Food, glorious food

We are within a couple days of returning home so I thought it would be nice to adore the food we've enjoyed for the last 5 weeks. It's amazing how little fast food a city needs. People here are slim, healthy and live to be old old old, even though they smoke and drink heavily.

Fahn Shan (the Chinese Place) - as close to downtown as you can get in Kostanai, the Chinese place has an English menu and the gent who served us on two occasions spoke basic English too. The best menu items are spicy pork and sweet-and-sour chicken. Atmosphere is authentic, and it's clearly popular with the locals.

Nautilus - Cool décor and good food, if you can figure out the menu. It's challenging to read because it's not just Cyrillic - it's italic, which makes it difficult. Myaso (grilled meat) is the word to know when ordering - it comes out as satay-style beef cubes on sticks, rather than shashlik, but it's tasty and fresh. Avoid the salads at all costs - we got food poisoning from one of those "prawns" or the soggy lettuce it came with.

Dolce Vita - The pizza cafe popular with kids of all ages seems to be managed by Miss Lena and her boyfriend Dennis. Their pizza is excellent and we've eaten Pizza Romana almost every other day while here - that's a LOT of pizza. Their tomato soup is hearty; ravioli stuffed with mushrooms was terrific; chicken with ham on rigatoni was salty and garlicky, which was good for us but might be strong for some. Location: 72 Al Farabi near the university.

Traktir (The Russian Pub) - is another hit with us. We love their chicken dishes and mashed potatoes. Service is attentive and the other customers make for interesting people-watching. Salads are safe to eat and worth trying, as long as you like mayonnaise.

"Assol" - The restaurant named for a character in a romantic children's fairy tale, has a handwritten menu and is open for lunch only. It's the cheapest, best food we had in Kostanai at 500 tenge for two. Goulash was tangy and hearty. Plov (pilaf) had plenty of lamb in it, and was hearty and filling. Be prepared to read handwritten Russian with no English spoken here. We think it's a company lunch room so the atmosphere is kind of institutional but clean.

Kostanai Tourist Hotel Restaurant - Has an English menu, good service and a decent selection of wines. Our food was excellent and we had a nice view of the park - not many other restaurants actually view the Central Park from a window. Inexpensive with very good service.

Bavarian Cafe - Is a little bit West on Al Farabi street, and has terrific interior design, very attentive service and great food, with an English menu. But prices are high enough that we've only been once, though we plan to go again tonight. Beef covered with ground nuts and spices was very good. Nice wine list.

Mango Cafe - At the West end of Al Farabi near the train station, Mango Cafe has good food and a nice cafe atmosphere. Excellent people watching, so don't be in a hurry. Our favorite dishes are the lamb again - "Kazbek" lamb is grilled with pomegranate seeds, and other dishes are similarly creative and filling. Not expensive.

The Korean Restaurant - Other than the condiments and the owner's family, there was not much authentically Korean about this restaurant, but our lamb and chicken dishes were good. Actually the grilled lamb was excellent. The pork chop was weirdly covered in cheese and mayonnaise, but underneath it was a good cut of meat. The decor is new and bright and clean, and service very attentive.

Goldfish Cafe - it's close to the Aidana Plaza Hotel, and has an English menu, but no staff understands English. Their plov (pilaf) is good, and their chicken was good too. They offer breakfast - with pancakes - but we didn't have a chance to try it.

Knights Castle - One of a handful of actual Restaurants we went to - with higher prices but there's a floor show (dancers). They have an English menu and many items were appealing, but they got our order wrong and the lamb dish was mostly fat, not lean. The decor inside is unbelievable, it feels like a Disney attraction. The dancers were interesting but not amazing.

Baron Munchausen - We expected a more Germanic cuisine, but it was generally Russian pub food at this interesting theme restaurant. The English menu is an interesting read - each menu item is named with a little lie or joke of some kind. Salads were tasty and creative. Our entrees were really delicious and attractively presented.

444 - In the remote countryside East of town, this ranchero had a live band and dance show. The shashlik (kebabs) were the main attraction, and were delicous. I would suggest ordering a few extra skewers because the portions weren't much. The salads were fresh and tasty and the service very attentive. The show was fun and well choreographed, considering where we were.

What there's not - No McDonald's or Burger King, or Wendy's or any Western franchises at all, for that matter. No Starbucks or 7-Eleven. And we haven't missed them at all.