Saint Petersburg Restaurant Tips by sue_stone

Restaurant Name: Tolstiy Frayer

Located just off Nevsky Prospekt, and conveniently just across the road from our hotel was this interesting small beer hall/restaurant.

Tolstiy Frayer is located below street level, and is decorated in with communist paraphernalia. It serves a selection of mainly local beers, including several types of Baltika.

Staff were friendly, though not too efficient....there was plenty of them just standing about, ignoring customers.

Favorite Dish: We sampled a couple different blends of Baltika beer and dined on a traditional meal of soup with pelemini (a type of dumpling).

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 314 5921
Address: Kirpichny per 1
Directions: Nearest metro: Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor - 10 minutes walk

Restaurant Name: Da Vinci

Although classed as an Italian restaurant, Da Vinci serves Italian, Russian & Japanese cuisine, and more. It is located 2 blocks back from Nevsky Prospekt, close to St Isaac's Cathedral.

We had dinner here one night and decided to sit out on the street side terrace. There was a band playing some old jazz favourites, so it was quite relaxing on a mild summer evening.

Favorite Dish: We had a couple of beers and ate the "Fillet of veal "Pompea's fall" under cheese "Bri".... It was edible....nothing amazing.

Service was a bit hap-hazard...and slow, but friendly enough.

I read that some nights they have strippers, but didn?t seem to be anything like that going on when we were there....though the waiting staff did wear incredibly short skirts.

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: 571-01-73
Address: Mal. Morskaya 15
Directions: Nearest metro: Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor - about 12 minutes walk

Close to St Isaac's Cathedral
Website: http://www.davinci.spb.ru/index_eng.html
Other Contact: mail@davinci.spb.ru

Restaurant Name: Kafe Galereya at Peterhof Palace

After a boring visit inside the Peterhof Palace, we were in need of some cheering up, so lunch seemed like the solution.

We decided to risk a possible over-priced meal, and dined at Kafe Galereya, as it was the only dining venue in the palace grounds that got a mention in Lonely Planet, meaning that hopefully the food would be edible.

It is a really nice looking place, with plenty of windows making it a light, summery feeling place, with views over the gardens.

Service was quiet friendly, though slow as it was busy and one waiter was running around trying to cater to all the diners demands.

Favorite Dish: We ate lots of bread and dumpling soup, and some really bad tasting Russian sparkling water.

One tricky thing was that they didn't take credit card....luckily they took not only roubles, but US dollars and GB pounds as well, otherwise we would have been washing dishes!

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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: 427 7068
Directions: Located at Peterhof Palace, right next to the palace
Website: http://www.peterhof.org/info.html

Restaurant Name: Friendly Cafe on Nevsky Prospekt

There is a café on Nevsky Prospekt, right near the start of the street (Hermitage end) that we went to a few times…but do you think I can remember/find the name!

Part of a chain (and co-incidentally the same chain as the café we went to in GUM in Moscow), it was a large friendly place, with a mezzanine style upstairs area, and a non-smoking section.

Favorite Dish: Serving all sorts of coffee, sandwiches and light meals, along with a large selection of cakes, which are temptingly displayed for ease of ordering.

But the main reason we kept coming back here, beside the fact it was close to our hotel (and that they had an English menu) was for the ice cream! They sold my favourite, Baskin & Robbins…..and when on holiday, I don’t think it is wrong to have ice cream for lunch - do you!?

There are also a couple of internet terminals at the back of the café, and clean toilets.

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Theme: Coffeehouse
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Nevsky Prospekt, 7-9
Directions: Nearest metro: Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor - 10 minute walk

Only a few minutes walk from the Hermitage