Skip to content
AM26: IFMSA August Meeting 2026
Change languageen
Survival Kit

Dastarqan: the spread of welcome

The Astana Table

A field atlas of the Kazakh table for AM26 delegates: every dish painted as an atlas plate and shown as it truly arrives: with honest notes on horse meat, halal, gluten and dairy.

9 min readUpdated July 28, 20260dishes gathered in this field atlas
Illustration of beshbarmak with sliced meat, onion rings, and wide noodles on an ornate Kazakh platter

The pantry

Read the table by its ingredients

Every plate is keyed to what it usually carries. Tap an ingredient to light the dishes that fit your table tonight: the rest fade back.

12plates match

The spread

Plates to begin with

Choose a plate for a short story, a first-taste guide, and clear ingredient notes.

Illustration of beshbarmak with sliced meat, onion rings, and wide noodles on an ornate Kazakh platter

National dish

Beshbarmak

Бесбармақ · besbarmak / beshbarmak

Illustration of golden baursak in a carved bowl with tea and cream

Fried bread

Baursak

Бауырсақ · bauyrsaq / baursak

Illustration of golden triangular samsa pastries on an ornamented plate

Baked pastry

Samsa

Самса · samsa / somsa

Illustration of lagman noodles with vegetables, herbs, and glossy red-gold broth

Noodle dish

Lagman

Лағман · lagman / laghman

Illustration of sliced qazi sausage with onion rings and herbs on a carved board

Horse-meat sausage

Qazi

Қазы · qazy / kazy

Illustration of stacked round shelpek flatbreads with tea on a Kazakh textile

Flatbread

Shelpek

Шелпек · shelpek / shelpek nan

Illustration of creamy honey-colored balkaimak in an ornate bowl with tea

Dessert

Balkaimak

Балқаймақ · balkaimak

Watercolour atlas plate of kuyrdak with browned meat, potatoes and onion ribbons

Roast

Kuyrdak

Қуырдақ · quyrdaq / kuyrdak

Watercolour atlas plate of pleated manty in a wooden steamer

Steamed dumplings

Manty

Мәнті · mänti / manty / manti

Watercolour atlas plate of a bowl of Nauryz köje with grains and meat

Ceremonial soup

Nauryz köje

Наурыз көже · nauryz köje / nauryz kozhe

Watercolour atlas plate of palau with rice, carrots and meat

Rice dish

Palau

Палау · palau / plov / pilaf

Watercolour atlas plate of hand-formed golden zhent grain sweets

Grain sweet

Zhent

Жент · jent / zhent

The centrepiece

Beshbarmak, the ceremony plate

Wide noodles, slow-boiled meat, onions and broth, shared from one platter. Say yes to the ritual: then ask what meat is on the platter before you commit.

brothyrichcommunal
Illustration of beshbarmak with sliced meat, onion rings, and wide noodles on an ornate Kazakh platter
Atlas plate
Photograph of beshbarmak as served with sliced meat, wide noodles and onion rings
As served

Compose your menu

A three-course route through the table

Tell the dastarqan what matters tonight and it sets a first bite, a centrepiece, and a finish. Guidance for delegates, not a medical guarantee.

  1. Golden dough pillows make the quickest friendship with tea.

  2. Pulled noodles stretch the Silk Road into one deep bowl.

  3. Balkaimak closes the table softly: honeyed, creamy, and made for tea.

Needs venue confirmation before joining this menu: Beshbarmak, Kuyrdak, Manty, Nauryz köje, Palau.

My table

Keep the plates that stayed with you

Mark a dish as curious, want to try, or tried it. This table lives only on this device.

Open a plate to start your own table.

The gazetteer

Deeper cuts, drinks, and the GA table

Names to recognise on menus

Local drinks, small glass first

Kumys and shubat: fermented mare's and camel's milk: are sharp, fizzy and memorable. Start small; treat them as local context, not a ranked pick.

What a meal out costs

The survival kit puts a café breakfast at 3,000–5,000 ₸ and a café lunch or dinner at 7,000–8,000 ₸. Many cafés add a 5–15% service charge to the bill, so read it before you tip. Most restaurants in Kazakhstan do not serve pork, and tap water is not recommended for drinking: bottled water runs 200–350 ₸.

Meat-free addresses

The Organizing Committee names Veggie House, Koktem, Saladbar, Café Tselinnikov and Green Kitchen for vegetarian eating, and offers to recommend a place for a specific cuisine or budget: ask them rather than guessing from a map pin.

At the GA

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and the coffee breaks are covered by registration. Bring your badge: the meal area is badge-only and one badge admits one person. Dietary needs belong on the OC form first, then confirm at the serving point.

Open the Astana map

Colophon

This atlas is a curiosity guide, not an OC endorsement. Rankings come from TasteAtlas; food-safety and allergy decisions start with registration and venue confirmation.

Prices and local details on this page are indicative: verify on arrival. : Something missing or out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it for everyone.

Ask us directly