Some more bars
Yep, we’re still going strong and over the past couple of days, we have visited a good number of new pubs and restaurants. Here they are:
Steppe Inne
On the grounds of the English embassy, this bar which opens up every Friday afternoon is THE place to meet fellow expats. Claudia and I were there early and, unfortunately, had no choice but to talk to an older Dutch couple who also happened to be in town. Surprisingly, you pay for your drinks either in USD or Tugrik, with an exchange rate of 1500 Tugrik for the dollar. When I asked why they weren’t accepting Euros, I got the reply that the UK wasn’t part of the monetary union. Me pointing out that it wasn’t part of the USA either didn’t generate an intelligent response.
Bob hooked me up here with a hasher, but it turns out that the UB hash only runs from roughly May till September. Furthermore, the average age of the patrons was much higher than we expected, with only very few people of our age.
French restaurant
Definitely an escapist place, the manager of the place was the first black guy we met in UB. The cook, luckily, was French who mostly did fusion dishes (I had yak cheese in my starter). The food wasn’t bad, but quite bland, not extremely interesting. Considering the prices we had to pay for it, not a restaurant worth visiting often.
River sounds
A club more than anything else, Hulan had made reservations up front which allowed us a booth to sit in. The live music ranged from very good to downright annoying although the best show of the evening where a group of girls who got into a catfight.
It’s worth checking this place out, although it’s amazing that any Mongolians visit the place, considering the 5000T cover charge. A programmer in Mongolia earns about 100.000T per month.
Indian American Italian restaurant
Close to where we live, as you can guess by the name, this restaurant doesn’t really limit itself to one particular kitchen. The food was good and affordable.
Chenggis Khan club
Next to the Chenggis Khan brewery, this place is docorated like a German style beer hall. They serve reasonable and cheap pub food with, you’ve guessed it, Chinggis.
Sapphire
This Thai restaurant is on the expensive side, but very good. Nice and spicy and a large selection of dishes make for a very good experiences. Henry tried out the two Thai words he knew on the waitresses, but they turned out to be plain Mongolian.
We wanted to know what ‘White devil’ would be translated into Mongolian and asked the manager, a goodlooking, fairly good English speaking girl. She didn’t know but handed us a dictionary to look it up. Before we knew it, we were drinking Chinggis vodka with her in the German pub next door.
Khanbrau bar
Yet another German pub, this place is crazy about Khanbrau. Not that we tasted anything since, by now, we’ve realised it’s better to stick with vodka, any vodka. I’m really surprised that I still haven’t woken up with a hangover.
As mentioned, Byamba (the girl from Sapphire) joined us shortly after we arrived here and couldn’t stop saying how fantastic it was we let her practice her English with us. She wanted to repay the debt and teach us Mongolian. Henry, however, was more interesting in her Russian, which she spoke very well. Besides her Russian, Mongolian and English, she could also manage in Japanese. Very impressive.
Some place close to Churchill’s
After the Khanbrau bar closed its doors, Byamba took us to what I think was Churchill’s. Taking a cab, we waited in the car while she checked if the bar was still open. Interesting, since all shutters and doors were already closed. The bar wasn’t, though. Good to know that, apparently, bars stay open even if they might appear closed.
In my memory
Serving anything from hamburgers to sushi, this is a good place to have lunch.