Astana Restaurant

Review Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Highly Recommended)

Address: A-01-10, Endah Promenade, Jalan 1/149e, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Google Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ukZjyJA2MGqyzc7r6
(Please refer to the Timings provided in the Google Map Link for the Operating Hours.)

🐴 Kazy (Horse Meat) 100g = RM30.00
🍲 Uzbek Mastava = RM17.00
🍰 Medovik = RM15.00
🥛 AiraN (1 Glass) = RM8.00

Service Charge 10% = RM7.00
Gov Tax = RM4.20

Click here for the Full Menu and Receipt 
(Opens in a New Tab, Price is accurate as of Posting Date)

This was a Nice Little Restaurant that specializes in Khazakstan, 🇰🇿 Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 and Russian 🇷🇺 Dishes. 👍 The Name itself "Astana" is actually named after Kazakhstan's own Capital City. 🏙️

Its not a Very Big Place, but is Cozily Furnished in a Simple Modern Style with some Kazakhstan Decorations, Furnishings and even Traditional Costumes and Weapons. 🥻🏹 The Music they play in this place probably some Soft Playing Khazak Music too as it sounds Foreign. 🎵🎶

According to them, they have been here for around 13 years already. 👍 Although there weren't any Customers when I visited at 12.40pm on a Friday Afternoon, a Few More joined in later but its never until Super Crowded or Very Busy. 🤔

Ordering is thru a QR Code but you can also directly order from the Staffs who were Friendly and Welcoming, especially for a Young Afghanistani Lad by the Name of Jamal. 😄

Really Friendly Chap and spoke Very Decent English. 🗣️ I requested for all of the Dishes to be served up together and I'm very happy they are able to fulfill it. 👍 It took a Total of 11 Mins for Everything to be served up together.




🐴 Kazy (Horse Meat) 100g = RM30.00

So apparently as I researched, this may be the Only Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur (Maybe even the Whole of Malaysia) 🇲🇾 where you can actually taste Horse Meat. 🐴😳 Because Supply is Limited, you need to be lucky because some Google Reviewers reported not having the chance to try it when they went. 😅 So yea, Lucky Me! Hahaha! 😄

The Dish itself is really more of a Horse Meat Sausage, 🐴🌭 not a Steak. Served in 7 Slices with a Leaf of Iceberg Lettuce 🥬 and 2 Olives, I thought the Presentation was No Frills, Clean and Simple. 👍 Horse Meat (Sausage) smells like Tuna. 🐟🤔

That was the impression I got when I smelt it. Really has a Distinctive Tuna-Like Aroma. 🐟 The Outer Texture is Dry in Appearance but not Super Bone-Dry. Visually, Horse looks to be a Red Meat. 🐴🥩


The Bite Texture is Firmish and Not Tough. 🤔 You can easily sink your Teeth thru without chewing, just like a Regular Sausage. 😋 Very Similar to a Smoked Beef/Lamb but not quite. Not Gamey at all. 👍

The First Thing I noticed about it is that it is Noticeably Salty. 😛 The Meat itself is also marinated with some Western Based Herb Spices that I'm unfamiliar with. 🌿🤔 This is Marinated quite Deeply which makes me think that it has probably been soaked in a Brine. 

Not Unpleasant Tasting, this thing tasted like a Typical Atas Tasting Ang Mo Styled Deli Platter type of Meat. 🥩 In fact it tasted so very much like a Ang Mo Style Deli Meat that if I don't tell you this is Horse, 🐴 you will probably think this is Beef or Lamb. 🐮🐐

What I really love about this Horse Meat Sausage however are the Sections of White Fatty Deposits that you can see. 😋 The Fat looks Solid, but when you taste it, it almost immediately dissolves and literally Melts in your Mouth. 🤯 Wow. Its Very Liquidy Oily but is a Very Clean Tasting, Not Gamey or Meaty Type of Oil. 🍯😋 This reminds me of Goose Fat. 🪿 Its very Oily, but because its Very Clean Tasting, its not Very Jelak Tasting. 😋 Because Horse Fat is so Clean Tasting, I reckon people will probably render this for Cooking too. 🐴

🍲 Uzbek Mastava = RM17.00

As you can tell from the name, this is a Dish from Uzbekistan. 🇺🇿 Its served with a Side of White Cream Yoghurt that isn't the Very Sourish Type. 🥛🤔 The Dish itself is a Stew and comes in a Large Bowl. 🍲 Visually it looks and smells like a Western Styled Minestrone Tomato Soup. There are alot of ingredients within and its filled with Carrot Cubes, 🥕 Potato Cubes, 🥔 Tomato, 🍅 Rice 🍚 and some Beef Pieces. 🐮

