Fish of My Dreams: 8 Seafood Restaurants in Astana

Original seafood under Sun Group’s spotlight

In the center of the main restaurant avenue Turan, surrounded by Italian family establishments, sits Fish Saw — an extravagant fish project by Sun Group Asia holding. What’s surprising here? First, they periodically turn the butchering of particularly large catches into a show — chopping and preparing all kinds of sea creatures right in front of guests, from familiar tuna to delicacies like milk shark. The main menu experiments with familiar recipes: they offer shawarma with crab meat, kutab stuffed with shrimp and stracciatella, and Kiev-style cutlets made from pike.

Special attention at Fish Saw goes to the dessert menu and bar: chocolate seashells with coconut mousse and passionfruit paired with the «Submissive Jellyfish» cocktail on strawberry gin with raspberry and coconut milk, under «sea» foam of white chocolate, served in stylish jellyfish-shaped glasses. We definitely like this.

Street food restaurant with mussels in red pots

This Sochi project grew from a kiosk on the Black Sea embankment to a franchise network of 100+ restaurants. This one is the first in Kazakhstan. It is in the Europe City residential complex near Linear Park. The concept’s specialty is serving restaurant-quality food in street food format at friendly prices.

As the founders themselves say, «We don’t have a huge variety of mussels — just three sauces: cheese-cream, tomato, and Tom Yum. But we serve large portions, so guests definitely won’t leave hungry.» That’s no understatement: the signature red pot of mussels with plenty of sauce and three pieces of French baguette with green butter makes for quite a serious and bold lunch.

The mussels for the restaurant chain are imported frozen from South America. The menu includes oysters, coho salon, scallops, and Magadan shrimp (also served impressively — on an ice plateau with lemon, mayonnaise and sweet chili).

Seafood platters from a chain with South African roots

You can get a small gastronomic geography lesson at Ocean Basket: the seafood in this family restaurant comes from all corners of the world — Japan, Argentina, Faroe Islands, Chile, New Zealand, and Mediterranean region. From the first Ocean Basket in Pretoria, South Africa in 1995 to today’s 200+ restaurants in 25 countries, the brand has maintained its core values: a variety of seafood at reasonable prices.

The undisputed bestsellers on the menu are all kinds of platters; we particularly like those with Chilean mussels in lemon-garlic sauce, prawns and squid. All platters come with two side dishes of your choice. Our choice is the signature rice and creamed spinach.

What else to love about Ocean Basket? They partner with SASSI (Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative), which monitors marine populations worldwide. This means they don’t use seafood from the Red List in their dishes: for example, you won’t find eel on the menu due to its endangered status.

Sea of fish, oysters and wine opposite Presidential Park

The main reason to visit More More is fresh fish and seafood from the ice chamber. Deliveries come twice weekly from Sri Lanka, Turkey, Canada, and France. We recommend trying red snapper and red mullet grilled; sea bream and sea bass baked in salt. Special attention in the menu goes to the raw bar: various tataki and tartares, rolls, gunkan and nigiri in all possible variations.

The interior of More More is done in calm beige tones with marine references: schools of sardines swim by, lampshades resemble seashells, and golden fish on the walls glint their bellies in the sunlight — very atmospheric.

Seafood cuisine worthy of haiku

A small pan-Asian restaurant within St. Regis Hotel. What we love about Asakusa is its restrained menu. Each section has no more than five items, creating the sense that every dish here is intentional and meticulously thought out. Even the descriptions sound like haiku: «tuna tataki, flame-seared, with yuzu ponzu and chives» — gastropoetry at its finest.

Minimalism is the foundation, rooted in Japanese traditions at heart. Dishes are categorized by cooking methods: robata (on traditional Japanese grill), yakimono (on coals or open flame), and raw.

Seafood in Italian colors

At the corner of Sarayshyk and Kabanbai Batyr sits a cozy family osteria Luce. While it’s an Italian restaurant with traditional pastas and pizzas, seafood gets special attention. Proof is the water system in the dining room center showcasing various French oysters. There’s more: lobster, Livorno-style seafood risotto, spaghetti with Kamchatka crab, seafood sauté, whole grilled sea bass, or sea bream — order these and visualize a Sicilian dinner.

Osteria Luce’s wine list impresses with detailed ratings, food pairings and regional origins. The variety keeps pace: from sparkling to still, white or rosé, dry or sweet, classic or non-alcoholic — by bottle or glass, from Italy to Austria, and beyond.

Seafood sauté in spectacular presentation

The vibe resembles «The White Lotus» series thanks to walls patterned with palms and flowers evoking paradise gardens. The menu narratives are equally captivating. Especially impressive is the seafood sauté presentation: a portion of mussels, squid and shrimp in sauce is dramatically dumped from a bucket onto a large platter in front of the guest — you’ve probably seen this on TikTok.

The signature sauté gets a large dedicated menu section; note the royal version — with substantial Kamchatka and snow crab, octopus, lobster tail, king prawns, mussels, clams, crayfish, and squid, with sauce options: signature Asian, curry-mango, cream, or tom yam. This sea feast serves 4-6, but there are more modest options — combos for couples and solo diners.

The rest of Vincent’s menu covers nearly everything imaginable in a seafood restaurant: tiger prawns, crispy octopus, tuna tartare, salmon steaks.

Live fish from Shardara

Perhaps the most affordable spot on our list to try freshly prepared fish. This urban café has three locations citywide plus delivery service, with fried carp as the flagship item. The fresh carp comes from Shardara reservoir (on the Syr Darya river, in the Turkestan region), kept in special tanks, delivered to restaurants in trucks with pools, harvested and cleaned to order.

The carp is served whole, so we recommend coming with company to handle this beauty. The format is simple — only flour and salt are used in preparation; they promise crispness, juiciness, and minimal bones.