Kyrgyzstan Food | Eating our favorite Kyrgyz cuisine in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Come join us for a food tour of Kyrgyzstan as we visit Arzu restaurant in Bishkek ordering up our favorite Kyrgyz cuisine including borsook, manti, samsa, shashlik, plov and lagman just to name a few. Given that it was our last day in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan we were keen to really enjoy our final meal eating as much Kyrgyz food as well possibly could. Even though it was our first time eating at Arzu restaurant we highly recommend it for your shortlist of places to eat in Bishkek. Having been mentioned to us by locals and friends we finally got to eat there and now we know what all of the fuss is about. The following is a list of the Kyrgyz food items we tried for this meal:
1) Local tea and Arpa beer (АРПА)
2) Borsook (боорсок) - Kyrgyz bread
3) Samsa (самса) - Kyrgyz fried dumplings
4) Lagman or Laghman (лағмон) - Kyrgyz noodles
5) Plov or Pilaf (палоо) - Kyrgyz rice
6) Shashlik or Shashlyk (шашлы́к) - Kyrgyz skewered meat (lamb)
Restaurant location in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan:
Arzu (Арзу) Restaurant
Address: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Hours: 9AM–11PM (daily)
Phone: +996 312 696 697
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Kyrgyzstan Food | Eating our favorite Kyrgyz cuisine in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan travel food transcript:
Alright, hello hello guys. We are back in Bishkek (Бишке́к) and today is actually our last day in Kyrgyzstan (Киргизия) and we can't leave the country without making a Kyrgyz food video.
So where are we off to? Let's see if you remember the name. I've been calling it the wrong thing probably like 10 times in a row.
We are off to Arzu (Арзу). Arzu!
But anyways um a few of the dishes have arrived. And we got some Borsok (боорсок) and these are little fried pieces of dough that are fried in oil and we had these a lot when we were doing our treks and staying in yurt camps.
Next up one of the appetizers we got is Samsa (самса) and before I talk about this I have to say I'm slightly sad because I had a big dream of having. A food dream. A food dream I had a big dream of having pumpkin manti (мантуу) which is like the Kyrgyz kind of dumplings.
And to wash it all down because it is really hot outside and just because well I like the local beer here. I've got some Arpa and let's give that a try.
So our two mains are here. And if you take a look I ordered the Laghman (лағмон) and I've been having a lot of Lagman (лағмон) since we've been here in Kyrgyzstan but usually in soup form. You can get like noodles with broth and this time around I ordered the fried version.
And now time for your main. Yeah, so I'm having Plov (палоо) or sometimes it is also called Pilaf (палоо) and this is probably one of the most common foods found throughout Central Asia. Like you will find Plov in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. Basically in this whole region it is very popular and every country has their own unique twist to it.
Like if you're having the next thing that we're getting we're getting Shashlik (шашлы́к). The skewered meat. So this is a perfect compliment for something like that.
And the star of the show has arrived. Alright, so this is the last one. We ordered Shashlyk (шашлы́к) which is a skewered meat.
And we got the lamb. Ooh.
And it came covered in onions and dill.
And when I thought about coming back to Kyrgyzstan the one must food that I had to have again was the Shashlyk. That is my favorite food in Kyrgyzstan for sure.
Anyways, on to that time price point. So that came to 930 Som which currently is just over $13 US dollars. Like pretty insane value. So this is like a popular restaurant. It is a bit fancier here but still it was really affordable.
I highly highly recommend Arzu (Арзу). The food is fantastic, the prices are just right and the service is great. So definitely come here if you're in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (Кыргызстан).
This is part of our Travel in Kyrgyzstan video series showcasing Kyrgyz food, Kyrgyz culture and Kyrgyz cuisine.