Tor in Almaty, Kazakhstan Serves Delicious Modern Kazakh Food

When searching for places to eat in Kazakhstan, only one place showed up on a World’s 50 Best List, and it was in the capital of Astana. In Almaty, the largest city, surprisingly, there were no venues. Last night, I visited a place in Almaty called Tor, serving modern Kazakh cuisine that I believe, should get on the radar of the list makers. Walking into the restaurant (TIP: when you walk in the door, do upstairs), the first thing I noticed was the nice modern open kitchen.

The dining room is also clean and modern but with Kazakh touches. Here was the menu (I wished they offered a tasting menu):

We started with the Kespe Chicken soup and lamb kebab. The soup was homecooked in style with clean flavors that I wish were a bit more complex in terms of the broth. Still, it was a good dish.

The lamb on the other hand, was delicious and the sauce and pomegranate salsa complimented the flavors of the kebab well. The lamb wasn’t gamy at all.

For main I had the Aqmola Beef which was basically an extremely tender, perfectly cooked, and delicious filet. The pesto like sauce, mashed potato, pickled shallot, and balsamic complimented each bite of beef perfectly. Sweetness, umami, and acidity filled my mouth with each bite. It should be noted that all their ingredients are local and Kazakh beef, as I had it on this night, would rival other of the world’s best beefs.

We also had the Spicy Manty (dumplings) which wasn’t spicy at all and also very good.

For dessert, the best was yet to come. Usually, I am a savory person, but these desserts blew me away. First, the Alatau. Inside was chocolate and each bite was the perfect balance of crunch, moistness, chocolaty, cold and warm and creaminess. 10/10

The Almaty strawberry and vanilla cream was equally delicious with bursts of sweet strawberry complimented by the cream and then the pleasant crunch of the caramelized sugar on top.

Overall, service was great, and the food was a solid 10/10. I would go back and highly recommend this place. I just wish they offered a tasting menu.