Latest reviews from Almaty
| 84 /100 Hoper's bar #2 (Bar) KUNAEV ST 49 “Fairly central location just around the corner from Zenkov's Cathedral. Not a large place, but a great selection of (mostly) Russian craft beer (as there isn't much local craft beer yet). 20 tap of which 7 or 8 was their own and most of the rest was Russian craft, except for Pilsner Urquell and a Belgian one, I think. English speaking staff and excellent service - was always offered to taste the beer before i bought even thou they have fairly small servings too. Their own beers were quite tasty and decent too and altogether this was probably the best beer place i visited during my trip. A must visit (at least one of the locations, didn't check out the other one, but that seemed to have even better selection).
They also sold bottles for taking away (home). Didn't try any food here, but the only negative thing I can say about the place was that there wasn't a patio, so I had to sit inside.“ |
| 50 /100 Pinta (Dostyk Avenue) (Bar) PROSPEKT DOSTYK 52 “Convenient location for us as we stayed at the hotel (but the entrance from inside was closed - so we had to go out and up). Not the most attentive staff, but fair enough. Beer was also fair enough - they had "regular" beers and "craft" beer - both brewed by Line Brew. Tried a couple, but nothing too impressive. The food was quite okay. Certainly not a must visit, but might be worth checking out if one is in the area (very central location, btw.)“ |
| 48 /100 187 FURMANOV STREET “Quite cool place with a large grill inside. Their own beer wasn't too exciting, it was just fair enough - only premium lager was available when we visited. Several common Belgian beers too, but nothing interesting here for us. The food was excellent, especially the horse and lamb shashlyks. Worth checking out.“ |
| 52 /100 71 SHEVCHENKO STREET “German style brewpub with tasty food and quite decent, German style beers. Fairly central location and service was better than average. Nothing to go way out of you way for, but worth checking out. Pleasant patio for the hot summer days.“ |
| 18 /100 Almaty Airport Bar (Bar) ALMATY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 2B MAILIN STREET “Not really any craft here, but at least a fair selection for domestic lagers. Goes almost without saying that this is not a must visit, but a place that one can kill some time and possibly get a new tick. Staff was more unfriendly than friendly and the whole atmosphere is also not very great.“ |
| 60 /100 Bochonok (Nazarbayeva) (Bar) NAZARBAYEVA 193 “Visited the one at Nazarbayev Ave 193. Tasty food and tried only one of their own beer, but that was quite okay. Large terrace outside and rather friendly and attentive staff. Worth checking out.“ |
| 76 /100 Hoper's bar #2 (Bar) KUNAEV ST 49 “This review is for Hopers on Kunaeva street but they seem to be pretty identical. This is my number one recommendation for (craft) beer in Almaty. (The only other recommendable place being Pivovaroff). There are 20 taps with 7 or so local beers. And the others are the big names from Russia (AF Brew etc.). Smallest glass was (I think) 0.25l, so reasonable ticking is possible. Staff is friendly and speaks English. And if you are ever bored, there are hundreds of bottles in the fridge (seems to be very Russian dominated but still...). Don't miss this place. And try the Shaherazada stout.“ |
| 66 /100 Pivnoy Magazin Volna (Beer Store) МИНИСТЕРСТВО ИНОСТРАННЫХ ДЕЛ, PANFILOV ST 65 “The only store in Almaty where I found bottled craft beer. I would say around 5-10 bottles of local interesting beer. The rest is russian and macros. So worth a visit if you want to have something local for takeaway. Apart from that, it's the usual kazakh store. Also a huge selection of smoked fish...“ |
| 26 /100 Shtab (Bar) 132 ZHELTOKSAN STREET (OPPOSITE AMBASSADOR HOTEL) “This place can be avoided without missing much. A huge number of taps but not a single beer that is better than what you can buy in any supermarket. Pale lagers, maybe some dark lagers. Some russian. Very limited information on what EXACTLY the beer is you are drinking. And a really weird style of decoration. It is cheap however. My advice: go to Hoper's (not so far) or Pivovaroff (a bit away) instead.“ |
| 70 /100 71 SHEVCHENKO STREET “This place is definitely worth a visit. (There are other rather high rated places in Almaty that are much less interesting.) It's always fun to see far away countries try to imitate German-style beer houses. Dirndl and Apfelstrudel really went the extra mile this time. Food is good but also a little more expensive than somewhere else. English communication was possible. And most importantly the beer is not bad and has character.“ |
