Saint Petersburg Travel Forum

Any typical RUssian plates which I should not miss while in St Petersburg ?

Any good restaurants that specialise in Russian food?

Mark

Well, I can give one bit of advice my Russian professor gave us about traveling there, especially in ST. P....don't drink the water or any roadside/cart concoction. They have bacteria in their water that our immune systems have not been exposed to. Stick to bottled water/brands that you know. Good luck!

Hi !

I liked most a place called Jolki Palki
(Russian spelling is seen on my Moscow-page)
They offer a buffet with cold and warm specialities and a plate that you may fill ONCE for a fixed price of 200 Rubls ( ca.6 $)
It actually is a chain with several restaurants in Moscow, so they should be in St.P. as well.
Good luck !
Michael

In St.P there are hundreds of good restaurants. My lovely is Idiot on r. Moika. The best is "Gentleman's Small Set" - snack for vodka ;-)

In Moscow: "Yolki-Palki" is "OK", it is a restaurant network, so you can find it almost everywhere. "Drova" - for those who are really hungry - for $12 there is an unlimited buffet - you can eat as much as you can. Good Russian cuisine is also in "Starye Steny" near Kitai Gorod and in "Pechki-Lavochki" near Taganka. Last one will be great for you due to its interior of Russian izba (hut) and life Russian folk music. Also don't miss there oblepikhovaya (sea-buckthorn) nastoyka - much better than to drink vodka.

Russians also pride themselves on their soups. There are several varieties of shchi (a cabbage soup), borshch (beet soup, actually Ukrainian in origin, but popular in Russia), or solyanka (usually made with meat or fish, with pickles or sauerkraut added). They're all really good!

Other typical Russian dishes (besides ones already mentioned) are pel'meni (meat dumplings, kind of like ravioli) and vareniki (sweet dumplings, often with a cherry, apple, or other fruit filling).

For more restaurant ideas, you can look at the Dining Guide in the St. Petersburg Times online (www.times.spb.ru). Pick up a paper copy of this English language newspaper when you get there for all the goings-on about town.

And by the way, The Idiot is a great cafe, but all the dishes are vegetarian, so don't go expecting chicken Kiev-style (or the like)!

Have a great trip!

Maya

Hmm! Thanks to all for your tips ! Cant wait to try some of these dishes

100% agree with Neil. Caucasian food (Azerbajan, Armenian, Georgian) is absolutely great. Shashlyk, Lyulya, Dolma. Many of these you can find in VT tips.

YOu all forgot Okroshka as well, the cold Russian soup, and Kvas, the rye"beer". Neither of which are to my taste, but are well worth trying as you won't get anything like them at home.

And I third the motion by Neil and PAvel, get to a Georgian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, etc resteraunt while you are here, you just can't find them anywhere else.