Ashgabat - Post Report Question and Answers
What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
Turkmen and Turkish food dominate the market, so brace yourself for that. Beef is remarkably good and there are some very popular steak and burger joints. Other than that, there isn't a ton of variety. Chinese, sushi, and pizza are also typical to see on restaurant menus, though quality varies WIDELY. - Jan 2024
We had a rotation of about 6 restaurants that we frequented pretty regularly. Our favorite was the Cafe Asia (chinese), but there was also a good Turkish place, the Italian restuarant in Nusay Hotel, and Melbourne burger. The main issue was finding restaurants that would accept USD. - Dec 2020
Great burger restaurant, chinese food, and lots of steak houses and shashlik restaurants. Many of the restaurants deliver. I haven't done delivery, but many do. Plenty of restaurants to choose from for lunch or dinner. - Mar 2019
I like a very good Chinese restaurant near my apartment. I also like the restaurants near the embassy and our neighborhoods. - Jun 2018
There really aren't fast food options in this country. Food quality at restaurants is incredibly spotty and food borne illness is EXTREMELY common. Hep A & E and typhoid are pretty common too. You can find some street food for about US$1 (risky) and then some restaurants that could be US$50/person (much safer). - Feb 2016
There really aren't any fast food restaurants in town. One or two local attempts (burgers and chicken) have popped up but are of somewhat dubious food safety standards. Again, the Turkmen aren't a big "let's go out and paint the town red" sort of folk, so the restaurant scene is pretty one note, with the several serving Turkish food the most heavily trafficked by expats. There is a single Chinese restaurant in town, a pork chop place, and a Mongolian/Korean grill restaurant that entered the scene in the last year. You can get French-inspired food at the French-run Oguzkent/Sofitel hotel. The Turkmen cuisine is basically meat on a stick over fire, plov (rice) and lentil soup with baklava and tea for dessert. Soup costs US$2, entrees US$7-15. Tea to end the meal is usually free. - Jul 2014
Fast food? There isn't one fast food restaurant in the entire country! There are a couple of Turkish-style restaurants (if you can call them that) and lots of small cafes that serve shashlik. - Oct 2012
The best pork chops in the world are available in Ashgabat (one particular cafe). Plenty of good Turkish style restaurants, one pretty good Chinese restaurant and shashlik cafes, but western style restaurants tend to be expensive and the quality often disappoints. - Mar 2012
