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St. Petersburg’s restaurants are as diverse as the food they serve. The city continues its historical mission as a ‘window to the West’ so besides traditional Russian fare, you can find cuisine from just about every other country here. Not many places impose a formal dress code (a jacket and tie for men, a skirt or dress for women). At present, relatively few places include a service charge in the bill, so you can tip if you like the service, typically 10–15%. You should be able to get a soup, a main course, a dessert and a couple drinks within in the price bracket indicated. Wine or imported liquors can increase the final bill significantly, especially in restaurants with deluxe cellars.
Expensive Restaurants (Top End)
Backstage Restaurant
This restaurant, literally a few steps from the Mariinsky Opera House, entirely recreates the atmosphere of the theatre in all its details.
The restaurant is so thoroughly steeped in the spirit of the theatre that you feel you are part of a ritual. The old piano in the corner conjures up images of Tatyana Larina from Eugene Onegin and Liza from The Queen of Spades. The Egyptian statues that gaze down impassively down on the proceedings probably remember hundreds of staging of Aida. There are shields, swords, and candelabra — and a fully operational ballet “bar.” All these theatrical props blend perfectly with the exquisite table settings and the modern cuisine.
There is a popular belief that objects retain part of the souls of people that have touched them. It is impossible not to feel a thrill when treading boards where Kshesinskaya and Pavlova performed their leaps or looking at yourself in old mirrors that might still preserve traces of the reflections of Sobinov and Shaliapin. One of the great tenors of modern times, Placido Domingo, has also graced this place with his presence, leaving his autograph in one of the windows. It is said that he was also impressed by the local cuisine.
The menu fuses French and Russian influences. Venison Carpaccio and créme lobster soup with cognac make good overtures for beluga fillet baked with mushrooms and béchamel sauce or grilled salmon with caviar sauce. All in all, this is a great choice for a post-theatre dinner.
Average bill is $100, credit cards are accepted. Reservations are essential.
Address: 18/10 Teatralnaya Pl, Tel: 327–05-21
Hours: Daily noon-midnight
Website: www.mariinsky.ru/en/backstage
Russian Empire
Cuisine: Russian
The Russian Empire Restaurant is housed in one of the oldest and most luxurious mansions of St. Petersburg: The Stroganov Palace on Nevsky Prospect. This restaurant has been called the most exquisite in Russia for good reason. Three luxurious dining rooms each have their own individual atmosphere and all are decorated in the finest style. Diners eat from Gianni Versace porcelain plates and drink wine out of Bohemian crystal glasses while surrounded by 24-carat gold ornaments.
Many dishes were created according to the tsar’s menu recipes: Gold and white caviar, Cigal Lobster, Imperial oysters and the Count’s beef Stroganoff. The wine cellar boasts one of the finest wine collections in Europe.
From $120. Credit cards are accepted. Reservations are essential.
Address: 17, Nevsky Prospect, Tel:571–24-09
Daily 3pm-until last guest
Restoran (The Restaurant)
Cuisine: Russian
This restaurant’s classical décor is so minimalist that when the owners came to inspect the premises, they asked the designer “Is that it?” This spare space produces its own harmony: Three vaulted halls, furniture, plates and dishes, a complicated system of lights — everything to complete a feeling of tranquility. The food is traditional Russian: beef stroganoff, chicken Kiev, borsch. If you have any room left in your stomachs, head straight to the Russian table for a good choice of tea, cakes and other delights.
($50-$100). All major cards.
Address: 2, Tamozhniy.per Tel: 327–89-77
Hours: Daily noon-midnight
Taleon Club
Cuisine: Russian European
Housed in the splendid mansion of the merchant Yeliseev, this award-winning establishment is the place to go if you have money to burn. Men need a dinner jacket and women should be dressed neatly; the sumptuous surroundings make it easy to understand why. Every room here has its own style (the dining hall alone is half empire, half Ludwig XXVI). The Russian and European menus are full of hearty, classic options, including caviar, veal cutlet with sage sauce, and carre d’agneau in rosmarine sauce. The princely wine list has two pages of cognacs.
($150 if you are modest — if not, the sky’s the limit.) Reservations are essential, all major credit cards are accepted.
Address: 59 Moika Naberezhnaya
Tel: 312–53-73
Hours: Daily, 7 pm-3am
Website: www.taleon.ru
The Noble Nest
Cuisine: European and Russian
This restaurant is located in the former Garden Pavilion of the splendid Yusupov Palace and is next to the famous Mariinsky theatre.The restaurant consists of two halls with snow-white columns, crystal chandeliers, and portraits of Russian emperors and the family of Prince Yusupov. Splendid, genuine, luxury surroundings are replete with deep armchairs, soft carpets, flowers and candles.
