At Ayvan, five minutes from the railway station, going straight from train to restaurant is perfectly ordinary — less ship to ballroom than platform to table. The doors never close. Breakfast has the familiar international comforts: shakshuka, syrniki, blini and a full English. At every other hour, the kitchen turns to the country’s staples: plov, made as it should be in enormous kazan cauldrons, and meat grilled over flame on an industrial scale. Pizza, pasta and salads with names known the world over complete the menu. Signature cocktails, lemonades and tea accompany the food. And if the night calls for cheesecake or another dessert, nobody here will raise an eyebrow — especially if it comes with an espresso.
Opposite the medical school, Braer keeps future doctors — and everyone else — fed around the clock. No single culinary tradition claims the menu: borscht sits alongside wok dishes, kharcho, chicken Kyiv, bruschetta, julienne, spaghetti and steaks. There is something for every appetite. Breakfast brings blini, porridge and eggs — enough to see anyone through the day — while the dessert menu offers more than 20 ways to indulge. Pistachio medovik, tiramisu in a glass, crème brûlée, panna cotta and Basque cheesecake provide a ready supply of glucose, whether it is morning, afternoon or the small hours.
Near Dynamo Stadium, Cinar follows the Turkish table’s cardinal virtue: generosity, whatever the hour. Breakfast, served from 5am to 11am, brings menemen, muhlama and sucuk with eggs. Thereafter, the menu makes a sweeping pass through the classics — Iskender kebab, ceramic-baked cutlets, Urfa, yayla, pilav, meze, lahmacun and pide in several fillings. It is difficult to think of a Bosphorus favourite the kitchen has overlooked. Karak chai and Turkish tea sit alongside lemonades, freshly squeezed juices and coffee classics. The dessert selection takes its cue from Istanbul: baklava, sütlaç, katmer and künefe on the Eastern side; San Sebastián and trileçe providing the European counterpoint.
Should the night call for a lift — and something sweet — this round-the-clock Tashkent coffee chain is ready. Drinks receive proper attention: coffee comes hot or iced, while lemonades and seasonal specials change with the calendar. Berry, black and green teas are brewed with tary and talkan; snacks and a julienne-filled bun take care of anything more substantial. The counter is laden with baked things: croissants with both savoury and sweet fillings, San Sebastián, oreshki with condensed milk and ham panini. Breakfast, meanwhile, keeps to the morning essentials — a full English, shakshuka and omelettes — for a start to the day with some staying power.
Set within a small hotel opposite Dynamo Stadium, this bar may take its name from the Arctic, but it leaves no one cold. Its expansive menu runs from pasta and jiz to lagman and khashlama, with a substantial selection of snacks for beer and spirits. After midnight, it is the place to celebrate a favourite team’s victory with a dance — or simply settle in with a hookah and a pint until dawn.
Photos: restaurant websites and social media; Yandex Maps
By the station square, this round-the-clock Arabic restaurant offers Egypt for the price of dinner. The interiors lean unapologetically into pharaohs and Red Sea holidays: soft cushions, painted screens, familiar figurines and elaborately fashioned hookahs make for a vivid, unabashedly theatrical setting. The menu follows suit, with hawawshi, fajta, baba ghanoush, dolma, meat in generous supply and knafeh to finish. A useful address for gathering even the busiest friends — or simply unwinding after a long day.
