All Restaurants in Ulaanbaatar
$ = under $20 $$ = $20–50 $$$ = $50–100 $$$$ = $100+
1
Team Dinner
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Modern Nomads
The definitive traditional Mongolian restaurant — horhog cooked on stones, buuz steamed to order, and the dining-room-as-ger layout that makes the country make sense in two hours.
2
First Date
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Veranda
Mongolia's first Mediterranean restaurant and still its best — a top-floor dining room with Choijin Lama Temple views, a serious wine list, and a kitchen that has never slipped in twenty years.
3
Team Dinner
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Bull Restaurant
The Mongolian hot-pot chain that has taught a generation how to eat — serious mutton, proper broths, and the table-top theatre that makes every dinner feel like an event.
4
Impress Clients
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Silk Road
The Shangri-La's Asian fine-dining room — the kitchen that taught Ulaanbaatar to eat dim sum properly, and the wine list that lets a proper business dinner happen.
5
First Date
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Hazara
The North Indian restaurant that broke the Mongolian capital's meat-and-vodka monoculture — tandoor cooking done properly and a vegetarian menu that actually works.
Best for First Date in Ulaanbaatar
Intimate tables built for conversation over candlelight — impressive without intimidating.
First Date
Modern Nomads
The definitive traditional Mongolian restaurant — horhog cooked on stones, buuz steamed to order, and the dining-room-as-ger layout that makes the country make sense in two hours.
First Date
Veranda
Mongolia's first Mediterranean restaurant and still its best — a top-floor dining room with Choijin Lama Temple views, a serious wine list, and a kitchen that has never slipped in twenty years.
Best for Business Dinner in Ulaanbaatar
Power tables where deals are closed over seasoned service and serious wine.
Close a Deal
Veranda
Mongolia's first Mediterranean restaurant and still its best — a top-floor dining room with Choijin Lama Temple views, a serious wine list, and a kitchen that has never slipped in twenty years.
Close a Deal
Silk Road
The Shangri-La's Asian fine-dining room — the kitchen that taught Ulaanbaatar to eat dim sum properly, and the wine list that lets a proper business dinner happen.
The Ulaanbaatar Dining Guide
Ulaanbaatar's dining scene has been transformed twice in the last two decades. The first transformation, in the 2000s, was the arrival of traditional Mongolian restaurants like Modern Nomads that took the country's food heritage seriously enough to build brand identity around it rather than treating it as a commodity. The second, in the 2010s, was the wave of international fine-dining openings led by Veranda and consolidated by the Shangri-La's arrival — the shift that brought the city's dining room up to the standards of visiting international executives.
The country's mining and mineral boom has permanently changed the demand side of the restaurant market. Oyu Tolgoi and Erdenet are two of the largest copper projects in the world, and the senior engineers and finance executives who rotate through UB on the back of those operations have pushed wine lists, private-room facilities, and menu sophistication upward across every premium venue. This is now a city where a proper Brunello or a Grand Cru Burgundy is available by the glass, which is something that could not be said ten years ago.
Practical dining notes: Ulaanbaatar's peak tourism season runs from June to September, and the three or four restaurants mentioned above all require advance booking during those months — 3 to 5 days ahead is standard, more for Veranda's terrace. Winter (December to March) is the correct time for hot-pot, stone-cooked horhog, and the heartier Mongolian classics; summer is when the patios and rooftop bars come into their own. Mongolian Tögrög (MNT) is the local currency, but all premium restaurants accept Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay; Amex is patchy. Tipping at 10% is increasingly expected at hotel and fine-dining venues; older Mongolian restaurants still treat service as included.
Neighbourhoods: central Ulaanbaatar — the Sükhbaatar Square area — holds the hotel fine-dining rooms (Shangri-La, Kempinski, Best Western Premier); the Seoul Street / Chinggis Avenue axis is where the mid-premium restaurants cluster (Modern Nomads, Hazara, Veranda's main entrance); the Khan-Uul district in the south is newer-development and holds Bull Restaurant and several recent openings. The State Department Store area runs a cluster of bars and gastropubs for post-dinner drinks. Note that UB's taxi culture is informal — most Mongolians flag down private cars with a raised hand, and the taxi fare is MNT 1,000 per kilometre — so restaurant choice is not constrained by location in the way it might be in other capitals.
Reservation Tips
Shangri-La's Silk Road and Veranda book via OpenTable and their hotel concierge. Modern Nomads takes bookings on Instagram DM or phone. Winter dinners book out faster than summer — the tourist calendar is counter-intuitive.
Tipping & Payment
10% tip at hotel and fine-dining restaurants (sometimes added, sometimes not — check). Visa/Mastercard/UnionPay accepted widely at premium venues; Amex patchy. Mongolian Tögrög cash for traditional restaurants and street food.
The Top 10 in Ulaanbaatar
- Modern Nomads
Mongolian Traditional — The definitive traditional Mongolian restaurant — horhog cooked on stones, buuz steamed to order, and the dining-room-as-ger layout that makes the country make sense in two hours.
- Veranda
Mediterranean & Italian — Mongolia's first Mediterranean restaurant and still its best — a top-floor dining room with Choijin Lama Temple views, a serious wine list, and a kitchen that has never slipped in twenty years.
- Bull Restaurant
Mongolian Hot Pot — The Mongolian hot-pot chain that has taught a generation how to eat — serious mutton, proper broths, and the table-top theatre that makes every dinner feel like an event.
- Silk Road
Pan-Asian / International — The Shangri-La's Asian fine-dining room — the kitchen that taught Ulaanbaatar to eat dim sum properly, and the wine list that lets a proper business dinner happen.
- Hazara
Indian — The North Indian restaurant that broke the Mongolian capital's meat-and-vodka monoculture — tandoor cooking done properly and a vegetarian menu that actually works.