Country dossier
Restaurants, hotels, bars and wineries across Kazakhstan in the En Primeur Club guide.
Accolades in Kazakhstan
Almaty has 16 venues in our guide. These restaurants serve Neo-Nomad Central Asian, Kazakh-European and modern European cooking with wine programmes.
AUYL in Medeu is a Neo-Nomad Central Asian restaurant with an extensive wine list. Its family-style and à la carte formats sit inside a Soviet-era yurt setting, and the venue holds Star Wine List recognition alongside La Liste and Tatler mentions.
Ogonek in Almaly serves smart comfort cooking over live fire with an extensive wine list. It also pours craft cocktails and holds consecutive La Liste recognition and Star Wine List recognition in 2026.
Horoshiy God in city center pairs modern European cooking with pan-Asian accents and an exceptional wine programme. It holds both Star Wine List and Wine Spectator Award of Excellence recognition in 2026, and the wine service is led by a sommelier.
Champagne Restaurant & Wine Gallery in Golden Square combines modern European wine restaurant cooking with an exceptional list, sommelier-led service, and a Star Wine List 2026 listing, plus Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence recognition in 2026. Service covers à la carte, a tasting menu, and small plates.
These Astana restaurants have wine programmes, serving modern Kazakh, Tuscan Italian, Pan-Asian Japanese and European gastropub cooking.
Qazaq Gourmet on Mangilik El Avenue is a modern Kazakh fine dining restaurant with a wine list, extensive wine list, and sommelier-led service. It offers tasting menu, à la carte, and set menu formats, and its La Liste recognition places it firmly in Astana’s formal dining tier.
Cantinetta Antinori in historic downtown is a Tuscan Italian fine dining room with an exceptional wine programme, sommelier-led service, and an extensive wine list. It pairs Antinori family wines with seafood, including live lobster and crab, in an à la carte format inside The Veil hotel.
Asakusa on Qabanbay Batyr Avenue is a Pan-Asian Japanese izakaya at The St. Regis Astana. It serves sushi, sashimi and Japanese-inspired small plates, with an extensive wine list, sake and craft cocktails.
The Kitchen in central Astana is a European gastropub and grill with a wine list and an à la carte format. It serves steaks and creative European dishes, with English menus, on Dostyq Street in the Northern Lights residential complex.
Àgorà Wine and Deli pours natural and conventional wines, while Villa dei Fiori serves Italian cooking with an extensive wine list. The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty holds Star Wine List recognition, and French 42 specialises in gin and classic cocktails.
Àgorà Wine and Deli in Almaly is a wine bar and deli with an exceptional programme, natural wine, and conventional wine. It holds Star Wine List recognition in 2026 and is the first wine bar in Central Asia to operate as a proper wine establishment.
The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty in Central Almaty is a hotel in Esentai Tower with Star Wine List recognition in 2026. High-floor rooms and a Club Lounge on the 26th floor have views of the Almaty skyline and the Alatau Mountains. The hotel also holds Michelin Selected recognition and a Michelin 1 Key.
Villa dei Fiori in Bostandyk District is an authentic Italian restaurant with an extensive wine list. Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence recognition and Star Wine List recognition place it among Almaty’s more serious wine-led dining rooms.
French 42 in central Almaty is a specialist gin bar with classic cocktails and a minimal wine programme. The room takes its mood from Casablanca. It stocks gins from all five inhabited continents, and Tatler named the bar in Best Bars Asia-Pacific for 2025.
Lanzhou in Shymkent Plaza and Navat in Abaya serve handmade noodles in Chinese and Uzbek Central Asian cooking. Mountain accommodation includes Tenir Eco Hotel, Shymbulak Mountain Resort in Medeu District and Kolsay Lakes Town in Saty.
Lanzhou in Shymkent Plaza is a Chinese noodle house with an à la carte format, built around handmade noodles and a signature Lagman. The restaurant takes its name from Gansu Province, the origin of that hand-pulled noodle tradition, and it is one of two Shymkent restaurants in our guide.
Navat in Abaya is an Uzbek Central Asian tea house with a standard wine programme and an à la carte format. The kitchen serves traditional Uzbek plov, handmade lagman and Khan Samsa in a chaikhana setting.
Tenir Eco Hotel, Shymbulak Mountain Resort in Medeu District is an Almaty mountain hotel at the base of Shymbulak, in the Zailiysky Alatau range above the city. It holds Michelin Selected recognition for 2025 and a Michelin 1 Key for 2026.
Kolsay Lakes Town in Saty is an eco-hotel complex beside lower Kolsai Lake in the Tian Shan foothills. The lakeside accommodation includes rooms and wooden houses set among the surrounding mountains.
Almaty has Nuala, Champagne Restaurant & Wine Gallery, Horoshiy God and Villa dei Fiori, each with a dated Wine Spectator award for 2026. In Astana, Qazaq Gourmet and Cantinetta Antinori have extensive wine lists and sommelier-led service.
Kazakhstan has no Michelin-starred restaurants in our guide. Its Michelin hotel distinctions include a Michelin Key for each of The St. Regis Astana, The Ritz-Carlton, Astana and The Veil in 2026.
