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Food and Drink
Yerevan has a booming restaurant scene, with cuisine available from every corner of the globe. Along Paronyan Poghots (Barbeque Street) you'll find a number of places that serve the famed Armenian dish, khoravats (grilled meats). Crawling between cafes is a popular local activity; many are located in parks and along sidewalks.
Much Armenian cooking is based on lamb, either grilled and served as shashlik with flat bread, or prepared as soup (the most popular being bozbash, a dish which exists in infinite variations) or stew, often in combination with fruit or nuts. A meal usually starts with a large spread of hors d'oeuvres, which may include peppers and vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat, pickled and fresh vegetables and various kinds of cured meat (basturma).
National specialities:
• Shampours (skewers packed with all kinds of marinated meat and vegetables).
• Ghapama (pumpkin stew with rice, raisins, apples and cinnamon).
• Khash is a national institution rather than just a dish, with poems and songs throughout the centuries being composed in homage to it. It's a broth made from hamhocks and herbs, served with lots of garlic and bread.
National drinks:
• Brandies are exceptional (Dvin).
• Kotayk and Kihikia are Armenian beers.
• Areni red wine is particularly lauded. Many Armenian wines are world-renowned semi-sweet or dessert wines.
Legal drinking age: There is no minimum.
Tipping: Expected by waiters and doormen in restaurants - sometimes in advance to ensure service.
Much Armenian cooking is based on lamb, either grilled and served as shashlik with flat bread, or prepared as soup (the most popular being bozbash, a dish which exists in infinite variations) or stew, often in combination with fruit or nuts. A meal usually starts with a large spread of hors d'oeuvres, which may include peppers and vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat, pickled and fresh vegetables and various kinds of cured meat (basturma).
National specialities:
• Shampours (skewers packed with all kinds of marinated meat and vegetables).
• Ghapama (pumpkin stew with rice, raisins, apples and cinnamon).
• Khash is a national institution rather than just a dish, with poems and songs throughout the centuries being composed in homage to it. It's a broth made from hamhocks and herbs, served with lots of garlic and bread.
National drinks:
• Brandies are exceptional (Dvin).
• Kotayk and Kihikia are Armenian beers.
• Areni red wine is particularly lauded. Many Armenian wines are world-renowned semi-sweet or dessert wines.
Legal drinking age: There is no minimum.
Tipping: Expected by waiters and doormen in restaurants - sometimes in advance to ensure service.
Nightlife
Yerevan has no shortage of nightclubs and restaurants that host local bands playing everything from soft jazz to hard rock. Some of the biggest clubs play techno and trance until dawn, sometimes with DJs from Europe or Russia. The capital also has a forlorn strip of casinos on the road to the airport. Opera, theatre and ballet performances are of a high standard, and tickets are cheap. Folk music, featuring the ubiquitous duduk (a double reed wood instrument) is often organised at traditional Armenian restaurants and other tourist venues. There are often concerts at the Philharmonic, Chamber Music Hall and Opera & Ballet House in Yerevan.
Shopping
Yerevan has several shops selling modern fashions produced by local designers. Souvenir and craft shops are available in shopping plazas and hotels. The Vernisaj flea market in Yerevan attracts sellers of all kinds of goods and is popular with tourists. Shopping is far more limited elsewhere in the country, although Dilijan has a tourist market where you can buy Armenian crafts and artwork.
Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700. Shops stay open longer in the summer.
Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700. Shops stay open longer in the summer.