As I checked further, the Rice used is a type of Long Grain. 🌾 I'm not Rice Expert so I'm not entirely sure what this is except that its probably not Basmati. It still has a Familiar Soft Tender Texture of a Rice Grain though. 😋 Potato 🥔 and Carrots 🥕 are also Boiled Soft and Tender enough to easily mush with your Tongue. 😋 The Few Beef Pieces that are available are also Tender with a Slightly Chewy Bite Texture. 🐮😋

Eating Everything Together is like eating Rice soaked in a Soup. 🍲 This tastes like a Very Hearty Carrot, Potato and Tomato Stew all rolled into one. 😋 Not the Very Thick Type but More Watery 水水 in Texture, I find this Delicious and Very Acceptable. 👍 Not Too Foreign or Unusual Tasting at all. If you enjoy Ang Mo Western Style of Soup Stews, you will most likely have no issues with this too. 🍲😋

Adding that Yoghurt Side lightens the Colour of the Stew and also Slightly Dampens the Sharpness of the Tomato-ness. 🍅 Because the Soup itself has a Good Solid Base, it doesn't matter much whether you add or don't add this Yoghurt Side. 🥛 This is still a Pretty Decent Tasting Stew. 👍 In addition, I find Kazy (Horse Meat) 🐴 pairs very well with this Dish. Because Kazy itself leans more on the Saltier Side, eating it with a Mouthful of this Stew will help alot in softening the Saltiness. 😋 Hahaha 一口马肉, 🐴 一口热汤, 🍲 吃得几爽一下. 😅

🥛 AiraN (1 Glass) = RM8.00

Other than knowing that this is some sort of Beverage, I legit had no idea what this was when I ordered. 😅 Served in a Simple Tall Thin Glass, this looks like Milk and even smells like Milk. 🥛 But make no mistake, this is actually Pure Liquid Yoghurt. 🥛😳 And its not the Type of Artificial Sweetened Yoghurt you'd find in a Supermarket, this thing is completely Not Sweet at all. 👍 Although it is Sourish, it also isn't Very Sour Sour type. I would call it "Drinkable Sour" type of Sourness. 🥛🤔 The Consistency is Slightly Thicker compared to Regular Milk. 🥛

This AiraN Yoghurt Drink is also not the same Yoghurt as the side that's served with the Uzbek Mastava Soup. 🥛🤔 The Sourness is like completely 2 Different Levels. AiraN has a "Higher Note" or Sourness, while that Yoghurt Side Condiment has a "Lower Note" of Sourness is how I would describe the 2 of them. 🤔

I was slightly taken aback when I first tasted this because I've never drank Liquid Yoghurt like this before. 🥛😅 This does take some getting used to because it is Sourish. 😅 But you will slowly adapt to it the longer you drink. In fact the more I drank this, the more I appreciated it for its Health Benefits 👍 because drinking this for a Meal is sure to help in Digestion. 👍 Hahaha this is like Nature's "Yakult" if you get what I'm saying. 🥛😅

🍰 Medovik = RM15.00

Ending the Meal with a Dessert, this time I chose a Russian Dish. 🇷🇺 Medovik is also known as a "Russian Honey Cake". 🍯🍰 I find it slightly Amusing that they served such a Small Cake on such a Big Plate 🍽️ and decorate it with what tastes like Hershey Choco Syrup Scribblings. 🍫 The Cake as you can see is a Layer Cake with Layers of what tastes like Crushed Digestive Biscuits  🍪 layered with Condensed Milk 🥛 in the Middle. Smells like Digestive Biscuits too. 🤔

The Whole Thing is Soft to the Bite and Crumbles Easily. 😋 Nothing Overly Complex about the Taste as it is what it is. Crushed Digestive Biscuits 🍪 and Condensed Milk. 🥛 Obviously this is Very Sweet so you might to take note if you are watching your Blood Sugar. 🍬

What I do appreciate about this as I ate it, is that I realized this Medovik isn't just a Simple Dessert for Sweet Tooth. 🍰🤔 Because its mostly made of Digestive Biscuits, this thing also helps in the Digestion of a Meal. 🤔 If you pair this with the AiraN Yoghurt Drink, 🥛 these 2 are Excellent Dishes to end a Meal while at the same time sooth your Tummy too. Clever. 👍


