Cafés in Samal & Dostyk

Lugansky Street

East of Dostyk, Lugansky Street has the area's terraces. Зоя (Zoya) at Lugansky 133 opens 08:00–21:00 with Wi-Fi, outdoor tables and brunch; Терренкур (Terrenkur) at 107b serves 09:00–23:00, inside and out; Gašir and Karak Home share number 77, both with outdoor seating.

The name means a walking trail, and the city's newest терренкур runs along the Esentai river: 4.2 km from the water divider to Zhamakayev Street, extending the embankment that starts at Al-Farabi Avenue, with an 800 m boardwalk on its first section, finished in 2021.⁴ By November 2025 free city Wi-Fi covered the Terrenkur and the Palace of the Republic.⁵

Dostyk Avenue and Kok-Tobe

The cable car up Kok-Tobe, a hilltop park with rides, restaurants and viewing platforms at about 1,100 m, leaves from the City Terminal near Hotel Kazakhstan; you can also drive up.⁶

Uphill, Dostyk continues as Kerey-Zhanibek Khandar Street, the old Gornaya, toward Medeu, the open-air skating rink at 1,691 m.¹⁷ On the avenue itself, SkyBerry at Dostyk 232 is a bakery that serves brunch, Bal at Dostyk 89g has Wi-Fi and indoor seating, and Cafeteria Dostyk Plaza sits by the mall at Dostyk 111.

Samal's side streets

At the eastern end of Satpayev Street there is a small cluster: Coffeeroom at number 3, Urban coffee and LIBERA at 4A, and Social coffee, with outdoor tables, at 10. On Nazarbayev Avenue, Coffee craft is at 226 and Hereandnow_ala at 240, while Ficus Coffee Bar and Другая Кофейня (Drugaya Kofeynya, "the other coffee shop") are inside Samal-2.

Hours vary. Juvi Coffee opens 09:00–21:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 at weekends, and Nova Cafe serves from 11:00 until midnight. On Mendikulov Boulevard, Qfood and Cafe Main are a short walk apart.

Getting around

The same residents complained of narrow, partly one-way streets, too little parking and crowds of visitors at weekends, so arriving on foot or by taxi beats driving.³ Samal-1 also sits across the street from the city akimat.²