| 42 /100 187 FURMANOV STREET “Tried to go in for a quick beer, but was told that because all tables were reserved (even though it was mostly empty inside) we couldn't stop.“ |
| 100 /100 GAGARINA 93A “25 taps of local & imported craft beers.“ |
| 64 /100 SAYRAN 1 “Not bad beer. Very tasty dishes!“ |
| 58 /100 Pinta (Dostyk Avenue) (Bar) PROSPEKT DOSTYK 52 “One of seven Pintas. This one can be found on the second floor of Hotel Kazakhstan. It has all the Pinta beers on tap, all of which are made by Line Brew. Nothing really stands out in the beers - there’s an unfiltered, two lagers, a tmavy, an amber lager. Gets very crowded on Friday nights.“ |
| 56 /100 SAYRAN 1 “Previously known as Ali Baba. Very spacious Georgian restaurant with their own brewing operation, but unfortunately only two beers available - HBH Svetloe and HBH Nefiltrovannoe. The place was empty when I visited, but every so often people turned up buy several litres of their beer to take away.“ |
| 52 /100 111/48A FURMANOV STREET “English pub-type place. They only have one of their own beers on tap as of summer 2017 - Soho Pilsner. The other beers are from Europe. Staff don’t rush to take your order, even if the place is half empty. On the weekends they have a cover band that performs English-language hits. Overall not a bad place, but a shame that they only have one in-house beer.“ |
| 50 /100 33 KURMANGAZY STREET “Small and quite pricey restaurant serving Korean food, pizza, and shish kebabs, among other things. Around six beers on tap including two of their own. Only one was available when I was there - Firmennoe Svetloe. Wi-Fi wasn’t working and they weren’t taking bank cards. Don’t think this is actually a brewpub.“ |
| 40 /100 Almaty Airport Bar (Bar) ALMATY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 2B MAILIN STREET “Small selection of heavily overpriced beers made by Efes - local and international brands (perhaps earlier the selection was bigger). A beer costs 2,500 tenge here. In the city’s shops they cost around 200 tenge. The sandwiches are ok.“ |
| 54 /100 Shtab (Bar) 132 ZHELTOKSAN STREET (OPPOSITE AMBASSADOR HOTEL) “Definitely not the best beer place in Almaty now. The beer selection is pretty big, but it’s mostly pale lagers from the big brewers, plus their own beers. Not much in terms of ambiance - just a couple of smallish rooms under lighting that is way too bright. And there are some pictures of weapons on the walls.... It is cheap, however.“ |
| 82 /100 Public (Публика) (Bar) 104 BOGENBAI BATYR ST. “Bochonok has a number of locations in Almaty. This review is for the one on 104 Bogenbai Batyr Street. I think this is the best beer place in Almaty. They have 14 beers on tap including three of their own - Zhivoe, Svetloe, and Beloe. The rest are big name stuff. But the biggest draw is the bottle selection - more than 30 beers by Bakunin, Mikkeller, Rogue and others. As Kazakhstan doesn’t have any craft yet, Russian offerings are the closest you can get. The place itself is quite stylish, barmen are friendly and service is good.“ |
| 58 /100 187 FURMANOV STREET “Visited on 9 June 2017. I was on the spacious and comfortable summer veranda; didn’t venture inside. In terms of beer the selection is small: around ten mostly decent Belgians (Stella, Leffe, Chimay, Pavel Kwak, Tripel Karmeliet) and, unfortunately only one of their own beers (Line Brew Premium). I assume the rest have been retired since they aren’t even listed in the menu. Expensive compared to other options.“ |
| 60 /100 Ramstore (Furmanov) (Grocery Store) 226 FURMANOV STREET “Big supermarket with a large selection of Kazah macro brews, from Efes and Pervjy Pivzavod, plus three or four imports from Germany.“ |
| 58 /100 71 SHEVCHENKO STREET “Really cool old brew system set up with large copper vats. The decor plays off the old Soviet farm image-- it’s well done. Three in-house brews when I went-- light, dark, and wheat. Dark was my favorite. Service was fine. Didn’t try the food. Live music on a Thursday night. All around a comfortable place to sit and have a few beers. One of my favorite beer bars in Almaty.“ |
| 50 /100 169 GOGOL STREET “Mediocre. Four in-house beers on tap, which is a lot for the area, plus a few bottles. I only tried the unfiltered and was not a fan. I’ll head back and give it another chance sometime.“ |
| 42 /100 Almaty Airport Bar (Bar) ALMATY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 2B MAILIN STREET “Catching one of the flights to Europe that departs between 2am and 5am leaves one thinking the Almaty Airport Departure Lounge Bar is the last place in Kazakhstan to stop for a beer. Lets say I wouldn’t go there otherwise unless I was in the departure lounge. Getting through airport security to grab a beer is far more difficult than the many other good bar options in Almaty.