The recipes, written at the turn of the twentieth century are reproduced in the menu a la carte: Pelmeni of salmon and crab meat, garnished with Leek and cedar nutlets; giant tiger prawn with mussel risotto and light shrimp cream, and other sumptuous delicacies.
This restaurant welcomed such guests as the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and ex Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder, the President of France Jacques Chirac, Placido Domingo, Valentino and charming Catherine Deneuve, the Paul McCartney with his wife, the princess of Great Britain Beatrice and her mother.
So, if you want to spend a bundle — like Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright did when they dined here — on good food, excellent wine and sensational service, this is the place to do it.
(From $120)All major cards
Address: 21, Dekabristov
Tel:312–09-11
Hours: Daily noon-midnight
Website: www.dvgnezdo.ru
Palkin
Cuisine: European
The Palkin Restaurant was founded by the merchant Anisim Palkin in 1785, and was a favorite place of such famous natives as Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky, Block and many others. It was opened again in 2002 and boasts a long history and formal tradition. To restore the famous “bohemian” atmosphere of the Palkin Restaurant, the luxurious interiors of the venue were updated. The Banquet Hall includes a fireplace and a big collection of playing cards. The Chess and Aperitifs Hall comprises marble inlaid tables, plasma panels and golden frames.
The menu features such delicacies as lobsters’ necks with avocado and black caviar, starlet with white wine, and rabbit stewed in sour cream.
($150) All major cards
Address: 47, Nevsky pr Tel: 703–53-71
Hours: Daily noon-midnight
Website: www.palkin.ru
Podvorye Restaurant
Cuisine: Russian
After the tour of the Catherine Palace in Pushkin or Paul’s Palace in Pavlovsk, this is an ideal place to have lunch, as it is situated next to these summer residencies.
The restaurant is housed in a typical Russian log house and its interior is filled with wooden panels and bear skins hanging on the walls. This is a more relaxed, informal atmosphere. The restaurant overlooks a spacious yard.
Here you will be treated with Russian Borsh, Uha (Fish soup), and Blini. The specialties include shashlik grilled in the spacious yard, boiled beef with spicy sour cream and garlic sauce, soup from a pumpkin and berries, Tuta in saucepan from rye bread, and much more.
(30 Euro is a ‘degustation’ dinner) All major cards accepted.
Address: 16, Filtrovskoe high way, Pavlovsk Tel: 466–85-44
Hours: Daily noon-11pm
Website: www.podvorye.ru
Moderate and Inexpensive
Bliny Domik
Cuisine: Russian
A little slice of heaven! It may take you an hour to read their (English) menu, but that’s only because it’s so imaginatively comprehensive. Of course, bliny are the main attractions here (stuffed with everything possible), and they also have many vegetarian delights (spicy eggplant salad or cheese fondue). Set up like a country home, this is one of more pleasant places to eat, and the food never disappoints!
($20)
Address: 15, Kolokolnaya Street
Tel: 315–99-15
Hours: Daily 8am-11pm
Kavkaz- Bar
Cuisine: Georgian
Georgian cuisine is characterized by abundant food and warm Caucasian hospitality. When you visit any Georgian restaurant, you will be amazed above all by the number of different starters and the magnificent meat dishes. As you enter the Kavkaz bar-restaurant you will find yourself in a pleasant courtyard in the Caucasus, right in the middle of historic St. Petersburg. The menu features dishes that are the pride of Georgian cuisine – dolma (vine leaves stuffed with meat and rice), various types of shashlik (pork, beef, lamb, chicken, salmon), and khachapuri (cheese bread).
($30) All major cards accepted
Address: 18, Karavannaya str Tel: 312–16-65
Hours: Daily noon-1am
Pirogi( Stolle)
Cuisine: Russian
This is a wonderful place if you don’t want to spend a lot of time on lunch and maximize time spent sightseeing. Pirogi means “pies” in Russian, and the best fresh-baked pies are here. The owner of this chain of cafes once said: ”The secret of our pirogi is simple. They are made by professionals from the bottom of their heart and with kind hands.” It’s a place where you can see different locals of St. Petersburg, students and businessmen, children and adults of all ages. Many people buy these pies to take out. I am no exception – often if my friends come to visit my home I “secretly” buy these pies for the table. There are a variety of fillings: Chicken, mushrooms, meat, salmon, rabbit with mushrooms, cabbage, and a lot of dessert pies, including cranberry, apples, apricots, cottage cheese, strawberry, chocolate and much more.
($10) No credit cards.
Stolle is a chain of cafes: 33, Dekabristov str., daily 8am-10pm
19, Dekabristov. str, daily 9am-9pm
1/6 Konushenny pereulok, daily 9 am-9 pm
50, 1st line of Basil Island, daily 8am-10pm.
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