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Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

At the Price of RM8.00 (S$2.50) for this Glass of AiraN Beverage, you're literally getting a Whole Glass of Liquid Yoghurt. 🥛😅 If you are not someone who regularly drinks Yoghurt like me, you might find this rather Unusual Tasting for a Beverage because Drinking Plain Yoghurt like this is not part of our Regular South East Asian Diet. 😅

That said, I really appreciate how much sense it makes to drink this at Meal Times to aid in Digestion and how Beneficial this will do to your Gut Health in the Long Run. 🥛👍 I especially appreciated that this is Zero Sugar so people watching their Blood Sugar will be able to enjoy this. 👍 Give this a try. It will feel Unusual but your Gut will thank you for it. 😅

At the Price of RM17.00 (S$5.20) is not say Very Cheap for this Uzbek Mastava Stew 🍲 but it does taste Very Decent. I liked that it doesn't taste Too Foreign or Unusual Tasting. 😋

This Dish will likely appeal to anyone who enjoys Western Style of Hearty Soup Stews. 🍲 Ingredients given feel fair enough for the Asking Price. 👍 I feel this was worth the Money because it was a Pretty Large Bowl.

At the Price of RM15.00 (S$4.60) for this Medovik Russian Honey Cake I feel is quite Expensive. 🍰🤔 Its quite Small in Size and I feel its not Very Complex in Taste and Texture. 🤔 The Base Dish is basically made of just Crushed Digestive Biscuits 🍪 and Condensed Milk 🥛 that's all.

I appreciate this dish more for the fact that it uses Digestive Biscuits 🍪 which smartly helps to not only act as a Sweet Dessert, but also simultaneously helps in the Digestion of a Meal. 👍

At the Price of RM30.00 (S$9.15) for the Real Star of the Show 🐴 Kazy 100g of Horse Meat, I find this a Very Reasonable Price to pay for something we can probably never eat in Singapore. 😅 This Dish doesn't taste as Unusual as you may think. 🤔 If you have eaten Ang Mo Styled Western Smoked/Salted Deli Meats before, the taste of this thing should not be too Unfamiliar. 🥩😋

That said, because it is Noticeably Salty, I would suggest to order something else to pair with this and not just eat it plain on its own. 🤔 This Kazy feels like it would work well with a Neutral Carb Canvas like some Flatbread or something. 🐴🍞

As I ate this Horse Meat, 🐴🤔 I also appreciated WHY people eat it, and that's perhaps due to the Nature of the Country itself. 🤔 From my Very Shallow and Brief Research, Kazakh People are Traditionally Nomadic Horse Riders living in Hilly Plateaus and 草原 Plains. 🏇⛰️I would assume that such an Environment would probably be quite Challenging to Rear Standard Livestock 🤔 so I'm not at all surprise that a Nomadic Horse Riding Culture would turn to Horse Meat as their Main Source of Protein. 🐴🥩 I also appreciate how its Salted like this as this is probably done to preserve meat before the invention of Refridgeration. 🤔

So yes, while Horse Meat 🐴🥩 may be a Very Exotic Meat (or even Taboo) for most of the World, in some parts, this is not just eaten for fun, but actually part of their Daily Diet. 🍽️ I'm just glad to have the Privilege to actually taste it myself. 👍

As for this Restaurant itself, I am very impressed with the Variety of Dishes on their Menu. In this One Meal, I've eaten Kazkhstan, 🇰🇿 Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 and even Russian 🇷🇺 Cuisine all in One Sitting. To me, this was an Excellent Value in experience 3 Different Cultures all at once. ♥️

Small but Lovely and Cozy Place with Very Friendly and Welcoming Staffs, I would like to give my Sincere Compliments to Jamal who was especially a Very Friendly Chap to converse with. 😄👍 While I agree that the Prices of the Dishes here can be on the Higher Side, 💵🤔 I thoroughly enjoyed my time here which has been both Educational and a Gastronomical Delight. 😋

As such, I have no issues giving this place my Highest Top Score for a Very Unique Dining Experience and my 1st Very Welcoming Introduction to the Exotic Kazakh, 🇰🇿 Uzbek 🇺🇿 and even Russian 🇷🇺 Cultures and Cuisines. 

Рахмет, тамақ дәмді болды! 😄
(Thank you for this Delicious Meal!)