In Aktau Mall (district 16), Restaurant Asorti on the top floor offers one of the best deals in town. There are two Asorti Restaurants in the mall, but the one on the ground floor doesn't offer the buffet. The top floor restaurant offers an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch between 12pm and 3pm every weekday for 1200 Tenge per person. There is a live piano player every weekday for lunch, and the decor is sleek.
The second best deal in town are the Shwarma places near the Ramstor (Pamctop) behind Adagar (Ардагәр) Mall, near the eternal flame memorial. Ask for a 350 Tenge shwarma without sauce ("bez sosa") if you don't want it swimming in mayonnaise.
The most expensive places are Taksim in district 12 (near the big roundabout separating districts 10, 14, 12 and 11), Noodles in district 2, or one of the restaurants at the Renaissance. Both of these offer what could be called a Soviet interpretation of Western-style service for around 25 USD per person. The food is mediocre for the price charged.
Japanese, CIS style, is available at the downstairs location of Asorti at Aktau Mall, at Osaka in district 4, at Arabic down the steps from the Soviet plane in between district 9 and 7, and at the Jazz Club in district 5. You should expect to pay at least 20 USD to have a couple of small roles at any of those places.
Alma-Ata Restaurant (behind Pinta and Taksim) has sturgeon caviar (Beluga) kebabs available for around 1500 Tenge per person. This is widely considered to be the best fish place in Aktau, but this doesn't say much about the quality of fish places in Aktau.
Fuenta Club next to Ardagar (Ардагәр) Mall in district 9, near the eternal flame memorial, opens up for lunch on weekdays between 11:30 and 2:30, offering a mediocre buffet for around 1000 Tenge per person. It seems that this buffet is reluctantly all-you-can-eat. It is not worth the 200 Tenge savings to eat here instead of Asorti or the premium over Shvedski Stol.
Shvedski Stol (шведский столь) has two locations, one in district 2 across from Shoom (ШУМ) and one in district 6 on the main east-west road. These restaurants also have an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet on weekdays, which costs around 900 Tenge per person. Be careful of overcharging, as the wait-staff will sometimes ring up your bill according to their perception of your ability to pay. Since both are located near Aktau's largest employers of office workers, good luck finding a table at lunchtime.
Chinese is available at China Town Restaurant in district 9 for around 1500 Tenge per person. It is also available at Urumqi Restaurant in district 2 for around 3000 Tenge per person.
Korean is available at Korea in district 11, next to Taksim. The food is not very Korean or very good.
Pizza is available in district 4 at Napoli Restaurant for around 1500 Tenge. Napoli also has a location in Astana Mall in district 14, which has hookah (Russian: кальян) available.
Restaurant Pinta at the major roundabout between districts 12, 14 and 11 serves a variety of coffees, teas and Soviet-foods. The food is reasonable but costs 2000 Tenge per person for an average meal.
Coffee and People. There are two locations, one in district 2 near Aktau Hotel and one in district 7, off the main road behind a small city park and fountain. Both locations are swank, serve reasonably good food, and charge about 2000 Tenge per person for a meal at any time of day.
Prag - This restaurant has tasty coffee and is located in district 6
Hollywood Cafe - Two locations, one near Baiterek Center in district 27 and one in Aktau Mall in district 16. Both are located next to cinemas and both are expensively priced.
Caucasian grilled meat (shashlik) is available at the beach-side grills below the Renaissance hotel. These are usually 800-1000 Tenge per person.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Aktau
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Aktau - updated May 2024
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Aktau Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
