The Shakespeare Pub — Restaurant in Almaty

I’m now far far away from my Solent restaurant reviews, in fact 5,750 kilometres (thank you Google Earth).

So what’s it like in downtown Almaty I hear you ask. Well it’s pretty good I can tell you. Full of smiling locals and enthusiastic traffic light grands prix. The Shakespeare Pub leapt out at us from the pages of Lonely Planet’s “Central Asia” guide.

A 45 minute stroll from our hotel got us to the door and a warm welcome ushered us into to a fair replica of a rather dark London drinking den. We sat at a booth and were well attended - in good English. My apologies to the Kazakhs reading this for my almost total lack of language skills. My chuckling request for a pint of London Pride was met with “it ran out yesterday”. I then succumbed to the standard foreigners’ drink of…. A pint of Guinness. My wife had a glass of Pinot Grigio (Sicilian - sadly no local white on the menu).

We didn’t fancy a full meal, still a little more exploring to do so we settled on a dish of pakora. A great choice I have to say.

All in all a great tick in the box and one to be recommended to traveller and...

Best restaurant in Almaty! Great food and great drinks at solid prices. The western menu is very decent, however the Indian menu is where the food shines. The curries are next level. Be careful if you choose the full Spicy option though.

Weekends are even more fun with live music and great sports options on the multiple big screens around the pub.

All that said, the staff are what kept us coming back at least once a week for nearly the whole year we lived there. Always greeted with a smile and wave. And amazing waiters like Silky and Nurpiz make you feel at home. Highly...

Variable European-level cuisine with some decent Indian elements. A few good sorts of beer, including Guinness. Atmospheric and comfortable - the whole concept of Shakespeare as the genus loci is quite nice and thoroughly done. The stuff are friendly and helpful (and also speak good English!). This pub is for those missing Europe and good service - consequently, there are practically never any locals. It was a great luck to find this place in Almaty. A thousand thanks for that...