When in Russia do as the Russian’s do and try some Russian cuisine — nearly all the restaurants below offer
dishes of Russian cuisine. What are the typical characteristics of Russian cuisine?
Before listing our favorite restaurants in St Petersburg Russia, there are a few questions you are bound to ask, such as “Will they speak English?”;
“Do I have to tip the waiter/waitress and, if so, how much?”; “Can ladies go unaccompanied by a gentleman? ” So let’s deal
with those questions first!
In a few restaurants tips are included into your bill but in the most the expected tip is 10% of the total sum of your bill. But remember please, that it is always up to you to give or not to give tips. Ladies can certainly dine in a restaurant unaccompanied by a gentlemen.
In the most of the restaurants there will be an English menu and if even a waitress doesn’t know English — use the language
of gestures –it will never let you down!!
The prices quoted are for food alone and do not include the cost of wine or other drinks.
«Magical Taste» — not the most attractive place in the city if to speak about the design, but one glance at the menu explains the popularity of the place: more than 31 kinds of “Pelmeny”. One of the possible translation for “pelmeny” is dumplings. Your feast will be turned into endless merry-go- around of fillings: three kinds of meat followed by salmon; a pumpkin catches up with cherry and trawberry, fresh cabbage and sauerkraut are replaced by potatoes with mushrooms and cottage cheese. You’ll leave the table half-dead…
Kronversky prospect, 53 (the nearest metro station «Gor’kovskaya») Open Mon- Sun 9am-11pm; average bill is 200 rubles (about $7).Credit cards are not accepted
«Stolle» — the best pie café in the city. These pies (aromatic, ruddy, juicy, shining, warm and soft) quickly conquered the city. First visitors compared them with grandmother’s pies but a bit later they stopped referring to grandmothers and just took them as models. St Petersburg housewives (including me) buy pies when expecting important guests and pretend that the delicious pies were made by them at home. The widest choice of fillings is during summer when to traditional fish, meat, chicken and cottage cheese they add wild berries. I drop there with every of my tourists just to have a bite during excursions — believe me everybody is very pleased!!!
Stolle is a chain of cafes: Konushenny pereulok, 1/6 (not far from «The Church of Our Savior On The Spilt Blood«) Open 9am-9pm
Dekabristov street, 19 (very close to Mariinsky theatre).Open Mon-Sun. 9am-9pm
Dekabristov street, 33 (very close to the Synagogue) Open Mon-Sun. 8am-10pm
The 1st liniya of Basil Iceland, 50 Open Mon-Sun. 8am-10pm
Average bill is 250 rubles and credit cards are not accepted
«Chekhov» — yes, it was named after great Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Here you will feel like one the characters from his short stories on a “dacha” (summer cottage) at the beginning of the 20th century: cozy atmosphere, distinct, smart public, singing birds in the cage attached to the wall, Russian “romances” (slow lyrical songs about unrequited love). On the tables there are handmade tablecloths, in the cupboard — pickled, marinated cucumbers and jam from wild berries in two liters cans….. Every dish is superb!! The cost of dinner is about 1000rubles (about $35) but it is worth every penny.
Petropavlovskaya ulitsa, 4 (the nearest metro station is «Petrogradskaya»); Open Mon-Sun. 8am-10pm; credit cards are accepted: DC, EC, Maestro, UC, and VISA
«Razgulyay» The most attractive feature of this tavern (and this is a tavern!!) is a buffet with different Russian snacks and salads. They will offer you solyanka, a thick soup (from Russian «selyanka»- a peasant girl) famous borsch, a carp stewed in the sour cream plus some exotic «dish of the day» prepared on the spit.
Karavannaya street, 14. The nearest metro station-«Gostinny Dvor». Open Mon-Sun 12am-11pm .Average bill is 300 rubles ($10) Credit cards are accepted: AmEx, DC, EC, Maestro, MC UC, and VISA
«Noble Nest» is a perfect place for formal dinners in the evening dresses. One of the most luxurious restaurants of the city, it is situated in the former Tea Pavilion of the Yusupov palace (see “Attractions” section on this site).There are mirrors and portraits of Russian tsars and tsarinas in gilded frames on the walls and harp, violin or harpsichord music will accompany your meal in the evenings.The highly trained waiters know the Yusupovs’ family history better than their own. They offer so-called “new Russian”cuisine: conventional Russian recipes modified by a strong French influence. You can order “a la carte” or special degustation dinners (each consists of 4 dishes). The wide wine list contains a lot of surprises: you’ll fail to find some bottles anywhere else than at the “Noble Nest”. This restaurant was mentioned in the book “One thousand things you have to see before you die”
«Kavkaz Bar» Restaurant of Georgia cuisine. When inside you’ll find yourself in the inner court of typical Georgian house. The food is very delicious: try any of their shashlyk (from lamb, pork, beef, chicken and salmon). My favorite appetizer is slices of eggplants with marinated carrots.
Karavannaya Street, 18.The nearest metro station-«Gostinny Dvor». Open midday-01am. Average bill is 300rubles (without wine, that is about $10) Credit cards are accepted:AmEx,MasterCard/EuroCard, VISA, DC, Maestro