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Siberia

Restaurants in Siberia

  1. Fast Fud

    .The future is orange at Fast Fud, a garishly decorated McDonalds rip-off, situated on the 1st floor of what will one day be the Alexandrovsky Sad Hotel. Choose mediocre burgers, chips and salads from the picture menu – portions are stingy.

    reviewed

  2. A

    Russkaya Chaynaya

    Wonderful place boasting a plush fin de siècle interior equipped with gleaming samovars, matryoshka salt and pepper shakers and a collection of yesteryear tea boxes. The astroturfed summer beer garden belongs to the Red Hall Pub downstairs.

    reviewed

  3. Retro

    Confused decor combining Marilyn Monroe, the Eiffel Tower and cobbled Central Europe, but tasty, if pricey, meat, seafood and salads. For dessert try ‘gifts of the taiga’ – ice cream with forest berries, honey and cedar nuts. English menu.

    reviewed

  4. Krasnaya Palatka

    Watch skiers slither down the slopes from the huge circular windows at this film-themed self-service cafeteria. The decor is trendy, but the Russian and international dishes are unexciting and perhaps appreciated more after a long hike or climb in the Stolby.

    reviewed

  5. B

    Stolitsa

    This elegant upstairs restaurant has red, black and gold décor, modernist Buddhist-influenced art and old photos of Ulan-Ude. There's a menu in English and a vastly cheaper zakusochnaya (café) around the side. Handy for the train station.

    reviewed

  6. C

    Samovar

    Friendly, costumed staff add to the old-Russia atmosphere of this cute basement restaurant with wooden ceiling beams, spinning wheels and garlands of medicinal herbs. The menu is firmly traditional Russian, heavy with pelmeni and bliny.

    reviewed

  7. D

    Pivnoy Klub

    If you're out near Hotel Vostok and in need of a feed, try the low-key bierkeller pub Pivnoy Klub with heavy wooden seats, displaying Gambrinus glasses and serving perfectly cooked chicken ragout using wonderfully crunchy fresh vegetables.

    reviewed

  8. E

    Na Zamorskoy

    Fresh roses, rattan furniture, raffia-threaded blinds and lots of potted plants make this a soothing lunch spot. Enjoy delicious ham-and-cheese stuffed bliny and an excellent latte while watching the trams rattle past the church opposite.

    reviewed

  9. Teatralnoe Café

    This refined theatre-themed café features tasty cakes, warming soups (try the solyanka – a soup of pickled vegetables, meat and potato, R90) and a wide selection of teas and coffee. The bland pizzas are to be avoided.

    reviewed

  10. Fiesta

    This midrange café has a pleasant summer beer terrace, but the music can get appallingly loud in the evenings. Food is a Siberian approximation of American fast food. There’s a R40 cover charge from 7pm on Friday and Saturday.

    reviewed

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  12. F

    Chashka

    Delft-style tiles, wooden half-wall panelling and a fireplace give a nominally Dutch decor while the menu (available in English) ranges from Creole pork to Thai beef via a satisfying forest mushroom soup that comes with sour cream (R95).

    reviewed

  13. G

    Bliny Bar

    Superb stuffed bliny made to order in a fast-food-style diner. There's another branch on the 3rd floor of the City Tsentr shopping mall which has a useful 1st-floor supermarket and whose Voskhod Bakery stand has great cheese strudels.

    reviewed

  14. H

    Tbilisi

    Despite growing competition, this atmospheric tavern-cavern still offers the most authentic Georgian cuisine in town. Try the filling, oozingly cheese-filled khachapuri po-imeretinsk(Georgian bread stuffed with salty cheese).

    reviewed

  15. I

    Kafe Temp

    For a slice of pure Soviet ambience try Kafe Temp, a sit-down cafeteria with archetypal 1970s décor. Amusingly surly staff bark bad-temperedly from behind gently vibrating displays of typical pre-served stolovaya stodge.

    reviewed

  16. J

    Pizza Iceberg

    Join Abakan’s youth in this modern pizza place for some fast food eaten to a techno beat. The R50 grilled chicken and R40 salads are better than the microwaved pizza, and a chemical coffee in melting plastic cup is just R10.

    reviewed

  17. K

    Lanch Kafe

    Within the same building as fast-food eatery GrillMaster, but entered from the rear (park side) is the super-popular Lanch Kafe , above which is a great Italian restaurant and a chilled-out, cushion-floored DJ-bar serving sushi.

    reviewed

  18. L

    FoodMaster

    Despite the ill-fittingly banal name, this is a wonderful café with painstakingly restored plasterwork tracery on the high ceilings. The menu (in English) ranges from Chinese to Mexican – try a Siberian burrito!

    reviewed

  19. King’s Food

    So-so food, striking pillar-box red and jet-black decor and crass Russian MTV; on hot days use the cutlery to slice a hole in the air to breathe through. On the plus side it’s cheap, clean and conveniently central.

    reviewed

  20. M

    Kafe Minimo

    Genuine, if somewhat underspiced, Georgian food is easy to select from helpful picture menus. Dine in the beamed upstairs restaurant-hall or in the small, pleasant bar area. Khachapuri takes 25 minutes to cook.

    reviewed

  21. N

    U Dzhuzeppe

    Cloyingly cute puppy photos undermine the otherwise understated elegance of high ceilings and wrought-iron fittings. Fruity eggplant and stuffed squid are much better than the microwaved pizza slices. Menu in English.

    reviewed

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  23. O

    Monplezir

    Beneath a splendid old building, Monplezir offers salads, cakes and a large range of mainly meat-based dishes to Omsk’s slowly growing middle class. You may get odd stares if you turn up looking scruffy…

    reviewed

  24. P

    Tsiplyata Tabaka

    Floral murals and fake stone carvings contrast intriguingly with Austin Powers–style lighting. Roast chicken priced by weight is the only main course (R36 per 100g). Add salads, vegetables and reasonably priced wine.

    reviewed

  25. Q

    Zolotoy Drakon

    Redecorated in contemporary scarlet-and-white chinoiserie, Ulan-Ude's best predominantly Chinese restaurant usefully offers choices of portion sizes plus several European options. One room has an open fire in winter.

    reviewed

  26. Serp i Molod

    A tongue-in-cheek Soviet theme, a menu in English and live music most nights make this a fun place to eat. The atmosphere improves the later it gets. Hidden just off pl Sovetov; follow the hammer and sickle signs.

    reviewed

  27. R

    Anastasia Restaurant

    The unexpectedly good value Anastasia Restaurant serves delicious 'epicure roulette' (apricots and walnuts stuffed into a breast of chicken - though chicken is cunningly misspelt as 'bacon' on the English menu!).

    reviewed