So if you’re on the way out of Kz grab a fresh beer from the international lounge. If you’re on a domestic flight there’s a bar in that lounge as well. Watch the people, watch the big LG tv in the center, or work on your cyrillic.
By the way, given a choice in Kazakhstan between imported beer or local production, go local. The unfiltered beers are a real treat and somehow taste hearty. There are many good local beers to choose from, just ask for the best Kazakh beer and go with the flow. I’m pretty sure that’s something you won’t find in Europe or America.“ |
| 68 /100 187 FURMANOV STREET “Called "The Belge" in crew parlance, this grill (open charcoal fire!) has always served some Belgian beers. Now they brew their own beers as well. The pilsner has come of very well, nicely crisp and bitter and the wheat is good as well. They even make a karmeliet now, but haven’t tried it yet. The beers are served in their own linebrew glassware as well.
Food is excellent (try the horse shaslik) and for post-Soviet standards service is attentive and friendly.
Outdoor seating available in summer.“ |
| 42 /100 Almaty Airport Bar (Bar) ALMATY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 2B MAILIN STREET “Almaty international airport doesn’t have much going for it so if you’re stuck there it’s good to know that there’s a small bar in a corner of the departure lounge where they serve draught beer and have a decent selection of bottles in the fridge, including some Kazakhstan beers which I haven’t been able to add to the distribution list because of my deficiency in deciphering the Cyrillic lettering (although I’m working on it).
(Visited 21 September 2013).“ |
| 56 /100 111/48A FURMANOV STREET “Well established, bar/restaurant/club.
Has nice outdoor patio, veranda (with strong Beatles theme) and pub area inside with pretty good live music. Recently they have started brewing their own brand: SOHO oh! darling (light), SOHO come together (unfiltered pilsner), hard day’s night (caramel). Plenty of usual Europeans too, with Hofbräu and Fuller’s as pleasant surprise.
Food is varied and pretty good. Service is a bit of challenge because of the language problem. Good place to start the night.“ |
| 70 /100 187 FURMANOV STREET “One of two Line brew pub/restaurants in Almaty (the other is called Line brew mix) two line brew beers on tap when I visited (Plus Leffe, Stella and Hoegaarden) A Standard Lager and a Wheat beer, both good especially the wheat beer served in branded glass wear.The food is excellent and the Shashlik exceptional, service attentive.“ |
| 70 /100 64 PANFILOV STREET “Very good restaurant that also brew their own beer. Only the Pils was available on my visit and was a good example of a clean crisp Pilsener. Food is exceptional (especially the Beshbarmak) a little more expensive than some establishments in town, excellent service.“ |
| 68 /100 Ramstore (Furmanov) (Grocery Store) 226 FURMANOV STREET “Large supermarket selling a large good range of Kazakh and Russian bottled beers along with some european also.“ |
| 68 /100 169 GOGOL STREET “Nice restaurant brewing their own beer, usually four on tap, original, unfiltered, light and wheat. Tried the wheat and unfiltered, both ok and in good condition. Service was a little slow although they were very busy the night I visited. Food very good.“ |
| 82 /100 Shtab (Bar) 132 ZHELTOKSAN STREET (OPPOSITE AMBASSADOR HOTEL) “The best beer bar in Almaty, over 20 taps serving a range of Kazakh and Russian beers including Rudnenskoe, Zhigulevskoe, Derbes un filtered, Shymkent, Baltika no7 with a couple of europeans also. Food good standard Kazakh pub food including Chechil (a type of hard smoked cheese strings) and Plov. Good prompt service. Essential if in Almaty. Right opposite the Ambassador Hotel.“ |
| 70 /100 71 SHEVCHENKO STREET “Large German style brew pub set on four floors,the brewing kit is visible in the entrance lobby. Three beers available when I visited, a Wheat beer, Dunkel and Pils style, all good especially the Dunkel. Good food and attentive service.“ |
