Eating well in Ashgabat is possible but requires modest expectations and some flexibility. The city's restaurants divide roughly into hotel dining rooms — reliable, international in scope, and priced accordingly — and local establishments that operate in a more informal register and rarely appear in any directory. Independent travellers on a guided itinerary often find their meals organised through their guide; if you have latitude to choose, asking your guide to take you to a local plov house or shashlik restaurant will generally produce better food and more authentic company than the hotel buffet.
Turkmen cuisine is Central Asian in character with Persian and Russian inflections. Portions are generous and prices low by international standards. The food is not elaborate — this is a nomadic pastoralist tradition translated into a settled urban context — but it is honest and often very good.