Volgograd
Popular cafe, where the tea is actually better than the namesake cappuccino and the cakes are very good and taste homemade. The homemade ice cream is very…
Must-see nightlife in Russia
St Petersburg
Retro movie posters, mix-and-match furniture and a working juke box provide the shabby-chic wrapper for this relaxed cafe-bar serving hot drinks, beer and…
Volga Region
This terrace grill restaurant (mains R700) is popular in nice weather, and the dance bar upstairs can go on into the wee hours on warm summer weekends.
Sakhalin Island
Expats in the know head to this big dark-wood bar for cold beer and pub grub (mains R300 to R1000), famous seafood chowder and themed party nights.
Northern European Russia
This 'Parisian' cafe is a favourite with locals for its decent coffee and delectable cakes (skip the wafer-thin pizza and the soggy pasta, though).
St Petersburg
The Petrograd Side branch of this quirky chain of hipster cafe-bars – like the others it's arty and a very pleasant place to cool your feet.
Yekaterinburg
Doc Scotch is one of the liveliest pubs in town and has the advantage of being very central. Inside, expect lots of wood and even more beer.
Eastern Siberia
Unusually big-windowed corner cafe with frilly lace curtains, proper European-style cafe chairs, the odd leathery bench and decent brews.
Volga Region
This elegant cafe in a former burgher house evokes fin-de-siècle Paris and serves a few inexpensive light dishes (R200) such as soup.
Russian Caucasus
The balcony in view of the ski mountain and Mt Donguzorun is a prime place to sink suds après-ski. They occasionally have live music.
Yakutsk
The most popular club in the centre, Evropa is a five-storey complex with dance club, sports bar, bowling alley and, uh, strip club.
Novosibirsk
Everything from Latin dancing to DJs to heavy-rock concerts. Thursday is ladies' night and Tuesdays feature two-for-one cocktails.
Eastern Siberia
This surprisingly metropolitan cafe inside the train station serves good coffee and snacks till the last night train is gone.
Irkutsk
Simple, no-nonsense coffee place with a Western feel and pricey drinks. Good central place to hang out and surf the web.
Volga Region
Local Starbuck's knock-off but with superior coffee as well as very good sweets and cakes. Excellent central location.
Nizhny Novgorod
Anything from electro and house through to rock at Nizhny's largest club – two floors, four rooms and face control.
St Petersburg
One of the more upmarket of the city's bakery-cafe chains, Volkonsky offers reviving brews and tempting confections.
Ufa
One of Ufa’s most popular spots for a coffee break, with jazz music, B&W photos and fashionable young folk.
Murmansk
Atmospheric British-style pub, with dark-wood furniture and a good selection of imported beers.
Presnya
Enter from the back courtyard, and climb the graffiti-scrawled staircase to the 2nd floor to find this hole-in-the-wall craft-beer paradise. There's not…
St Petersburg
Not far away from Vladimirsky Cathedral, this secret Mexican bar is a place with various creative cocktails along with simple Mexican food. It's hard to…
Astrakhan
Wonderful spot on the riverfront to stop for a coffee, a beer or a bite to eat. Krem does passable salads (R250) as well as sushi and meat dishes (mains…
Graf Suvorov & Mead-Tasting Hall
Suzdal
Sit beneath vaulted ceilings and contemplate kitsch murals of Russian military hero Count Suvorov’s exploits in the Alps as you make your way through a…
St Petersburg
Russian urbanites have always harboured a special admiration for the quaint provincialism of Eastern Europe, hence this smallish bar with old-fashioned…
Arbat & Khamovniki
The name choice is truly regrettable (especially with the thumbs-up 'like' symbol). But if you can get past that, this is an inviting and enjoyable place…
Sofya Petrovna Kuvshinnikova's Coffeehouse
Golden Ring
The service here isn't the fastest but this embankment cafe is the most central place in town to go for coffee and breakfast (or dessert). It's named…
Golden Ring
Local hipsters love this self-ironic bar, perhaps for the snug, oversized upholstered booths that make you feel like you've got your own little private…
Yaroslavl
In a spacious and noisy premises, waiters dressed as members of a Bavarian um-pah-pah band run up and down the stairs bringing one-litre beer mugs and…
Yaroslavl
Part of a nationwide trend, this 'anti-cafe' charges for the time you spend on the premises and provides coffee and great homemade cookies for free. You…
Volga Region
This is the first branch of what is now a chain eight 'Coffee & Chocolate' shops around Saratov. Each has a slightly different theme – here the idea is…
Golden Ring
The swords and medieval sconces at this booth-filled bar-lounge are perhaps a bit over the top, but if you want to keep the party going late, it's open…
Volga Region
Set among a constellation of eating and drinking places along ul Nomto Ochirova – many of them popular with a very young crowd – Alyans caters to a more…
Presnya
The 'conversation' at this inviting, contemporary cafe is sure to revolve around the elaborate display of cakes and pies which is its centrepiece. Soups…
Khabarovsk
Features nightly shows (rock or country bands, cabaret), 10 brews on tap, tattooed bartenders and a long wooden bar. Upstairs is a veranda bar with street…
St Petersburg
This is one of the city's most hidden bars – you don’t know the exact address until about two hours before the reservation. It has about 50 types of…
Western European Russia
Set on the Volga River (opposite City Garden's Ferris wheel on the other side of the river) the popular Kafe Vremya (Cafe Time) is a great spot for a…
Tomsk
Siberia’s first Irish pub was founded over a century ago by a certain Mr Crawley, an Anglo-Egyptian albino who’d gotten stuck in Tomsk after touring with…
Western European Russia
Taking a stab at re-creating a traditional Japanese teahouse, this place has floor seating, screens and low tables. An excellent range of tea is on offer …
St Petersburg
This is the joint that kicked off the whole Dumskaya dive-bar scene in 2004. We'd say it's showing its age, but truth is that it was never about keeping…
