Throughout Yerevan you will find lots of restaurants and bars, every one of them famous for something. It could be the cuisine, the wine, or the hospitality. The city's excellent restaurants and street cafes serve up quality food unlike anything you have tasted before.
Restaurants
Restaurants in Yerevan can sometimes be expensive, but if you care to drive out of the city, you'll find they are a little cheaper. However, all restaurants have the basic amenities you'd expect, such as tablecloths, printed menus, and serving staff to take orders. In many Yerevan restaurants you'll be entertained by live bands playing light muzak to Armenian traditional music, and often, customers breaking out into traditional dance as the evening goes on.
Cafes
Cafes in Yerevan are almost a traditional family business in Armenia, because the country was the first republic of the Soviet Union to be allowed to open them. Most of these cafes are on the sidewalks or in parks and serve traditional Armenian food & cuisine. You can order snacks, sandwiches, and drinks, and sometimes even find a hot meal. There's coffee of course, which you'll find in two varieties: Nescafe instant, or Haikakan Style (Armenian style). The joy of eating out in a Yerevan cafe has a lot to do with the setting. They are often situated in parks, or are surrounded by flowers and greenery. Some have small fountains nearby, and you don't have to eat and run, but you are welcome to linger as long as you like, watching the world go by, and chatting with friends. You can't help wondering why there isn't a café as nice in your own neighbourhood back home.
Bistros
Bistros are small versions of restaurants, only cheaper. They offer limited menus that are often displayed at a counter in front. Some of these bistros offer more dishes and wait staff. They are definitely different from restaurants in their offerings of specialty and home-made food, and a number of them in the city offer Georgian and Russian specialties, as well as grilled dishes, and the omnipresent khorovatz (barbecued pork).
Snack Bars
Snack Bars, also known as Bistros, are places where you either eat standing up, or you eat and run. These offer fixed sandwich or specialty menus. Although they mainly serve fast food, snack bars in Yerevan usually have fried potatoes and soft drinks on the menu. So if you're in a hurry, stop by at a bistro or a snack bar. Or you could try the many Food Stands scattered throughout the parks and near shukas (food markets).
T'khvatsk Shops (Bakeries, patisserie)
The entrikner (bakeries) have traditional and western style cream cakes, cookies, chocolates, sweets, and soft drinks. Armenians are proud of their desserts, and authentic Armenian sweets and bakes are delectable. While you may find the torte (cakes) too sweet and lacking in specific taste, the traditional walnut and honey treats, and the dessert called gata are delicious.
Shuka
Shukas, known as rinoks (REE-noks) in Russian, are markets that sell fresh food. A visit to a shuka is a must in Armenia, for its myriad smells of fresh vegetables, fruits, and spices. In an Armenian shuka you will come across freshly butchered meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits piled up in beautiful patterns. You'll also see colourful spices, all kinds of greens (fresh herbs), mushrooms, cheeses, and other dairy products, breads, even a few shops selling canned food. Prices are not fixed and you must bargain, and indeed bargaining is expected and enjoyed in a shuka.
Meals
Breakfast
The typical breakfast in Armenia consists of Armenian Coffee, bread, and jam, and lavish spreads include cold meats, fish, pickled vegetables, and omelets. In a cafe you will mainly find pastries or cakes for breakfast. If you're in the rural areas of Armenia, try the mountain yogurt known as matsun (mah-TSOON), which is a local favourite, and comes in several incredibly delicious consistencies.
Lunch
In Armenia people traditionally eat a light mid-day meal (Nakhajash). Expect a large multi-course meal if you're ordering josh (dinner).
Dinner
When you're dining out in Yerevan, your full course meal will begin with appetizers (also known as salads). These salads are accompanied with bread, and have herbs, cheese, sliced sausage, dry spicy beef (basturma and sujukh), prepared beans and vegetables. The first course is usually soup and you can ask for specialties like spas, borsch, or piti. Your first course could also be other prepared specialties such as mushroom julienne, something you can try. For the main course there will be meat or fish, or there could be two main courses, one meat the other fish. Traditionally, the meal is completed with fruit and dessert, along with a demitasse of Armenian coffee, and sweets.
Late Meal
The customary late meals of the Armenian people before they go to sleep are extremely light, with herbal or western tea, bread and jam, and perhaps the mountain yogurt, matsun. An Armenian specialty is the unique Walnut jam (popok muraba: poh-POHK moo-rah-BAH), made from green walnuts boiled in sweet syrup until they are tender as plums.
Nightlife
If you are visiting Yerevan for the first time, you'll find the nightlife in the city quite interesting. You can visit the various Yerevan pubs and restaurants, and take a stroll in the many parks and gardens you'll find throughout the city.
A stroll across the famous Republic Square is perhaps your best option, for the place is charming at night, with stalls selling all sorts of things. You could also catch a concert here (held daily) in the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall.
Don't forget to visit the New Cheers Bar in Yerevan, a popular night- time stop. It's well-known for its varieties of wines and cocktails.