Champagne Restaurant & Wine Gallery in Golden Square and Qazaq Gourmet on Mangilik El Avenue serve tasting menus. Champagne Restaurant & Wine Gallery serves modern European cooking with an exceptional wine programme; Qazaq Gourmet serves modern Kazakh fine dining with sommelier-led wine service.
Nuala, Champagne Restaurant & Wine Gallery, Villa dei Fiori and Àgorà Wine and Deli hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Nuala, Champagne Restaurant & Wine Gallery and Villa dei Fiori have that award for 2026; Horoshiy God holds Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2026.
By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards
City atlas
Kazakhstan
Selected entries from the current guide for Kazakhstan.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
At 1,700 metres above Almaty, AUYL occupies a relocated Soviet-era yurt at the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains, framing a menu of water, flour, and fire-cooked meat with one of Central Asia's most considered sustainable wine lists. Ranked No. 1 by Star Wine List in 2026, it places nomadic Kazakh culinary tradition inside a format serious enough to hold its own against the city's most ambitious dining rooms.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Ogonek sits on Panfilov Street in central Almaty, holding consecutive La Liste placements (76.5 points in 2025, 75 in 2026) for its Kazakh-European cooking. The restaurant represents a strand of Almaty dining that treats Soviet-era nostalgia and Central Asian culinary heritage as equal creative material, producing a menu that reads more as cultural argument than fusion exercise.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Qazaq Gourmet occupies a serious position in Astana's fine-dining tier, holding La Liste recognition in both 2025 and 2026 with scores around 75-76 points. The kitchen works across Kazakh and European traditions, drawing on the steppe's larder to produce cooking that reads as both locally grounded and technically considered. On Prospekt Mangilik Yel, it is one of the city's clearest arguments for Kazakh cuisine at the formal end of the table.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Perched on Kok Tobe hill at 1,100 metres above Almaty, Abay & Inzhu is a dual-restaurant complex where the elevation is as much a part of the proposition as the menu. Awarded the Star Wine List #1 ranking for 2026, the site commands unobstructed views across the city and toward the Tien Shan peaks, a geographic context that shapes everything from the wine list to the occasion itself.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
A premium wine establishment in Almaty's Golden Square district, Champagne positions itself at the upper end of the city's wine bar scene with a focus on rare bottles and serious curation. For a city where quality wine venues remain scarce, it occupies a distinct tier, drawing a crowd that treats the list as the main event rather than an afterthought.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Named after Peter Mayle's 2004 novel and its Provençal sense of the good life, Horoshiy God sits on Shevchenko Street in central Almaty and draws a crowd that takes its sourcing seriously. The name, 'a good year' in Russian, signals an orientation toward wine and produce that sets it apart from most of the city's European-inflected dining rooms.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Occupying a corner of Almaty's historic Central Post Office building on Bogenbai Batyr Street, Nuala brings a considered bar program to one of the city's most architecturally charged addresses. The name itself carries meaning, situating the venue within a broader conversation about identity and place that Almaty's emerging bar scene is only beginning to have. For a city still defining its cocktail culture, it represents a significant reference point.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Greek Tradition at the Edge of the Tian Shan Dostyk Avenue climbs steadily southward through Almaty, shedding the city's commercial density as it rises toward the foothills. By the time you reach the upper stretch near address 109B, the...
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Villa dei Fiori on Al-Farabi Avenue holds a White Star recognition from Star Wine List, placing it among Almaty's more serious wine-focused dining addresses. The Italian name signals a European register in a city where continental dining has found a confident foothold alongside Kazakh culinary traditions. For visitors building a considered evening in Almaty, it warrants attention.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Asakusa belongs to Astana’s international-dining circuit, where Japanese cues meet a city shaped by business traffic, government schedules, and a climate that rewards controlled indoor hospitality. With few public signals on format, pricing, or awards, the useful way to read it is by context: a central Astana restaurant whose value depends on ingredient handling, consistency, and how clearly the kitchen treats imported pantry staples alongside local supply.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Situated on Bauyrzhan Momyshuly Avenue in central Astana, Cafe Momona occupies a position in the city's mid-range cafe circuit where ingredient sourcing and local food culture intersect. Kazakhstan's dining scene has shifted considerably in recent years, and Astana's neighbourhood cafes reflect that change more honestly than its flagship restaurants. A practical stop for those reading the city's food culture on street level.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
On Zhambyl Street in central Almaty, Caffe Del Teatro occupies a position in the city's mid-tier European café circuit where theatrical name and neighbourhood setting do most of the framing. The address places it within walking distance of the city's cultural venues, making it a natural stop before or after an evening out. Almaty's café scene rewards those who look past the obvious corridors.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Cantinetta Antinori brings an Italian reference point to Astana’s international dining circuit, useful for readers comparing the capital’s polished hotel-adjacent rooms with its Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and café formats. The appeal sits less in spectacle than in the sourcing question behind Italian cooking: olive oil, wine, pasta, cheese, and produce only work when the supply chain is treated seriously.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Cloud9 belongs in the part of Astana dining where the city’s international habits matter as much as any single cuisine label. It reads less as a credential-chasing destination than as a room to assess against the capital’s broader appetite for polished, globally fluent restaurants.
Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Shymkent's dining scene draws on the city's position at the crossroads of Silk Road trade routes, and Lanzhou sits within that tradition of northwestern Chinese culinary influence reaching deep into Central Asia. The name points directly to Gansu Province, the origin point of the hand-pulled noodle tradition that has traveled further than almost any other Chinese regional dish.
Astana, Kazakhstan
The Kitchen occupies an address on Dostyq Street inside Astana's Northern Lights residential complex, placing it within a city still defining its fine-dining grammar. Without confirmed cuisine type or formal awards, it sits in a tier where ingredient provenance and kitchen discipline tend to do the arguing. For visitors building an Astana itinerary, it warrants investigation alongside the city's more documented options.
Kazakhstan
Selected entries from the current guide for Kazakhstan.
Astana, Kazakhstan
On the banks of the Ishim River, The St. Regis Astana translates Kazakhstan's nomadic heritage into the grammar of luxury hospitality. WATG's glass-yurt architecture, butler service for every room, and a 96-point La Liste 2026 ranking place it at the summit of Astana's hotel tier. Two dining rooms, an Ishim-facing indoor pool, and a locally beloved bar complete the proposition.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Ranked 96 points on La Liste's Top Hotels 2026 and a Condé Nast Traveler top-50 pick for 2025, The Ritz-Carlton, Astana is the anchor luxury address in Kazakhstan's capital. Located within the city's first upscale multi-use complex on Dostyk Street, it runs three distinct restaurants, including a venue from acclaimed Russian group White Rabbit Family, alongside a full ESPA and Valmont spa programme.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Featured in the Tatler Best Hotels Asia-Pacific 2025 list under the boutique category, The Veil occupies a striking address on Qadyrghali Zhalayyri Street in central Astana. The property sits among the Kazakh capital's most architecturally ambitious new hotels, positioning itself as a design-led alternative to the international chain options that dominate the city's upper tier.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Donatello Boutique Hotel occupies Dostyk Avenue, Almaty's most address-conscious corridor, and holds the 2025 World Travel Awards title for Kazakhstan's Leading Boutique Hotel. Against a city where large international chains set the reference point for business travellers, Donatello positions itself at the smaller, design-led end of the market, where scale is a feature rather than a limitation.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Astana's luxury business hotel scene is anchored by a handful of international names, and Hilton Astana has earned recognition at both regional and country level, taking Regional Winner for Luxury Hotel and Country Winner for Luxury City Business Hotel. Located on Heydar Aliyev Street in the capital's administrative core, it sits squarely in the tier that corporate and diplomatic travelers reach for first when the stakes are high.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Tenir Eco Hotel sits at the base of Shymbulak Mountain Resort, 25 kilometres above Almaty in the Zailiysky Alatau range, and holds a 2025 MICHELIN Selected distinction. The property positions itself within the eco-lodging tier of Central Asian mountain hospitality, where low-impact design and alpine proximity define the offer rather than urban-style amenities.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty occupies the upper floors of Esentai Tower, positioning it among the highest addresses in Central Asia's financial and cultural capital. The property holds a Star Wine List recognition for 2026, signalling a drinks programme that goes beyond standard hotel fare. For travellers arriving in Almaty with serious expectations around food, wine, and altitude, this is where the conversation starts.
Kazakhstan
Selected entries from the current guide for Kazakhstan.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The first wine bar in Central Asia to operate as a proper wine establishment, Àgorà Wine and Deli on Kabanbay Batyr Street holds a position in Almaty's drinks scene that no other venue occupies. Part bar, part deli, it draws a crowd serious about the glass in front of them. For anyone tracking where Central Asia's wine culture is heading, this is the reference point.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
French 42 is Almaty's specialist gin bar, stocking dozens of gins alongside a classic-led cocktail programme in a space designed around the mood of Casablanca. Named in Tatler Asia-Pacific's Best Bars 2025, it occupies a distinct position in Kazakhstan's emerging bar scene, a room built around a single spirit category and the cinematic atmosphere that surrounds it.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Provino on Kenesary Street is one of the few wine bars in Astana that predates the country's wine renaissance, giving it a historical position that most newer venues in Kazakhstan cannot claim. It opened before the wine culture wave reached Central Asia, which lends it a different kind of authority than the establishments that followed the trend. A reference point for anyone tracing how serious drinking culture took root in the region.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
A premium wine establishment in Almaty's Golden Square district, Champagne positions itself at the upper end of the city's wine bar scene with a focus on rare bottles and serious curation. For a city where quality wine venues remain scarce, it occupies a distinct tier, drawing a crowd that treats the list as the main event rather than an afterthought.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Occupying a corner of Almaty's historic Central Post Office building on Bogenbai Batyr Street, Nuala brings a considered bar program to one of the city's most architecturally charged addresses. The name itself carries meaning, situating the venue within a broader conversation about identity and place that Almaty's emerging bar scene is only beginning to have. For a city still defining its cocktail culture, it represents a significant reference point.
Astana, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Selected entries from the current guide for Kazakhstan.
No venues found.
