Eating in Astana

Kazakh hospitality is measured in second helpings. Between the official GA meals, the National Food & Drinks Party, and a capital full of Central Asian, Caucasian, and Korean kitchens, eating well in Astana is the easiest part of your week.

At the GA

Your registration covers the official program meals on campus — breakfast, lunch, and dinner per the agenda. Per the Organizing Committee:

• Halal options are widely available — as across most of Kazakhstan.
• Vegetarian and vegan options are part of the meal plan.
• Dietary needs and allergies: declare them on the registration form so the OC can plan — and double-check at the venue if your needs are strict.

Dishes to try at least once

• Beshbarmak — the national dish: hand-rolled pasta, slow-cooked meat, onion broth. The name means "five fingers", which is also the traditional cutlery.
• Baursak — golden fried dough puffs; somewhere between bread and dessert, dangerous by the basket.
• Kazy — horse-meat sausage, the festive delicacy locals will proudly offer you. Trying it earns respect; declining politely is fine too.
• Kumys (fermented mare's milk) and shubat (fermented camel's milk) — sharp, fizzy, unforgettable. Start with a small glass.
• Plov, manty, lagman, samsa — the Central Asian classics, everywhere and excellent.

Tea (shai) anchors every Kazakh table — milk in first is standard, refusal is nearly impossible, and the third refill means you're family.

Vegetarian & vegan in the city

Astana's café scene handles vegetarian requests easily; fully vegan menus are rarer but growing. Georgian restaurants (khachapuri, lobio, eggplant dishes) and Korean cafés (Kazakhstan has a large Korean community — try the salads) are reliable plant-forward bets. The phrase "bez myasa" (без мяса — "without meat") works wonders.

Near campus

Mega Silk Way, the big mall next to EXPO, is the closest everything to campus: a large food court, a supermarket for snacks and water, cafés, and pharmacies. For café-hopping and late-night eats, the Nurzhol Boulevard axis around Baiterek and Khan Shatyr is the city's living room — see the map on the Kazakhstan page.