Restaurants in Mongolia
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Hazara
This North Indian restaurant has been serving up delectable dishes for more than a decade, always with the same winning menu and colourful décor. Each table is covered by a colourful samiyan (Rajasthani tent), so it's easy to escape to India for an hour or two while you dine on excellent murgh makhni, naan basket and saffron rice. In terms of pure taste, quality of service, freshness of food and consistency, this is arguably the best restaurant in town. Hazara is located behind the Wrestling Palace.
reviewed
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Silk Road Bar & Grill
Owner and chef Enkhee (aka Eddie) is Mongolia's original restaurateur. Silk Road, his third restaurant, features lots of cosy couches and bas-relief scenes of the ancient Silk Road from China to Europe. The menu reflects the name of the place, and you'll find sprinklings of Indian, Central Asian and Mediterranean treats, including shish kebabs, chicken tikka and pork gyros (pitta with meat and vegetables). You can try a sampling of these at the Sunday smorgasbord (between 12:30 and 15:00).
reviewed
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C
Millie's Café
Drop by Millie's at noon any day of the week and you'll find the place packed with consultants, aid workers and journalists sipping excellent shakes and gobbling steak sandwiches and lemon pie. The restaurant completely changes for dinner time; tablecloths are spread out, candles are lit and a gourmet menu appears. Dinner is a fusion of Mediterranean, Cuban and South African cuisines; presentation is perfect and taste impeccable.
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BD's Mongolian Barbeque
This is the first American chain restaurant to open a franchise in Mongolia - ironically, it's not American cuisine but Mongolian barbecue. Despite the staged atmosphere, Mongolians seem to like it and it's certainly a filling option if you're half-starved after a countryside trip. Profits from the restaurant go to the Mongolian Youth Development Federation (MYDF).
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Chinggis Club
Micro-brewery serving some of the best beer in the country. There's also a filling meat-and-potatoes menu designed by a German chef.
reviewed
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Sakura
A great place for Japanese is the restaurant Sakura.
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California
One of Ulaanbaatar's most popular restaurants, this place has an array of eclectic menu items, including a Thai steak salad with Caesar dressing, authentic chicken tacos and shorlog (shish kebab with cream sauce). All of these are recommended. There is a huge variety of food to choose from and the portions are generous and heavy on the calories (this place is a real diet killer). It's also one of the few places in town that is open for breakfast.
reviewed
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Narya Café
The Latin music playing in the background, ochre-painted walls and contemporary artwork make for a pleasant sight when entering this laid-back café. The menu offers reasonably priced sandwiches, soups and home-baked muffins, plus hot dishes such as a 'sloppy dorj' (the Mongolian version of a sloppy joe). Food quality can be inconsistent.
reviewed
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El Latino
Cuban restaurant with colourful décor. However, the chef is from Belarus so there are also some tasty Russian dishes.
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Ananda Café & Meditation Centre
Enjoy herbal teas and some excellent vegetarian dishes made from rice, buckwheat, tofu, lentils and other natural products. Vegetarian buuz and khuushuur are also available. Profits from the café go to supporting a local orphanage, the Lotus Children's Centre, and as the name suggests, yoga classes are available, as are vegetarian cooking classes.
reviewed
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Café Amsterdam
At the time of writing this place was set to open as Mongolia first literary café. The Dutch owners have promised café au lait, pannekoeken (crepes) and homemade cheese (in season), as well as shelves of books that you can borrow, trade or buy. Poetry readings and guest speakers are expected so check the chalkboard for upcoming events.
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Taliin Mongol
Once you've eaten at this delicious restaurant Mongolian food will never taste the same again. Walk inside to find walls covered with tasteful art and tamga (traditional livestock brands used by herders), as well as a miniature felt ger with faux fire and furniture. Start your meal with a 'soup of power' (flavoured with aarts, a type of sour whey), and then try any number of Mongol treats, including grilled yak cheese with yogurt, Buriat pancakes, lamb khorkhog (steamed meat)traditional Kazakh horse sausage and even boiled lamb's head! Wash these gourmet delights down with a glass of camel milk or sea buckthorn wine. It's located on the east side of the Mongolian GIA…
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Stupa Café
This very charming café is decked out with orange ger furniture and photos of camel trains. It also has a shelf full of English-language books and magazines, which you can read while enjoying a sandwich, coffee or tea (you can also check the books out against a deposit). It's also a great place if you have kids as there are toys to keep tots occupied. Ask about seasonal treats; in late summer you can buy Khövsgöl berries mixed with tarag (yogurt). It's part of the FPMT Buddhist centre and profits go towards supporting the restoration of Buddhism in Mongolia.
