7 Best Places To Eat Mongolian Food In Ulaanbaatar
The best restaurants for eating local Mongolian food in Ulaanbaatar. Try suutei tsai, buuz, khuushuur, tsuivan, and more.
Having now lived in Ulaanbaatar for more than eight years, I’ve eaten my way through a fair share of the Mongolian restaurants here. In fact, traditional Mongolian food has really grown on me. The dairy products, noodle soup, and meat dishes are now a regular part of my diet. Especially when I’m traveling in the countryside.
I’ve also expanded my Mongolian food tastes from just eating buuz, khuushuur, and tsuivan, to tasting more than just these famous Mongolian cuisine. Drinking airag, mare’s milk, eating horse meat (only typically done in cold weather), and consuming animal fat, things that are typical of a nomadic lifestyle and Mongolian food culture, are also now part of mine.
While it may be hard to get a taste of some of these dishes in Ulaanbaatar, the local restaurants below are a great place to start trying different Mongolian foods. Just don’t expect to find Mongolian barbecue or Mongolian beef here, they aren’t even Mongolian!
Since eating a culture’s food is the fastest way to get to know the people, traditions, and history, start to get to know Mongolia by eating at these 6 Mongolian restaurants in Ulaanbaatar. I’ve also included my tips on what I like to order when I go.
Table of Contents
Everything you Need to Book for When You Land in Ulaanbaatar
Everything you need to book when you arrive in Ulaanbaatar.
🚕 Airport Transfer into the Ulaanbaatar City Center
Book your airport transfer before you land. Ulaanbaatar taxis are chaotic and this is worth the peace of mind.
🛌 Where to Stay
My picks at every budget, all within walking distance of Sukhbaatar Square:
→ Hostel One: best hostel in the city for solo travelers
→ Urgoo Hotel: locally owned boutique spot, great value and location
→ H9 Hotel Nine: steps from everything and great value (highly recommend!)
→ Best Western Premier Tuushin: 4-star hotel next to the square for a more comfortable stay and notable service (plus, a safe place to store luggage while you’re in the countryside)
👉 Make the Most of Your Time in the Capital
If you have extra days, these are the experiences I’d actually recommend:
→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Guided City Tour with Car
→ Cooking Class in a Local Home
→ Mongolian Traditional Dance & Music Concert Ticket
→ Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue & Terelj National Park
→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Nomad Horseback Ride + Homemade Lunch
7 Best Places to Eat Mongolian Food in Ulaanbaatar
Ara Yak House
One of the newest Mongolian restaurants to open in Ulaanbaatar, Arak Yak House is a new favorite among locals. Which means, you know it’s good!
While T-bone and ribeye steaks are on the menu, it’s their buuz and entire breakfast menu that steal the show.
What to order:
- Banstai Tsai (Traditional Mongolian Dumpling Soup)
- Pancakes with Urum (Local Clotted Cream)
Altan Gadas (АЛТАНГАДАС ҮНДЭСНИЙ РЕСТОРАН)
Altan Gadas restaurant is great because nightly at 7:00 pm contortionists, throat singers, and murin khuur players take the stage. It’s a great place to have a first dinner when arriving in Mongolia, especially if you’re in a large group or need a place to celebrate a special occasion. Make a reservation in advance, the restaurant does get busy, and ask for a table with a view of the stage. The meat platters they serve are enormous, so be sure to come hungry for Mongolian food!
There are two restaurants with this same name in town, be sure to use the right Google Maps location when making your way there.
What to order:
- Their platters are well-known for being generous in size and delicious in taste!
Mongolian's Restaurant (Shangri-La Mall)
Mongolian’s Restaurant inside the Shangri-La Mall is one of the best regarded places for Mongolian food in Ulaanbaatar. The atmosphere is nice, the decor features some seriously cool Mongolian artifacts, and the food is elevated Mongolian food suitable for an international palate. For your first taste of Mongolian food, it’s a great place to start. Mongolian’s sets the bar high!
What to order:
- Khuushuur (Fried Meat Dumplings)
- Beef Brisket Tsuivan (Fried Noodles)
- Steamed Lamb’s Head
- Sweet & Spicy Horse Meat
Asiana Central Tower
Asiana’s pan fried beef buuz are an update to this traditional dish I order every single time I visit. While the rest of the menu leans more Asian than Mongolian, their Chinese-style slow cooked mutton shoulder, Mongolian boortsog, fried dough with clotted cream (it comes complimentary to the table), and their hot stone and pressure cooked mutton khorkhog are all worth coming here for.
What to order:
- Suutei Tsai (Milk Tea)
- Hot Stone & Pressure-Cooked Khorkhog
- Fried Buuz (Dumplings)
- Beef or Offal Khuushuur (Fried Dumplings)
- Mutton Shoulder
Khaan Buuz
You’ll often hear me call Khaan Buuz the Mongolian McDonalds, a chain we’re probably one of the few countries in the world to not have.
Khaan Buuz is the equivalent of Mongolian fast food, making it an easy, reliable option anytime you find this chain around the country. Their nogootoi shol, vegetable soup, is always satisfying, while their buuz, Mongolian meat dumplings, with a glass of suutei tsai, milk tea, never disappoints. Khaan Buuz is also a great place to try niislel salad, Mongolia’s version of potato salad with boiled meat.
What to order:
- Whatever looks delicious! It’s cafeteria-style.
Modern Nomads
Modern Nomads is one of the few chain restaurants serving Mongolian food in town. With several locations around the city, it’s this location that’s my favorite. With traditional Mongolian furnishings and dishes on the menu, Modern Nomads is a great local option for an easy lunch or dinner when visiting Mongolia. It’s a place where locals also love to eat, so you know it must be good!
What to order:
- Naadam Khuushuur (Round Fried Dumplings)
- Bituu Shol (Classic Meat & Dough-covered Soup)
- Nislel Salad (Potato Salad)
Great Mongol Restaurant & Pub
Great Mongol is one of Ulaanbaatar’s biggest beer halls. It’s a great place to sit, order Naadam khuushuur, and have a local beer. Come at dinner time to see the place come to life, this is one of the best restaurants for people watching, and making local friends in Ulaanbaatar.
What to order:
- Naadam Khuushuur (Round Fried Dumplings)
- Golden Gobi Draught Beer
Read More About Mongolia:
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- When to visit and for how long
- Which region to visit and sample itineraries
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- Expert packing tips with gear recommendations
- Accommodations explained (hotel vs ger camp vs homestay)
- And who to book your trip with!
Author: Breanna Wilson
Hi! Sain uu! I’m Breanna, an American travel writer and adventurer living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for more than 9 years. I’ve written for and been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, Forbes, and the New York Times, among others. Read more of my Mongolia travel articles here.
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I’d like to recommend Зочин монгол зоог (Zochin Mongol Zoog-4, near the Beatles statue in downtown). It offers authentic Mongolian food, esp. сүүтэй цай (Mongolian milk tea) and боорцог (Boortsog). As you mentioned, the services during tourist season are not as expected.