variety of international meals. We decided to have a small lunch with delicious salads and bread. They had also my favourite tabuleh salad.

Believe it or not ! There is a Lebanese restaurant in Ashgabat. It seems that a Lebanese guy opened it some time ago and after a certain time, he left.
However, as for dishes, they taste anything but Lebanese ... If you have already eaten in Lebanon, you will know what I mean ...
As for the Lebanese traditional Arak drink, it is replaced by a similar Turkish one, called 'Yeni Raki'.

Favorite Dish: The closest dish to Lebanese taste was the chicken barbecue also known as 'Chich Taouk' in Lebanon ...

Behind apartments and garages throughout Ashgabat are little bastions of capitalism. This is the Shashlikh stand. The one that I went to with two officers of the local version of the KGB and a coworker of mine was behind an apartment block. There were outdoor tables in a little garden and several yurts if you wanted to eat it indoors in a traditional manner.

Shashlikh is like a cross between shishkebab and satay, where strips of beef and lamb (no pork, mind you, it's an Islamic country) or even camel are cooked over hardwood charcoal in a 55 gallon drum turned on it's side and cut in half. This is accompanied by salads of carrot and beet, and the ubiquitous vodka, though tea is also consumed.

A word of warning: don't drink the sour camel's milk. It was obtained for me by one of the officers I was eating with, and I tried to drink it as a courtesy. I am usually hale-and-well-met and will try anything once, but this was the worst stuff I have ever put in my mouth. I am serious, I have vomited up stuff that tasted better. (Gross, but that is exactly what I thought as I tried to drink it.) One of my hosts drank it just like it was buttermilk.

Actually, every restaurant I ate in shared one characteristic: the caviar. Unbelievably cheap, fresh, like nothing else I have ever eaten. I can't say I had much before I visited Ashgabat, or even any of the real stuff from sturgeon.

One thing for sure, I doubt if I will ever experience as much or as good as I had there. Salty, cool, fishy, and a glorious little "sploosh" every time you bit into one of those little pearls. Eat it with black bread or crackers with sour pickle relish and a hit of vodka, and you want to moment to last forever.

Unbelievable: A "unique real chinese restaurant"!!!!! Is it true? - No it is not!

It looks like, but the food is only a little bit chinese :-( - but it is something different to the other possibilities for eating.
Not bad, if you do not expect real chinese cuisine. Maybe they have troubles with the ingredients.

1 more image

In the first moment it looks like a british pub, but when you get your russian beer in german mugs you remember, that you are in TM!
However - friendly waiter, nice atmosphere, good meals. You can sit in the restaurant or in the pub.
The type of meals are international.

(loud) live music on friday and saturday.
Good athmosphere, most visitors were foreigners and "preselecting party girls"

11.00pm they close!!! (like most restaurants and pubs)

Favorite Dish: chicken indian style

There are many restaurants where you can get a variety of food like Italian, Turkish, Turkmeni, Russian etc. I heard there is some Indian restaurant but could not find it!
Italian: Ahal, Nissa
Turkish: Altyn Plaza, Ankara, Shereton, Florida, Mizan

Favorite Dish: One must try Turkish Lamb... its just delicious!