Kazakh cooking takes centre stage at Astana, named for the capital city of the folks who run this restaurant in Sri Petaling's Endah Promenade complex. If you're looking for something somewhat strange, you might like to head here.
'Kazi' horse meat sausages. Yea or neigh? Traditionally made from smoked horse intestines filled with rib meat. Strongly savoury, with a fairly fatty texture. Can't recall how much this plate cost exactly, but it's not expensive; certainly below RM20.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth: Naryn hand-rolled Uzbek noodles, served in warm soup with more horse meat. Soul food.
Borscht (RM7), thick with beetroot, potatoes, cabbage, beef, carrots, bell peppers & sour cream. Not a bad version; there are clear reasons why Astana attracts a fair number of Central Asian students living in Bukit Jalil's surroundings. The food is easy on the wallet & probably pretty authentic, since the place is helmed by Central Asians.
Uigur Lagman (RM7 for a half-portion). Hand-stretched noodles with beef, radish, carrots, kidney beans, eggplant & bell peppers. Comfort cooking, served hot & hearty, potentially perfect for wintry weather.
These rolled 'pancakes' might look innocently palatable, but one never knows what lies within.
At Astana, they're well stuffed with chopped-up cow's tongue & minced beef. Necessary nourishment for the hard worker.
Manty (RM8). Minced beef & onions in dough, with cutely cut cucumbers. Minor warning: Astana is NOT (repeat, NOT) the most cheerful restaurant around & its TV screens seem perpetually set to foreign soap operas.
Solyanka (RM7): Unidentified floating meat (tastes processed) with stewed cabbage, pickles, olives, lemon & sour cream.
Zharkoe beef stew with potatoes & onions (RM9). Meat was a little too tough.
Lepeshki (RM2). The stuff of which Cold War-era art-house films about suffering Eastern European peasants are made.
Vareniki, soft, potato-stuffed dough. Dumpling lovers might like this. A few bites go a long way, fitting the fill-the-belly theme.
Desserts are available; stuff that somehow looks simultaneously conventional & unrecognisable.
Astana's imported drinks are also intriguingly exotic, with bottled lemonade-style beverages & herb-nuanced teas.
Astana Restaurant
A-01-10, Endah Promenade, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur
Daily, noon through midnight. Tel: 03-9054-3642
A-01-10, Endah Promenade, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur
Daily, noon through midnight. Tel: 03-9054-3642
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