Things to do in Russian Caucasus
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Don Bazillo
This Italian eatery to the side of Hotel Intourist is encouragingly popular among the many Italians who do business in Krasnodar. Besides the city’s best food, it features an intimate atmosphere and friendly service.
reviewed
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A
Natasha's
If you’ve never tasted khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread) then this pavement café is the master creator. The house specialty is the cholesterol-laden khachapuri po-adzharski. A hand-kneeded monster-sized pastry is filled with melted cheese and butter, then an egg’s floated in it. Other Georgian specialties like kharcho (rice with beef or lamb soup) and chanakhi (spicy meat stew in a clay pot) are also available, as are delicious desserts like chocolate or strawberry mousse. Service is snail-slow.
reviewed
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Lermontov Duel Site
In a clearing on the forested western flank of Mt Mashuk is a monument marking the Lermontov duel site The actual duel site is unknown but is thought to be near the needle-point obelisk that even today is bedecked with flowers. To get here ride marshrutka 113a or bus 16 from the Upper Market to the ‘Mesto Duely’ (Duel Site) stop (5 minutes). From there walk three minutes to a fork in the road, bear left and continue for five minutes.
reviewed
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Kafé Panorama
From humble railway carriage beginnings, Kafé Panorama has metamorphosed into a large swanky restaurant for those out for a night of dining, wining and dancing. The band hasn't changed; they've just cranked up the volume and added modern pop to their wild Armenian rhythms. The Armenian cuisine specialises in shashlyks and kebabs; try the lulya, a ground mutton or chicken kebab that melts in the mouth. It's best to take a taxi.
reviewed
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Café Kristall
Specialises in Karachay cuisine, including sokhta (a mammoth sausage-like creation stuffed with minced liver and rice) and dzhyorme (smaller Karachay sausage). Seating is outside on a porch along the river or in the cosy dining room with refectory tables. The atmosphere is jovial, and you just might be invited in to share food, vodka and song with the Karachay regulars here.
reviewed
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Chaliapin Dacha Literary Museum
Chaliapin, the legendary Russian opera singer, lived in a palatial wood and stained-glass villa near the train station in 1917, which is now the Chaliapin Dacha Literary Museum. There are lots of photos of this bear of a man (he was 1.96m – 6ft 5in) in his various roles, plaster ceilings bursting with cherubs and fruit designs, and a lovely glaze-tiled chimney.
reviewed
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Ne Goryuy
On a quiet side street between the sea and Park Rivera, it’s the best of Sochi’s many Georgian restaurants. The house specialty is the chakhokhbily (chicken pieces swimming in a garlicky red sauce). The kharcho is also hearty and delicious. Choose from Georgian and more affordable, surprisingly palatable Kuban wines. English menu.
reviewed
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Museum
Many Pyatigorsk attractions revolve around larger-than-life writer, poet, painter, cavalry soldier, society beau and duellist Mikhail Lermontov. Chief among these is this museum. Three cottages contain some original furniture, copies of Lermontov’s poems, sketches and 19th-century trinkets. Lermontov lived here during his final months.
reviewed
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Lesnaya Polyana
This peaceful Caucasian restaurant, hidden in the forest 50m from the Lermontov duel site, has outdoor seating in round twig huts. The house specialty is Azeri sadzh (sizzling meat dish served in a cast-iron pan with potatoes and onions). The beer is expensive; go with local Stavropol wine or imported Azeri wine instead (both around R100 per bottle).
reviewed
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Yaroshenko Museum
The small Yaroshenko Museum houses the works of the incomparable late 19th-century Russian portraitist Nikolai Yaroshenko, a leading proponent of Russian realism. One room is dedicated to landscapes of the surrounding countryside. Yaroshenko’s lovingly cared-for tomb is just outside nearby St Nicholas Church.
reviewed
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Stolovaya No 17
This wonderful canteen is a relic of Soviet days when 30m queues waited patiently for a cheap meal. Now there’s a kitchen full of babushkas serving a range of tasty options presented at a pick-and-choose counter. Plastic tablecloths cover metal tables decorated with plastic flowers, and you get to eat with aluminium cutlery.
