Meat is the basis of the diet, primarily beef and mutton. The local cooking is quite distinctive. Traditional meals generally consist of boiled mutton with lots of fat and flour with either rice or dairy products. One local specialty is
Boodog; this is the whole carcass of a goat roasted from the inside – the entrails and bones are taken out through the throat, the carcass is filled with burning hot stones and the neck tied tightly, and thus the goat is cooked from the inside to the outside. Fish is also beginning to be widely available.
Mongolian tea (
suutei tsai), meaning salty
tea with milk, is very popular. Mongolian vodka is excellent, as is the beer (although it is expensive). Hot and cold beverages are not normally included in meals and many restaurants will add on a 13 per cent sales tax.
Tipping: Not customary, but this is changing and, if leaving a tip, 10 per cent is the norm.
NightlifeThere are evening performances at the
State Opera and Ballet Theater,
State Drama Theater and
Puppet Theater. The
Folk Song and Dance Ensemble and
People’s Army Song and Dance Ensemble are in the capital. Other major towns also have theaters. Circus entertainment is also very popular. There is also one cinema featuring English-language films, and large numbers of bars, nightclubs and restaurants that offer dancing or live entertainment (bands).
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