The best restaurants Kyrgyzstan

This is one of the oldest meeting places for expatriates in Bishkek, who come here in the morning to enjoy their breakfast while leafing through the newspaper. It's a good place to eat or have a drink (wide choice of whiskies and beers). Dishes are expensive, but the meat is of good quality and the service impeccable. Take advantage of the soothing setting inside or the pleasant covered terrace around the corner to spend a little more time than it takes to empty a plate: you'll almost feel like you're in Kyrgyzstan!

Red dominates, between the posts of the portals and the evocative lanterns of Chinese temples. Inside, there is a Zen spirit with incense sticks, Buddha effigies and large, well-spaced tables where one can sit comfortably for a Chinese meal and where only the music, which unfortunately oscillates between old eighties standards and elevator music, can be heard. Let's hope it will be fixed, because for the rest, this is the best address in Bishkek for lovers of fried noodles, fried ravioli and spicy meats!

Right in the center of Osh, this restaurant offers very good local products. Great chachlyks, nice salads but also pizzas and more elaborate dishes like a beef Stroganoff. The kebabs are the best in town: fresh meat, impeccable cooking and spices just right! As for the atmosphere, we eat comfortably seated in the shade of straw huts, on chairs or armchairs, around a refreshing central courtyard. The central park is just a stone's throw away, for a digestive walk after an invigorating meal. It's a long shift, but it's worth it!

It's more of a cafeteria than a restaurant, but the salads, soups, sandwiches and paninis are so good you almost forget it. You order at the counter and then sit at the table or in comfortable armchairs on the reading lounge side. Wi-Fi, small smoking area, no alcohol. Jovial atmosphere and clientele essentially students. It's perfect for snacking, reading, logging on and you end up spending more time than you need in this nice place. The most popular places, on the sofa or in an armchair, are unfortunately rare!

A small cafe with a rather nice atmosphere, and having adapted to the touristic turn of the city. The menu is in English but the food and recipes are local (soups, laghmans, chachlyks...) but the portions are adapted to the appetites of the trekkers and the prices have remained reasonable. Unfortunately, this is not so much the case with more western recipes, and we recommend that you stay in the region for a while, otherwise you will be disappointed and wait a very long time for your plate. Good atmosphere and prime location in the city centre.

The only really lively restaurant in the evening. The hotel is a brand new hotel, the dishes are good and rich. There is no menu in English, but the servers are co-operative!

You will find many stalls at the bazaar, all offering the same Dungan speciality: ashlyanfu. These are gelatinous noodles mixed with a (very) spicy soup, which you can calm down by accompanying it with a potato cake with spring onions. It is particularly invigorating in winter, to fight against the cold, but the locals manage to eat it even in the hottest weather! Count a hundred soms for the bowl of ashlyanfu. Add tea and a few raw vegetables and your complete meal will not exceed 250 soms.

Osh boasts a record of chaikhanas per square meter! You'll be spoilt for choice among the many local specialities! At the foot of Solomon's Mountain, many open-air restaurants are installed on this section of the street that turns into a square. Animation guaranteed. In Toktogul Park, there are several chaikhanas at the entrance to the park. We don't necessarily go there for the gastronomy, which remains basic, but for the very local atmosphere, with a bunch of old people coming to sip tea or play chess.

In the city centre, at the crossroads of Toktogul and Lenin Streets, you will find several chaikhanas with large terraces and tables laid out in the shade of the trees, separated by wide alleys that the staff constantly water to maintain a semblance of coolness in the hottest hours. There are chachlyks, laghmans, beshbarmak and, for those who are fed up with fat, lightly spiced Chinese-style meat skewers. You will also find other chaikhanas in the central park, on either side of the main driveway.

Behind the brick facade, a pretty room with plenty of light and high ceilings, featuring attractive wooden tables. Contemporary touches and a menu offering a fine range of soups, salads, paninis and pizzas. Hungry diners will also find steaks and heartier dishes à la carte, all for very good value. During the day, there's a good selection of teas and pastries. The Toktogul park is just a stone's throw from the restaurant.

The interior room has benefited from a beautiful effort of decoration, which is rare enough to be highlighted. Nevertheless, you will be encouraged to eat outdoors, on the comfortable armchairs or sofas, placed here and there around the fountains, and between which the waiters gravitate wearing large chachlyks or beautiful Russian salads. The bar offers some imported spirits, Russian beers and beautiful fruit juice cocktails. It's also a good place to spend some time around a hookah.

This gigantic tchaikhana is housed in a beautiful traditional house in the city centre. Plastic tables and chairs in the courtyards or under the yurt or takhtan under the wrought roof, make your choice! The menu offers a wide variety of nomadic dishes (laghman, kazan kebab, manty...) but it is especially for the chachlyks that the establishment is frequented. At lunchtime, the place becomes a veritable anthill where the waiters seem to be as numerous as the customers. But curiously, the wait is always desperately long.

Still the best pizzas in Bishkek, in a room beautifully decorated with New York photographs (the name of the restaurant is itself a tribute to the big apple) and still as popular as ever with students and young couples in Bishkek. Rates have increased a little in recent years with the success of the establishment, but that is still correct and the portions are generous. Ideal to have fun without breaking the bank. The menu also includes salads and pasta dishes as well as burgers, but the latter are frankly nothing special.

The small terrace on the street, a few steps from the presidential palace, is nothing exceptional, but offers a good view of the busiest area of the city. Inside, a small effort has been made to rejuvenate the decor and style, but the whole remains a little sad and the service is still haphazard. Despite this, the food is good and plentiful, and the price remains modest. There's a good choice of pastas and pizzas, as well as a few mixed dishes (with a small selection of meats and fish). A great way to eat "almost Italian" for less!

The main attraction is the small terrace, decorated with beautiful black-and-white photos, where you can enjoy a Cibirskaya on draught, and where major sporting events are usually broadcast on a giant screen for expatriates. The basement features a lounge atmosphere and a maze of dimly lit rooms and private lounges (minimum consumption 3,000 soms). There are no big surprises on the menu, but the portions are generous and the meat of good quality. You can also order some rather successful cocktails.