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. There were also many Kazakhs who traced the footsteps of their national poet, Abai, who too once lived in Semey. Then there are people like me, who wants to see the city’s Soviet heritage, regardless of how difficult it is becoming as the time goes on. There is potential, there is a trickle of people, and yet you cannot even find the magnets of the town on sale anywhere, nor can you find many decent places to eat at, I am afraid. By tradition you can find a list of places I had a meal in during my short time in Semey, but do be warned, I did not really have any memorable meals here. I am sure that for meat eaters it should have a few other, better, options, but for me, it simply did not offer all that much.
Café Pane – https://go.2gis.com/oiflk1
If you are not a stickler for “proper pizza,” this place should be the spot for you. Their pizza, as I already mentioned, is not perfect, especially since they use a mix of ketchup and tomato paste instead of actual tomato sauce. Their cheese sticks are fine though. What they got going on for themselves is their quick and friendly service, as well as very welcome prices. Though the latter is the norm all around town. Still, certainly not a shabby place to eat at, and they do offer some vegetarian dishes.
Pepperoni – https://go.2gis.com/22p933
If you want a similar place, with better pizza, and a surprisingly decent so called kim chi soup, look no further than Pepperoni. This place is practically right next to the Victory Park, and it does offer some delicacies for everyone as their menu is huge, and they even recently added a huge Asian menu to top it off. Once again, food is alright, at best. Pizza is definitely not Neapolitan style as it is written on the menu, and their tomato sauce, though exists, does not taste like much. Once again, the service is fast, everything is clean, and prices are reasonable, so you should not regret giving them a go.
Varenik Bar – https://go.2gis.com/db8jf
This was the highlight of my trip to Semey, well for the foodie part of it that is. They specialize on dumplings, the Slavic ones to be specific. I ordered two servings, one with cheese and green onions, another with potato and mushrooms. Pick the latter, it is much better. To be fair, the butter on top makes every meal taste better than it actually is, so you cannot go wrong here, besides, with servings going for around 2 USD, this is also as cheap as it can get for this level of quality and service if you ask me. Certainly worth your time.
Anime Café – https://go.2gis.com/qaae1
This is an interesting establishment, this much is certain. They have been around for a while, and their Tom Yum did taste much better than I expected, but other than the cool anime design on the inside and that surprisingly good soup they serve, I cannot give them too much praise I am afraid. They simply fail at cooking rice, in all of its forms. The rice that comes with Tom Yum was overcooked. Their sushi suffers a similar fate, also the rice they use for that is just not fitting for the job. Avoid the more adventurous dishes and just stick to soups and ramen here, then you should have a good time.
Kulikov – https://go.2gis.com/l3b4b
Well, given my short stay in town, I did not really have the time to check out any of its cafes, but I did take a look at what can best be described as a patisserie on my way home from a long walk on my last day. I picked a honey cake with dulce de leche, and boy was that a treat! They certainly delivered on quality, though I cannot say the same for quantity. If you bought the whole cake, you could get a bargain, but for these small taster size packs, they charge you 2-3 times per gram. Well, it is what it is I guess, still it was worth a try for sure.
