Semey is an enigma for me. It has so much potential, and yet that potential is not being exploited, at all. When I was there, I saw some cars with Russian plates and very Russian looking people in it who came all the way to this town to see the house Dostoevsky once lived in. […]
Semey is a lot of things. It is the place where Kazakh national poet Abai spent a considerable time of his life. It is where Dostoevsky lived for a while, and even had his first marriage. It is near where the Soviet Union tried many of its nuclear weapons, back when the place was called
I hardly remember the last time I really wanted to eat something sweet. Spicy, salty, briny, sour, and so on, sure. Sweet? Not really… I guess it is good for my health, but it does make finding decent cafes and writing about them here a chore. This is not to say that I hate desserts,
Fixing One’s Sweet Tooth in the Middle of the Steppes: A Guide to the Cafes of Astana Read More »
Though Astana is far from being a party town, or even a fun town, there are some decent pubs to spend the night out. Now when I say night out do understand that I mean spending a few hours sitting at a watering hole… Given my schedule and the often-unfavourable weather outside, I have very
A Night Out in Astana: A Short Guide to the Best Pubs in Town Read More »
It is not easy being a pescetarian in Astana, or in Central Asia, and it is even harder to be a vegetarian. Now, I am a pescetarian, but even then, you probably realized that my lists of places to eat in Astana hardly includes much seafood. After all, it is far away from the sea.
Beyond Pizza and Pasta: A Vegetarian’s Guide to Astana Read More »
Pizza is love; pizza is life. Though some may think that I should add the restaurants below to my “occidental restaurants in Astana” article, I beg to differ. I spent way too much time trying so many different pizzerias in town that they simply deserve a royal treatment, in the form of getting a separate
Best Pizzas of the Steppe: Astana’s Top Pizzerias Read More »
Though occidental food has its charms, it is the orient that truly knows what it is doing. Sue me. I have always been a huge fan of noodles, ramen, sushi, and so on, and I am glad to report that Astana will sate your appetite for some decent oriental cuisines, as far as the more
East of the Tian Shan Mountains: Best Oriental Restaurants in Astana Read More »
I prefer making my short articles here as thematic as possible. For that end, for the next six weeks, I will go over some of the finest eateries of Astana in a very categorical way. We will start by looking west, beyond the Caspian Sea, which is what “the West” is for those of us
Beyond the Caspian Sea: Best Occidental Restaurants in Astana Read More »
After hearing that Nursultan Nazarbayev himself wanted to be buried in Turkistan, I knew that I had to visit that little yet famous town no matter what. It was already a rather big destination among Turkish visitors of Kazakhstan, and as they introduce more and more flights to its small local airport, I can already
As the third biggest city in Kazakhstan, I had some high hopes for the food scene in Shymkent. Though I know that as a pescetarian choices would be limited for me, its sheer size could help me overcome some such limitations with my diet. This turned out to be true, but compared to the likes
Restaurants of Shymkent: Which to Frequent and Which to Avoid? Read More »