We went out for a nice meal this evening. We took a stroll through the park, over the river Ishim, and then through to the area near the main square. Ali BaBa is an out door restaurant, with cover from any rain or wind that is blighting the evening. Tonight’s service was pretty excellent – the waitress was really attentive, to the point of asking if we needed anything when she noticed us looking around the restaurant. Compare this to the attitude you find in some places in Astana, where a snooty waitress will make that she is doing you a favour by wasting any time at your table at all, and you can probably understand why we were impressed. Perhaps the camera caught her attention, and she wanted to leave a good impression?
Anyway, onto the photos…
Irina had Besbarmak (a horse meat and pasta dish)
Click the link below to see the other photos
I had the chicken in a cheese and pineapple sauce. The menu didn’t mention the peppers or cauliflower, but as they didn’t over power the other tastes, and were easily avoided, no loss there
Here we have Irina smiling away. Even tastier than the food 😉
I normally manage to avoid photos of me, but Irina insisted. My humble apologies 🙂
Finally we have some shots of the restaurant itself, with the bar, looking towards the front, then to the side, where you can see one of the side sections. These have the traditional Kazakh low table, and cushions on the floor, instead of the Western/Russian tables & chairs.
Apologies for the pictures – I’ve photoshopped them as much as my meagre skills allow, but as I kept the flash off (I didn’t want to disturb the other diners, or scream out I’M FOREIGN any more than I do naturally), the lighting was at a minimum.
July 18th, 2010 10:59 pm
My aunt knows the guy who owns Ali Baba and a couple more cafes/restaurants. She says that the waiters are sent to a special school, where they train for about 3 months and receive a certificate before working in Ali Baba other places.
Even most western restaurants don’t have this level of service.
July 20th, 2010 9:25 pm
I’d argue that silver service restaurants/waiters have to be fully trained, and that Ali Ba Ba isn’t exactly in the same category (and price range 🙂 ) as somewhere like Cafe Shymkent, however you’re right, the service there tends to be very good, compared to many places here in Astana. I recently encountered some very good service at Pivavarov, hoping to post pics and details soon.
July 20th, 2010 9:52 pm
I’d avoid any place with the name Shymkent. I’m sure you are aware of the kind of people that come from that city. 😉
Even thought I’m a citizen of this country, I’ve only ever been in Almaty and Astana; and I barely know the cities. Can you give me the location of Pivovarov?
July 20th, 2010 11:12 pm
Cafe Shymkent is OK – just a greasy spoon, cheap filling place. I’ve not been so often since they smartened it up, but I always used to worry about the aquarium they had with multiple cracks in the glass. Worrying about the fish that is, not a bit of water on the floor! Oh, and I’ve a friend who spent a while living in Shymkent, I’m sure he’d protect it’s honour if he was around 🙂 Mind you, he has a wife from that area, so perhaps he is biased.
Re. location of Pivavarov, check the front page, you can see a link to a map there – http://foursquare.com/venue/6147338 . It is only approximate, as I’m not sure how many GPS satellites my phone was locked onto at the time. If you get to the local area, it is on the crossroads almost, below a bank(?), in a basement. German style keller, with sausages, sea food and beer. Proper post on it coming up soon.
I too know very little of this country, a little bit around Astana, a few short trips to Almaty and Petrapavlovsk (sp?).
July 21st, 2010 12:40 am
lol That place is literally 3 mins away from me. I live right on that corner 🙂
I heard Petrapavlovsk is nice (mostly Russians there).