In order to reach the “Bigchefs” restaurant, you must have an electric vehicle, as combustion engines have no longer been allowed to use the access road for environmental reasons. If you can’t do that, there is a gondola lift built by the Austrian company Doppelmayr. The journey time with this cable car is around 15 minutes. Tickets are available either online via the official Shymbulak Mountain Resort homepage (QR code on your mobile phone must be scanned at the turnstile) or simply in the traditional way on site at the cash desk.
The “Bigchefs” is not a “classic ski hut that you could put on any mountain”. It is located after the first section on the left hand side of the mountain station and already catches the eye due to the architecture, which is characterized by a lot of wood. In these sections you can reach 3,200 meters with the cable cars all year round. You should consider this before or after visiting the restaurant, unless you are here to ski in winter anyway, because the view of the mountains of Kazakhstan is impressive. When visibility is good you can see a 5,000 meter mountain. There is still no cable car on these, and there are no plans for one, but who knows, Doppelmayr and Leitner would definitely like to make an offer… A portrait of the Shymbulak can be found under this link at Aviation.Direct.
Turkish franchise chain on Almaty’s local mountain
“Bigchefs” is a franchise chain that is completely unknown in Western Europe and has its roots in Turkey. It is represented in Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Northern Cyprus, Libya, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Belgium (Antwerp) and Germany (Frankfurt, Oberhausen and Stuttgart). Almaty has two locations: one is in the city center and the other is on Shymbulak. The restaurant was tested on the mountain.
This impresses not only from the outside, but also from the inside with its attractive architecture. The interior and decoration give the guest a pleasant and comfortable feeling. There are books available for free in various places, which you can read if you know the Cyrillic script. There are no printed menus, but you have to scan a QR code and then have it on your smartphone. A wireless WLAN that works more or less quickly is provided. This is important because data roaming costs in Kazakhstan are extremely high.
Delicious meals
The order is traditionally placed with the friendly staff, who have a good command of English and are on their toes. Questions are asked proactively and one or two recommendations are expressly made. The cuisine is not classic Kazakh, but an international mix that is obviously derived from the core countries in which the company has been active for a long time. The strong influence of Turkish cuisine is no coincidence, as “Bigchefs” is a franchise chain from Turkey.
Various bodja, breads typical of Turkey and a typical borsch soup were selected as starters. Spreads were also served. The portions were extremely large and tasty. The main course was a meatball and vegetable bowl, which was also very large. It was freshly prepared and you could taste it.
Large portions at a reasonable price for Europe
The portion sizes in this restaurant are really large, so you should consider sharing a bowl with a fellow traveler if you’re not that hungry. Even then, both will be full. After the main course there was the famous Tashkent tea, which was extremely well prepared and therefore tasty.
In terms of price, the “Bigchefs” is not in the low-cost class, but in the upper middle class. For Western Europeans it may seem surprisingly cheap, because from this perspective the price-performance ratio is absolutely good value for the quality and quantity on offer. However, you have to keep in mind that for local income levels – apart from Almaty, where comparatively very high wages are common – it is rather expensive. It’s also immersive in the way you want to look at it.
The restaurant, including the washrooms, was perfectly clean and tidy at the time of the visit. The staff is on their toes and immediately takes care of empty glasses or dishes or small leftovers left by the guests, such as spills or something like that. The WiFi internet, however, is unstable and sometimes slow. This should be taken into account as you rely on this in order to be able to use the menu.
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