reviewed
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Restoran Zamok
This modern castle, 7km west of Kislovodsk in the Alikonovka gorge, trades on a legend about a boy who leapt from the edge of a nearby cliff out of love for a local girl. The girl was supposed to leap too but thought better of it. The setting is pseudomedieval, the dishes Georgian and the wine hellishly expensive. A taxi costs about R140.
reviewed
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Narzan Gallery
The warm yellow stone of this graceful, well-preserved 1850s building recalls the spa town of Bath, England. Inside, the rich, carbonic Narzan Spring bubbles up inside a glass dome and spits out nearly undrinkable water into several fountains. Never mind the foul taste; if you come here you’re obliged to have a cup, so drink up!
reviewed
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Restaurant Sosruko
This architecturally unusual restaurant at the terminus of the chairlift in Dolinsk Park comprises the head of Sosruko with an outstretched arm and hand holding a flame. It’s the place to try Kabardian national cuisine, including the Sosruko special, a concoction of minced meat, mushrooms and herbs in a pastry pear.
reviewed
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E
Turetskaya Kukhnya
This unpretentious eatery is perfect for those who don’t read Russian because there’s no menu. Just waltz up to the glass display case and point to what you want. Pride of place goes to the kebabs, and the salads are also exceptional. It’s popular for a reason. The service is friendly, but check your bill.
reviewed
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Café Têt-a-Têt
It would be hard to imagine a more pleasant spot for coffee than the upper-level outside gallery here. Buskers below provide accordion music while you enjoy a bird’s-eye view of lively pr Kirova. The barista whips up all sorts of coffee and teas, plus cocktails and Dagestani cognac at a mere R50 a shot.
reviewed
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Aeolian Harp
Walk from Proval southwest down bul Gagarina to an obvious path on the left that leads through woods to a little domed pavilion, the Aeolian Harp, long a favourite lookout point. Early morning should reveal a magnificent view of Mt Elbrus. It was built in 1831 to replace a real harp plucked by a weather vane.
reviewed
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Patskha Restaurant
Heaps of character here. Linger for long, drawn-out meals lubricated with local wine. The delicious cuisine is Georgian and the prime dish is trout or sturgeon which you catch yourself from a pool outside. Keep an eye on what you're ordering as the bill rapidly mounts, leaving you with a hole in your wallet.
reviewed
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Blok Post
Sells military and police gear plus some camping equipment. For about R400 you can buy one of those black-peaked hats with tops as big as dinner plates, worn by anyone with a uniform in Russia. Other souvenirs include genuine lamb’s-wool shapky (hats; R4000) and various medallions and badges.
reviewed
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Town History Museum
The newly renovated Town History Museum has a superbly presented and impressive collection. What shines is the space display with the Soyuz 9 capsule that returned to Earth in June 1970 after 18 days in orbit. On board were local lad, engineer Sevastyanov, and his pilot Nikoliev.
reviewed
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Lermontov Museum
Lermontov's thatched cottage where he spent his last two months in 1841 is in the Lermontov Museum, a group of Lermontov-related buildings in a beautiful garden. The buildings still have some original furniture, copies of Lermontov's poems, sketches and a collection of watercolours of local scenes.
reviewed
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H
La Pizzeria
One of many restaurants scattered along the sea embankment. It has a large canopied bar at the front and a rustic Italian interior. A menu in English reveals a large range of pizzas and pasta. The salmon pizza is probably the best but order ‘small’ unless you have a huge appetite.
reviewed
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Academic Gallery
The Academic Gallery is perched above the eastern terminus of pr Kirova. It was built in 1851 to house one of Pyatigorsk’s best-known springs – No 16 (currently closed). It was here that Lermontov’s antihero, Pechorin, first set eyes on Princess Mary.
reviewed
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Goldfish
A jungle of rampant vines almost covers this sunken garden leaving hidy-hole shelters containing wonky plastic tables. House speciality is the Goldfish salad - shrimps, salmon caviar, salad vegetables and a cognac dressing; afternoon tea is served with large lumps of Turkish delight.
reviewed
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Yapona Mama
Russia has discovered Japanese cuisine and this smallish restaurant is one of several in Sochi. The illustrated menu greatly helps in ordering if you don't know the Russian for sushi or tempura. You can order a couple of pieces or mix and match to make a big feast.
reviewed
