National Classics

• Beshbarmak: Meaning "five fingers," this dish consists of boiled horse or lamb meat served with wide noodles and is traditionally eaten by hand. It’s the premier dish for hosting guests.
• Kazy: A traditional horse sausage, sliced and served cold, with a rich flavor. It’s a must during festivals.
• Kumys: Fermented mare’s milk, slightly tangy and fizzy with low alcohol content, is a refreshing drink for the steppe people.
• Baursak: Deep-fried dough pieces shaped like small square pillows, typically eaten with tea or honey.
• Palau (Pilaf): A classic Central Asian staple made by slow-cooking lamb, carrots, and rice together.

Street Food & Everyday Eats

• Laghman: Hand-pulled noodles served with a meat and vegetable topping. A common home-style noodle dish across Central Asia.
• Shashlik: Grilled lamb skewers, usually served with onions and naan, widely found in night markets.
• Nan: Round flatbread, a staple at every meal. Sharing by breaking it apart is considered polite.
• Kurt: Salty dried curd, a convenient snack for the steppe.
• Tea with Milk: Salty brick tea mixed with milk. In Kazakh households, it’s continuously poured while guests are awake, and the host will always refill your cup until it’s empty.

Prices & Where to Eat

• At regular restaurants, expect to pay around 3,000–8,000 KZT per person, while street food and market meals range from 1,000–3,000 KZT.
• Almaty’s Green Market (Zeleny Bazar) is a great place to sample local flavors, offering dried fruits, cheeses, and horse meat products.
• Astana’s Nurzhol Boulevard and large shopping malls have a wide selection of dining options, ideal for first-time visitors.
• Traditional main dishes are quite generous—ordering half portions of a main course plus a salad is usually enough for two people.