Kyrgyz traditional food is similar to the cuisine of other Turkic nomadic peoples: they drink tea with milk and kumiss, bake flatbread in the tandoor, respect lamb and horse meat, but they also have their own characteristics. We tell you where to go in the capital of Kyrgyzstan to try authentic dishes and what to order to fall in love with the local cuisine forever.
Baking
Various pastries are very popular in Kyrgyzstan. Of course, as in most Turkic countries, tandoor is widely used here. Flatbreads from the tandoor are called tokoch or tandyr-nan: they are used like our usual bread. Another type of bread is may-tokoch, it is usually deep-fried in a cauldron. Fatty puff pastry is also served with soups and meat dishes kattama, sometimes it is stuffed with jusai – branched onions.
A popular local delicacy is boorsoks, small buns that are deep-fried and therefore a bit reminiscent of our usual donuts. They are often served with kaymak – thick heavy cream.
In the mornings, Kyrgyz people often eat zhupka – a puff pastry product called Kyrgyz flakes. This is a thin unleavened pancake that is crumbled into tea, ayran, milk or eaten with kaymak. Also in Kyrgyzstan you can find Central Asian pastries with filling – samsa, kutabs, chebureks.
Snacks
The Kyrgyz, like representatives of many once nomadic peoples, eat horse meat. It is worth noting that not just any horse’s meat is eaten: today special breeds are raised for this purpose. The festive appetizer is kazy-karta – homemade sausage. It is prepared from the most tender horse tenderloin and fat from the animal’s peritoneum. No less popular is chuchuk, which is the most expensive and delicious horse meat sausage: only the best ingredients are used for preparation. Chuchuk can be safely bought as an edible souvenir.
A popular Central Asian snack is salted dry curd balls kurut. It is often taken on the road due to its high calorie content and ability to quickly satisfy hunger. It can be bought at any store. There is even chocolate with kurut, but it is more of an exotic sweet for tourists, rather than an authentic dish. Refried beans and fried peas are also served as appetizers.
Main courses
Many local dishes will seem familiar to experienced travelers. For example, in Kyrgyzstan you can often find pilaf, manti (large steamed dumplings) or beshbarmak(lamb boiled in a cauldron with noodles and broth, served separately in a bowl). Today beshbarmak can be found in any restaurant of national cuisine, but initially it was a festive ritual dish, and during the ceremonial meal all parts of the ram’s body were eaten, including the head. The dishes similar to beshbarmak are kulchetai (meat with pieces of dough and vegetables) and naryn (finely chopped boiled meat , seasoned with a sauce chyk made from wild onions, garlic, herbs and fatty broth, sometimes also served with thin noodles).
A popular Kyrgyz dish Oromo – a dough roll stuffed with finely chopped meat, fat tail and vegetables (usually potatoes and pumpkin). It is steamed in a manti-kaskan (manto cooker). Similar rolls, but cooked in broth, are called zhatkan tyo.
Tasty and hearty dishes from the Kyrgyz menu – dymdama (stewed stew of potatoes, cabbage, bell peppers, onions and other vegetables with meat and tail fat) and kuurdak(roast meat, offal and onions, which can be “preserved” in a specially treated lamb stomach – such a dish is often taken by shepherds when moving their flocks from winter to summer pastures).
If you want to try something similar to soup, we recommend ordering chuchpara: these are tiny dumplings in a rich broth with a lot of herbs.
Drinks
Dairy products are very popular in Kyrgyzstan, especially kumis, which is made from mare’s milk. This drink is considered healing – in the 19th century, kumys clinics were even opened throughout the country, and today it is always served in local health resorts. airan, a type of kefir, is no less popular among the people. If you add spring water and salt to it, you get another Kyrgyz drink – chalap. It is refreshing in the heat and is in demand among shepherds in the mountains. It is believed that chalap improves digestion and helps cleanse the body.
The Kyrgyz also have their own kvass – it’s called maksym. It is prepared from barley, less often – from wheat, millet or even corn. This drink has a tonic effect and dulls the feeling of hunger. If you mix maksym and chalap, you get aralash, it is also popular on hot days.
In the spring, especially during the celebration of Navruz, the Kyrgyz prepare semyolek – a drink made from chestnuts, vaguely reminiscent of jelly.
Alcoholic drinks are also produced in Kyrgyzstan. There are vineyards in the country, but local wines are not popular – even in restaurants they cannot always be found on the bar menu. But the local cognac is widely known – the Osh, Enesai and Epos brands. Herbal balms and tinctures are also popular.
Where to try local cuisine
In the mountains not far from Bishkek, in the village of Kok-Zhar there is an ethno-complex “Supara”(Karagul Akmat street, no house number) with an excellent restaurant. A visit there will be a real adventure – you can not only have lunch, but also get acquainted with local traditions. On the menu you will find almost the entire variety of national cuisine: several variations of beshbarmak, paloo (pilaf), dymdama, kababs, traditional drinks. There are also European dishes. Also here you can try “Supara talkan” candies made from local eco-products – nuts, prunes, pistachios, honey, barley oatmeal.
One of the favorite places of the Kyrgyz themselves in Bishkek is the cafe “Faiza” (Mederova St., 157), although the establishment is inexpensive, but with excellent cuisine. There is a large selection of lagman soups; you can try chuchvara, manti (including a vegetarian version with pumpkin), samsa and gosh-nan (flatbread with meat filling).
The restaurant “Bukhara” (Toktogul St., 116/A), decorated in oriental style, serves excellent pilaf, there are several varieties of samsa and kutabs, and the menu, along with national cuisine, includes European cuisine with a local accent – for example, cream soups or salad with grilled peaches and homemade cheese.
You will find a modern variation of traditional cuisine in the restaurant “Lamb” (Tokombaeva St., 78). The menu includes lamb soup with wild rice, lamb confit with three textures of pumpkin, as well as meat dishes for a group.
Where to stay in Bishkek
At the Freelander work and travel hostel (rating 9.6) — from 900 rubles per day*.
In the Luxury Palace Apartment (rating 9.9) — from 4,900 rubles per night*.
In the four-star City Stay Hotel Bishkek (rating 10) – from 6,800 rubles per day*.
*Prices are current at the time of publication.
To make a hotel reservation online, use the OneTwoTrip service.
