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Pelmeny Bar
Specialising in the old Siberian standard pelmeni (dumplings), this cute café serves them up with beef, pork, salmon or mushrooms. Choose a soup or a salad as a starter, and you've got an immensely satisfying meal. The setting feels like a Russian dacha (country cottage), with its wood interior and whimsical dolls floating near the ceiling. Also an excellent place for solo travellers, as you can take the wolf as your dinner companion.
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Pravda
There is nothing new about a retro Soviet-themed restaurant, but somehow it never grows tired: the propaganda posters, the portraits of Lenin, the Internationale . This so-called 'art café' actually promises 'communist lunches', which is rarely the object of such nostalgia. But the place is fun, even the menu of old-fashioned Soviet favourites (and its prices really do hark back to the Soviet period!).
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Restoran
Natural light filters in through large street-level windows, filling the spacious hall. Cream-coloured linens and hardwood floors make for a chic, contemporary décor. It's an interesting contrast to the name of the restaurant (the old-fashioned Russian spelling harks back to the days of Romanov splendour). The menu manages to combine the best of haute russe cuisine with enough modern flare to keep things interesting.
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Russky Kitsch
The centrepiece of this crazy café is a ceiling fresco featuring a shameless Fidel Castro and Leonid Brezhnev entwined in a passionate embrace. It's the biggest and best example of a venue laden with kitsch, just as the name promises. The walls and ceilings are plastered with funny photo collages, featuring scenes from Soviet socialist realism alongside other anachronisms; mismatched tapestries cover Victorian furniture; and menus are fashioned from butchered copies of Lenin's selected works.
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Salkhino
Another justly popular Georgian restaurant, Salkhino serves big portions of delicious food in a convivial, arty setting. Pastel-coloured walls are adorned with paintings by local artists, which is not your typical Georgian décor. But the overall atmosphere is typically Georgian, which means doting service and warm hospitality.
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Seven-Forty
For traditional Jewish home cooking in a delightful, folksy setting, Seven-Forty is worth the trip out of the city centre. Set on two levels, the warm, welcoming interior is scattered with artefacts that may have been scavenged from your Jewish grandmother's basement. The menu is not kosher, but its carefully crafted cuisine is delicious and different. Seven-Forty can be tricky to reach: take tram 40 or catch a cab from the metro station.
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Shinok
Tucked into a folksy interior filled with embroidered linens and painted wooden handicrafts, Shinok is a fun, friendly place to sample Ukrainian fare. The waitstaff may look like Ukrainian peasants, but they speak English and are eager to please. Country cooking like hearty soups and meat-filled vareniki (dumplings) will sate your appetite, and there is live folk music nightly.
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Stolle - City Centre
This is one of St Petersburg's coolest places to come for coffee, although you'd be a fool to leave without sampling one of its magnificent pirogi (pies). In fact, the entire menu is excellent, but the pies are irresistible. A 'stolle' is a traditional Saxon Christmas cake: the selection of sweets and savouries sits on the counter, fresh from the oven. It may be difficult to decide (mushroom or meat; apricot or apple?) but you really can't go wrong.
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Sumeta
Even if you've never had Dagestani food, you'll see plenty of familiar Caucasian dishes in this quiet but friendly place, from Lula kebab (minced-meat kebab) to fried eggplant with garlic and walnuts in sour cream. Try the pumpkin chudu (large pancake) or the selection of Caucasian wines for something new.
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Tbilisi
Decidedly upscale as far as Georgian restaurants go, Tbilisi has a great interior with tiled tables and big booths, made more private by intricate latticework between them. This place is a beloved St Petersburg institution, thanks to its top-notch cooking 'prepared by real Georgian chefs'. Classics such as khachapuri (cheese bread) receive rave reviews. It's also an excellent place to sample some nice Georgian wines.
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Teremok
Sprinkled all over the city, these kiosks are superb value, serving up fresh bliny with the fillings of your choice. There is no seating, so grab your snack to go and eat it at the standing-room-only tables in the vicinity. Besides this central location in the City Centre, there are Teremok outlets outside many metro stations.
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Yolki Palki
Another chain restaurant that got its start and made it big in Moscow, Yolki Palki is now attempting to woo the St Petersburg diners - and having some success of it. Its wooden interior is decorated with stuffed animals and fake trees, reminiscent of the Russian countryside, and its menu specialises in reliable, affordable Russian country classics. The salad bar is the main drawcard here - a huge selection for one fixed price, with no waiting and no deciphering Russian menus.
