Entertainment in Siberia
-
A
Jazz Café
A hip and literally underground basement hangout with an extensive drinks and food menu (meals R200–550) and screenings of old black-and-white films. Live music most evenings (cover charge R100 to R300). Also boasts a large book and music shop.
reviewed
-
B
People’s Bar & Grill
The preferred hang-out of Novosibirsk’s would-be rap stars and models. Descend the stairway opposite St Nicholas chapel.
reviewed
-
C
Philharmonia
Concerts here range from classical symphonies to Dixieland jazz. Ticket prices are between R100 and R450.
reviewed
-
Che Guevara
Has dancing or live music in a fun saloon-club with 1950s pin-ups and a commie-Cuba theme.
reviewed
-
D
Cultural Centre
On the 1st floor of the sizable Cultural Centre, the Khöömei Centre can help arrange throat-singing lessons - to find it, walk between the cloakroom and snack bar and keep going. However, to simply hear a sample try going up to the 3rd floor from here (by the back rather than the main stairs) to a room where Tuvan musicians practise most afternoons around 14:00.
reviewed
-
E
Liverpool
This Fab Four theme pub may be a bit more Wings than Beatles, but it’s one of Irkutsk’s top watering holes, with an intercontinental beer menu and laid-back service. All the meals are imaginatively named after Beatles tracks, but we were assured that ‘In an Octopus’s Garden’ contains no octopus.
reviewed
-
F
Mir Igry
This casino complex has three great bar-restaurants (meals R100 to R400), each with its own theme and atmosphere. It’s popular with young professionals and a great place to strike up conversations over a shot of vodka or 10. The large beer and shashlyk terrace is the place to eat on sultry summer evenings.
reviewed
-
G
Kofeynya Shokolad
Remarkably suave for the surroundings, this minicafé makes the best macchiato in town and serves 11 types of latte. It’s built into the front terrace of the Buryat National Theatre building and uniquely enjoys simultaneous views of Ulan-Ude’s two finest churches.
reviewed
-
H
Sibirsky Pub
Siberia’s first British pub was founded over a century ago by a certain Mr Crawley, an Anglo-Egyptian albino who’d got stuck in Tomsk after touring with a circus freak show. Today’s pub is no relation. Bands play live at weekends (cover charge).
reviewed
-
Gzhel
Named after the Russian blue-and-white traditional ceramics, this sometimes-lively bar is on the 1st floor of the city’s main shopping centre. Good selection of draught beers, although the live music at weekends (from 8pm) has the potential to annoy.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
I
Okhlopkov Drama Theatre
On summer evenings romantic couples and jolly groups of locals stroll the Angara promenade and the grassy areas behind the fine Okhlopkov Drama Theatre, where Russian classics are staged regularly from September to June.
reviewed
-
J
Coffee Base
Pleasant coffee house with sensibly priced espressos. If your palate differentiates between 80% and 100% Arabica beans, consider the more expensive ‘Elite’ blends. Food includes decent mini-bliny, pricey cakes and steaks.
reviewed
-
Havana Club
A big nightclub with three dance floors and Moscow DJs. Seems to have gone more hardcore in recent years with regular nonstop striptease nights. Wednesday is still student night and Monday’s Russian nostalgia discos are fun.
reviewed
-
Kalipso
The nicest pub-café in Energetik at bus stop GES. It has a nautical interior, porthole windows and a beer-garden terrace that almost overlooks the lake. There are two more branches at ul Sosnova 2 and ul Kirova 27.
reviewed
-
Traveller’s Coffee
The tempting aroma of newly milled beans lures you into this Starbucks-style coffeehouse, which blends empire-style sofas with exposed heating pipes. Smiley service and sensibly priced milkshakes, muffins and pancakes.
reviewed
-
K
Chili
Aztec-themed night-spot and all-day bar where you can join Irkutsk’s moneyed youth on beige couches bathed in flamingo neon for a flashy cocktail or outrageously overpriced meals (R250 to R600). Very central.
reviewed
-
L
Monet
Overpriced and pretentiously dubbed a ‘coffee fashion club’, the Monet’s most intriguing feature is its downstairs oriental lounge illuminated with fragrant candles and big-screen Russian MTV.
reviewed
-
Irish Pubs & Wild West Bars
Plentiful Irish pubs and Wild West bars are easy to find. Just stroll down ul Lenina, Krasny pr or Vokzalnaya magistral for a block or two from pl Lenina. Almost all serve decent if pricey food as well as drinks.
reviewed
-
Kofemolka
Sip roasts from every corner of the bean-growing world amid retro coffee sacks, twirling art nouveau– style wrought iron and sham mahogany at Krasnoyarsk’s newest caffeine stop. Long dessert menu.
reviewed
-
M
Spartak Stadium
This 12,500-capacity venue is the current home base of local football team, Sibir. Games are usually played on Saturday, and tickets cost from R100 to R500. Matches are advertised on posters around the city.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Sibirskaya Korona
A noisy bar popular with local office workers on Fridays. Serves only Sibirskaya Korona beer (light, dark and nonfiltered), plus a selection of Russian and European snacks and meals.
reviewed
-
N
Wiener Café
Alluring coffee house with marble-top tables, Parisian-bar chairs and sepia photos. Reasonably priced pastries and freshly prepared porridge make this a great breakfast retreat.
reviewed
-
O
Bar Chemodan
A wonderfully atmospheric, if fiercely expensive, 1920s-themed pub-restaurant stocking dozens of whiskies. The stair lift outside is for both the disabled and the inebriated.
reviewed
-
P
Bierhaus
Upmarket Bavarian-style bierstube (beer hall with heavy wooden furniture) serving Newcastle Brown and Guinness as well as German beers and sausages. English menu.
reviewed
-
Trash & Glam
Trash & Glam ‘All night doggery’ promises this club, a meeting place for Tomsk’s rockers and indie kids. Cover charge for gigs.
reviewed