How I Ate Through This Summer: Top 10 Discoveries of the Season

A cultural successor to the legendary 1970s café of the same name, this project is part of an initiative to revive the city’s cultural identity, spearheaded by the president and brought to life by the teams behind Six Coffee & Wine, Renée Café, and Pasta la Vista. Everything here is built on respect for history: GOST-era flavors, a library of books about Almaty, and a tastefully modernized Soviet aesthetic. Take a closer look at the mosaic panel designed by young artist Anastasia Zharko and assembled by Gaziz Yeshkenov, the master who once adorned the city’s metro stations.

The menu at Aqqu celebrates retro comfort food: butter-and-sausage sandwiches, cod liver with boiled eggs, navy-style pasta, and roasted chicken with mashed potatoes. The display case offers vatrushka pastries, puff turnovers, and walnuts cookies filled with condensed milk, while the bar pours Buratino and Cream Soda crowned with a thick creamy foam. Don’t even wipe your mustache — just try the local ice cream, served in charming little bowls and tasting unmistakably of childhood.

The new Six on Bogenbay Batyr is a stunner. A shell-stone pastry display, a sleek yellow Aremde coffee machine, a nook with stained glass, puffed steel stools by Zieta Studio, a gradient-lit hallway, and even a coworking area with simulated natural light — every detail here feels worthy of a design award. In the mornings, Six welcomes guests for coffee (classic, alternative, signature blends, cold brew), pastries, and trendy breakfasts served until 6 PM. Evenings are for wine tastings and local comfort food. This summer proved Six is perfect for a pre-party — from here, it’s just a few steps to the legendary French 42 gin bar next door, and the night’s only getting started.

A Barcelona-inspired wine bar at the corner of Shevchenko and Nazarbayev. No need to book a week in advance, dress up, or pretend to be a wine connoisseur — Tapasseria has a laid-back, unpretentious vacation vibe. The selection features plenty of surprises — trendy organic wines and daring pet-nats. But don’t worry: the team behind the bar will happily guide you through each bottle. Pair your glass with tapas and pintxos — small, colorful bites made for sharing.

This Spanish wine spot takes things up a notch with abr’s signature flair, a high-society crowd, and a lavish interior. Brand chef Ruslan Zakirov (Auyl, Ogonyok, Spiros) turns tapas into art, roasts spit-fired chicken, stuffs squid, and folds empanadas with horse meat. Palomar’s wine list impresses in both scale and substance, spotlighting Spanish bottles, sparkling gems, magnums, and an astounding 40 wines by the glass.

Another gem from abr, Alma on Kabanbay Batyr took over the space of iconic Coffeedelia, a local favorite since 2004. Its tagline? A European café with an Almaty soul. To elaborate: it’s a vintage café-lounge tich in local references and meaning. The interior draws inspiration from Kunayev’s museum-apartment, the cocktail menu is styled after Soviet postcards, and European recipes are reimagined with local flair — brand chef Andrey Titov pairs burrata with jūsai chimichurri, sweet potato fries with kurt, and lasagna with horse meat. New retro wave, Almaty style.

Next door to Almaty nostalgia, Ami embraces French elegance. Brand chef Georgy Troyan (Astra, Blanca) serves comfort food with Parisian flair: steak tartare, duck leg confit with figs, and Burgundy-style braised beef cheeks. The bar offers a wide beer selection, radlers, an extensive wine list, and cocktails themed around the Tour de France. Restaurateur Askar Baitasov admits Ami was inspired by Keith McNally’s French spots — «the best in New York.»

Everyone knows: if you want the best sushi, go to the fish supplier So when the team behind Kingfisher, which has supplied half the city with top-quality seafood for 20 years, opens a Japanese restaurant, you have to try their sashimi, tataki, and rolls (eight pieces per serving — a forgotten luxury). It’s located in Forum Mall next to Kingfisher’s flagship store. Don’t expect a dazzling interior — but when it comes to flavor, it’s second to none. 

Behind a stone wall on Karmysov, stands a luxurious mansion devoted entirely to hedonism. The menu leans toward the Mediterranean: escargots, crab in truffle cream, tournedos with foie gras, linguine alle vongole, and pear-gorgonzola canotto pizza. Cocktails come with a touch of theater: first, a note telling their story, and then the grand arrival of the drink itself. Like its sister venue D.O.M., Osobnyak thrives on spectacle and surprise. 

A grand mountain restaurant by Sun Group Asia (Dragonfly, Manana). The kitchen is impressively equipped: a wood-fired pizza oven, fresh pasta station, Argentine grill, mangal for barbecue, and even an in-house creamery producing 19 kinds of cheese. By day, families flock here for the playroom; by night, it’s LOBODA and Kirkorov, concerts, and parties. Coming soon: a petting zoo and a spa complex.  

On the Terrenkur promenade, right by the mountain stream, sits Zoya — a bistro by restaurateur Alma Igimbayeva, dedicated to her mother. The location is prime: hundreds pass by daily along the trail — joggers, cyclists, young families, and tourists alike. Despite the traffic, lunch spots are scarce, and Zoya aims to fix that. No frills, just a heartfelt mission: to bridge generations through simple, soulful food — borscht, cutlets with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, mushroom-smothered medallions, and of course, breakfasts — evoking memories of grandma’s country lunches while fitting seamlessly into the city rhythm. 

Photos: restaurants’ websites and social media, Yandex Maps