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Ossé Optical Shop Address: Toktogula 86 (corner of Toktogula and Sovietskaya) Phone: +996-312-662-763 Today I have become four-eyed. I bought eyeglasses in Bishkek. It was on my list of things to do before heading home to Washington in 48 hours, along with buying a kazan (a cast-iron pot) to make plov, and kalpaks (Kyrgyz felt […]
Furusato Japanese Dining Kitchen Address: Bokunbaev St (btwn Logvinenko & Razzakov) Hours: Weekdays 11:30am-10pm, Saturday 5pm-10pm, Sunday Closed If there’s one thing most in Bishkek can agree on, it’s that restaurant service here sucks. There is no sense of urgency, no sense of accommodation, no desire to please, definitely no smiles, and an overall attitude […]
This past weekend, I visited Osh, the “southern capital” of Kyrgyzstan. I’ve always wanted to go because I heard the 620-kilometer Bishkek-Osh Highway, the only main road connecting Russia with the south of Central Asia, was gorgeous. I also wanted to see “the south.” People always talk about Kyrgyzstan’s cultural, linguistic, and political “north-south divide,” […]
Restaurant 134 Address: Southeast corner of Axunbaeva and Yunusalieva (formerly Karl Marx St.) Hours: 9:00am-11:00pm Prices: Dog stirfy = 150 som ($3.13), dog soup = 120 som ($2.50) It is well known that there is a significant Korean population in Kyrgyzstan today because Stalin deported Koreans living in the Russian Far East during World War […]
One of the most bizarre restaurants I have ever been to in Kyrgyzstan is called “Restaurant Hawaii,” a dining destination outside of Bishkek in a small town called Tokmok. For most people, this restaurant is one of three reasons to visit Tokmok, an otherwise sleepy, dilapidated, still-Soviet-looking town. The other two reasons to visit are […]
Chaikhana Adish-Ata Address: Nekrasova Street (West Bishkek) Hours: 8:00am-11:00pm Prices: 60 som ($1.25) per samsa I have always admired the “one cook, one dish” tradition. To paraphrase food critic Anthony Bourdain, this is the tradition where one lone artisan, or family of artisans, makes the same wonderful dish year after year, generation after generation, and […]
The best parts of Kyrgyzstan summers are weekend getaways to Lake Issyk Kul, one of the world’s deepest and highest lakes. Issyk Kul, which means “hot lake” in Kyrgyz, is the ultimate beach destination. It’s “hot” because it never freezes – but that is due to its salt content, not because it’s actually hot. Lake […]
Ozgocho Beshbarmak Café Address: Hекрасова 9А (south side of Osh Bazaar) Hours: 7:30am-11:00pm Prices: 165-195 som for beshbarmak This past weekend, I checked out a restaurant that offers 12 variations of one of Kyrgyzstan’s most beloved dishes. What might that be, you ask? Here’s a hint: It’s noodly, meaty, and eaten with the hands. If […]
One of the best parts of living in Bishkek is its cuisine. With over 80 ethnicities represented in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek offers a smorgasbord when it comes to answering the question, “What’s for dinner?” This week I bring to you the wonderful world of Dungan cuisine. But first, who are the Dungans? The Dungans, also known […]
The latest online video to have gone viral is “What Kind of Asian Are You?”, a comedy sketch co-directed by David Neptune and Ken Tanaka for YouTube’s Comedy Week extravaganza, a program that features live performances and video debuts from some of the top names in comedy. In the video, a Korean-American woman is asked […]
You know it’s summer in Bishkek when refreshment stands pop up all over the city. At least, that’s how I understand it. What a welcome change from the gray, wintry Bishkek I first knew when I arrived in the dead of winter of January. Kyrgyzstan’s capital is now brightened with striped umbrellas, the chatter of […]
Jalal-Abad Chaikhana Address: Togolok Moldo 54/a Meals for ~$3-6 Hours: 8am- 11pm Telephone: +996 312 61 00 83 If I had out-of-town visitors this summer, I would take them to Jalal-Abad Chaikhana, a teahouse in Bishkek named after the central-western Kyrgyzstan province of the same name. Jalal-Abad Province is located about a 10-hour drive from […]
If you want to better understand a country’s government, study its culture. (Если хочешь ближе узнать историю государства, изучай его культурe.) In that spirit, I sat down with one of Kyrgyzstan’s top experts on the most important spheres of Kyrgyz national culture — the art of storytelling. Duishaliev Kamchibek Sharshenovich is a charming music professor […]
Adanali Café Address: First floor of Moto Shopping Complex. Corner of Toktogul and Sovietskaya Streets Hours: Open Everyday, 9am-9pm Cost of Signature Dish “Adana Kebab” = 165 Kyrgyz Som ($3.50) You know you’ve found your favorite eatery when you’ve eaten there three times in one week — by yourself. Yep, that was me last week […]
Seven Things to Love in Almaty By Eirene Busa For those looking for a spring weekend getaway in Central Asia (and who isn’t?), book a trip to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and previous capital. Almaty is clean, modern, full of spacious, well-manicured parks, and it has a stunning backdrop of the snow-covered Ala-Too Mountains (or, […]
Nil Cafe Address: Corner of Shopukova and Zhibekzholu (Behind the Bishkek Circus) Dancing Hours: 10:30pm-5:00am Cover Charge: Sunday-Thursdays: Free, Friday-Saturday: 100 som This past weekend, I went to one of my favorite weekend haunts, a Tajik-owned place called Nil Café. It was dance time. I needed to forget about my busy academic schedule, my impending […]
This past week, I took a break from Kyrgyzstan and spent a few days traveling through Turkmenistan, visiting the cities of Ashgabad, Mary, Merv, Geok-Tepe, and Turkmenabad. This trip was arranged by The School of Russian and Asian Studies and The London School of Bishkek for participants of The Central Asian Studies study abroad program. […]
Sierra Café Hours: Weekdays 7:30am-11:00pm, Friday and Saturday open all night Address: Manas 57/1, between Toktogul and Kiev (left of Russian Embassy) Telephone: 0312-31-15-06-06 Website: http://www.sierra.kg/en/cafe Ever notice how when you go abroad, all of a sudden your eating habits change and you start craving things you never craved before? I do. For me, when […]
Hoban Restaurant/Кафе “Хобан” ул. Фрунзе, 539 Price: Lunch Buffet = 250 som Tel: (0312) 32-31-47 Buffet hours: 11:30am-2:30pm weekdays Restaurant hours: 9:00am-9:00pm everyday Back home in the District of Columbia, one of my favorites eateries is a small Indian grocery store/café that offers a $6 buffet. Yep, you heard me right, a $6 buffet. And […]
Kyrgyz Film Showing at Cosmopark Movie Theater in Bishkek Director and Producer: Ruslan Akun Release Date: February 14, 2013 Genre: Social Drama, Comedy Cost of Movie Ticket: 130 som For those still nursing roses (or wounded hearts) from this past Valentines’ Day, fear not: Love is still in the air — that is, if you […]