Cafestar — Restaurant in Astana

The restaurant itself is beautiful, with lovely decorations and a cozy atmosphere. The staff were very nice and welcoming. A big plus is that they also have an English menu available by scanning a QR code on the table, which makes ordering easier for us. I really enjoyed Shakshouka and Latte Macchiato. The Shakshouka was delicious, and the coffee tasted great — it even came with a little chocolate featuring the Kazakhstan flag, which was such a cute touch and a perfect combo. Definitely coming back here next time...

Do Not Order Wine In This Place!! They have a 200 percent markup. The menu for line is not a hard menu like their food menu but one that is online and displayed in tiny numbers. We ordered Italian wine, one very similar to those we have ordered in the US. When the bill came they had charged us $166 for a wine we thought was $16. Then they showed us some bogus Russian site where they were charging $130 in rubles for this wine. Hello, there are sanctions right now and why are you buying Italian wine...

Vibe and ambience are nice. Food is above average. Service-oriented staff is top notch compared to other places in NQZ but that makes sense with slightly higher prices. Location is key as it’s in the middle of a tourist walking area. English menus are available and the staff speak Russian, Kazakh, and English. The coffee was excellent but the food was ~okay — above par but nothing special or out of this world. 4 stars instead of 5 b/c price to quality/serving size ratio...