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Chez Bernard
The most popular backpacker hangout in Ulaanbaatar, this Belgian-owned café has European breakfast platters crammed with fruit, cheese, yogurt, eggs, bacon and toast. Food quality is somewhat hit-and-miss and the bakery items are overpriced (around Tug1500 to around Tug2500), but the place does have atmosphere, especially in summer when you can sit on the deck. There's a noticeboard for organising trips to the countryside or swapping used books. It also sells new and used camping gear.
reviewed
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CCCP
The Beatles song 'Back in the USSR' will spring to mind when you enter this kitsch Soviet time warp. Meals include old Russian favourites such as pelmeni (dumpling soup) and borsch, plus other treats from the former Soviet world, such as Georgian stewed meat, Uzbek manti (lamb dumplings) and Kyrgyz pancakes. It has a great atmosphere, with pictures of the old Soviet republic capitals, statues of Lenin and covers of old Russian magazines.
reviewed
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Mokran Pyongyang Restaurant
Offers a mix of Japanese and Korean dishes. Sushi is half-price here on weekends but the real reason to come here is to experience the 'Friendship Cultural Centre of North Korea'. There are paintings of North Korea on the walls and you can watch North Korean DVDs while you eat (ask to see the Mass Games DVD). It's a unique chance to speak with the North Koreans who run the place and well-worth visiting if you have an interest in the hermit kingdom.
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Michele's French Bakery
A popular haunt among savvy Ulaanbaatar expatriates, this bakery and coffee shop serves an array of reasonably priced treats, including apple strudel and chocolate croissants. You can also enjoy panini sandwiches and crepes to around while listening to a great music playlist. Coffee and other hot drinks are available; no alcohol is served but the owner Alex allows you to bring in a bottle of wine or beer to round off your meal.
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Veranda
One of the most popular places in town, this Italian place excels at meat dishes, including a nice lamb roll with blackcurrant sauce on a bed of greens. The house speciality is the Veranda, a tender, flavourful grilled beef tenderloin that goes well with one of the Italian wines on offer. The atmosphere is very comfortable; rather than chairs you sit on couches, and there are fine views of the Choijin Lama Temple Museum.
reviewed
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Khaan Buuz
This is a nice Khaan Buuz, west from the Flower Center on Baga Toiruu west. But there are dozens of Mongolian fast-food restaurants and they can be found on every block in the city. They serve up industrial-sized buuz (steamed mutton dumplings), plus soups and bifshteks ondogtei (beefsteak with egg); many of these operate 24 hours. Meals cost around Tug900 to T1500.
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Pamukkale
A welcome addition to the local restaurant scene, Pamukkale is a Turkish-run outfit that serves authentic kebabs and Turkish soups. Unfortunately the doner plate is never available (the locals don't like it) but you may be able to score a tasty chicken dish. The Turkish desserts are also excellent but portions are miniscule so you may need to order a few to satisfy your sweet tooth.
reviewed
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Zochin Buuz
There is a popular Zochin Buuz on Peace Ave, opposite the Russian Embassy. But there are dozens of Mongolian fast-food restaurants and they can be found on every block in the city. They serve up industrial-sized buuz (steamed mutton dumplings), plus soups and bifshteks ondogtei(beefsteak with egg); many of these operate 24 hours. Meals cost around Tug900 to T1500.
reviewed
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Le Bistro Français
The soft lighting, cream-coloured walls and French art give this bistro a peaceful, romantic ambience. Having settled in, enjoy a starter of Burgundy snails followed by a Chateaubriand flambé with cognac, washed down with a French red wine. We were a little disappointed with the pastas, but the meat dishes are highly recommended. Ice cream and crepe desserts are excellent.
reviewed
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Taj Mahal
Amiable owner Babu prepares a range of tandoori and North Indian dishes such as murgh makhni (butter chicken). The lunchtime thalli (set menu) gives you three curries, dhal, salad, rice, bread and dessert. We liked the interior too - the papier-mâché elephant and reconstruction of the Taj Mahal façade adds a nice touch.
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Marco Polo
The place has brick-oven pizza that is considered by many to be the best in town. The décor is a bit odd - a mix of European ambience plus Mongolian antiques, tsam masks and the odd mastodon tusk thrown in for good measure. Try not to let the kiddies wander off unaccompanied, Ulaanbaatar's most notorious strip club is right upstairs!
reviewed
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Delhi Darbar
In most cities, travellers tend to overlook the restaurants and bars set inside hotels, or only eat at the hotel in which they are staying. Ulaanbaatar, however, has a number of excellent restaurants and bars, privately owned and managed, inside the city's top end hotels. Delhi Darbar is an Indian restaurant in Puma Imperial worth checking out.
reviewed