azepine00

Looking for restaurant advice for the upcoming trip. Reasonably priced Russian cuisine is of particular interest especially in the vicinity of Bolshoi theater.

Most travel guides seem pretty useless but friends recommended Pushkin (not sure about location).

Thanks.

Dave8481

I will talk to my wife and see if we can up with some good local restaurant suggestions, I can think of several away from the Bolshoi but thats not what you want...Off the top of my head all I can think of are the restaurants in The Park Hyatt, Metropol Hotel, and the Le Meridien Nationa Hotel. All 3 hotels are close to the Bolshoi. There are other hotels close to the Bolshoi as well, but those are the only 3 I have eaten at unfortunately all are expensive, but what in Moscow isn't. There is an Armenian Restaurant in the Park Hyatt that I enjoyed very much. Very interesting story on the Armenian connection to the Park Hyatt, but thats for another day. However, I did enjoy my meals at all 3 hotels.

Here is a link that will take you to the website of a group that operates a whole bunch of different restaurants in Moscow among other places Rosinter Restaurants ...Some you will recognize others you will not. I can recommend 1-2-3 Cafe, IL Patio, and Planet Sushi. If you choose a restaurant it will take you to the restaurant specific page and there you can "find a restaurant" and that will take you to a map which plots all of the locations in Moscow and then you can click on individual dots representing the locations to zoom to get a detailed map of the location using yandex.ru maps (just like yahoo.com maps). 1-2-3 Cafe is the only one that truly offers Russian styled cuisine but I enjoyed their Shashlik and Pelemeni, but I do prefer my wife's pelemeni. It's a very nice group of different restaurants and it can be fun to eat in Russian chain restaurants.

Good luck and I hope I can get my wife to recommend some more "local" places.

David

asnovici

Russian cuisine is probably the best at Cafe Pushkin, however its about 40 minutes walk to Bolshoi, or a short cab ride of about 10 minutes (no traffic) to 30 minutes (traffic). Cafe Pushkin is not cheap, yet excellent. Need to reserve your table at Library floor (top floor).

If you are looking for a little less Russian, but a little more modern feel, try Galleria. Its about 30 minutes by foot from Bolshoi, very close to Pushkin place. There are many other Russian cuisine places (since it is Moscow ) but its hard to advise on anything specific. I would certainly advise against Metropol and National hotel options for dining

Dave8481

I don't know if you have tried it or not, but using a combination of the maps on Yandex and the listings and maps on MoscowOut.ru it's pretty easy to see what restaurants are near the Bolshoi and what metro stops are closest...Last summer we ate dinner on the balcony of a restaurant which was on the top floor of a 5 or 6 story mall/shopping complex that looked right out onto the Lubyanka which used to be the KGB headquarters but now is home to the current agency which took its place...the restaurant was nice and the view was incredible and of course it was a beautiful night...My wife's friends joked with me not to look to closely because the snipers were watching us...The only thing missing was the old statue of Iron Feliks which no longer stands...But again I have no names to give you at this point, but my wife is over there right now so I hope I can get her to give me the names, but using the maps on yandex, eatlas.ru, or just even moscowout.ru should give you a ton of information on restaurants around the Bolshoi, however if you aren't terribly comfortable with Russian it might be a little tough...When are you going to be there? I ask so I know how much time I have to talk to my wife...Sorry I cannot be of any immediate help.

Dave8481

Ok, the restaurant I referenced before that looks out over he old KGB building and the expansive Lubyanskaya Square is called The Loft. It is located on the top floor of the Nautilus Shopping Center. It is just down the street, a short walk to the east of the Bolshoi. It is located right at the Corner of Teatral'nyy pr and Nikol'skaya ul. Its not a huge place, but I loved it and its great sitting outside with the view. Here is a link to a map which plots The Loft's loction TimeOut Moscow Map

Here is the address and phone number:

Б. Никольская, 25, ТК
"Наутилус", 6-й этаж.
933 7713, 933 7714

I hope this is helpful and if you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask and I will do my best to answer.

Dave8481

Okay, so a restaurant my wife would recommend is Gorki...Now unlike the other restaurants I have not had the chance to eat there, but wife ate there a few times because it was a popluar place with the people she worked with this summer...It is up Tverskaya a little way right by the Mayakovskaya metro stop. Not as close to the Bolshoi as The Loft, but still not that far. Here is the link to the website Gorki and if you go down to the bottom there is a place to switch to english.

Here is the address:

1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya st., 3

Sorry for the sporadic posts, but my wife sent me this just after I had posted The Loft.

Also, here is a link to a site that has a good selection of unbiased restaurant reviews for a decent number of Moscow restaurants Moscow Restaurant Reviews

Well, Good luck and I hope I have been of some help and I apologize for all of the different posts as opposed to condensing it all into 1 post.

Firstmate

You willl have no problem to find some nice places to dine in Moscow. Although, Cafe Pushkin is a bit touristy, and slightly expensive, I think most who have been there, have been pleased. It offers tradtiional Russian cuisine, and is a nice experience. Just take the Metro to Pushkinskaya and it is right there.
If you are looking around Bolshoi, I would recommend taking a stroll down Kammergerskiy. It is a smalll walking street 2 or 3 blocks north of the Bolshoi and connects to Tverskaya. On both sides of this small street, you will find several nice restaurants.
Also, depending upon when you are going, if the outdoor terrace at the Conservatory is open it offers quite a nice view overlooking the Bolshoi, and offers not a bad view of Red Square/Kremlin. The Conservatory is located on the 10th floor of the Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel adjacent to the Bolshoi.

azepine00

Thank you very much, Dave8481 and all other posters for the advice.

We'll probably eat at Cafe Pushkin at least once but $100+ for two is a bit excessive for everyday dining, I'd prefer to keep it under $40-50.

One other type of cuisine I'd like to try while there is Georgian/Caucazian. Reviews on virtualtourist suggest Genatsvale on Ostozhenka and several others.

Any advice on that?

apoivre

Genatsvale is actually nothing special but it's in all the guidebooks so you do find it on virtualtourist and the like. The problem with the best Georgian restaurants is they are usually out there in the outskirts of Moscow. If you can settle for an Armenian restaurant, by all means go to Noah's Ark (it's in Kitai-gorod area, very close to the Kremlin) or to the Hyatt. Otherwise there's a really good Azeri place, Versay, a stone throw from Café Pushkin. At Versay you're looking at something like 15-20 a head, a bit more at Noah's Ark.

P.S. If you do go to the Pushkin, don't eat at the ground floor, at the so called Pharmacy. Go upstairs to the Library or, if the weather's good, dine on the roof. At Pushkin it's the higher it is, the better it is (and the more it costs). And if you do find yourself at their roof, have a look up and chances are you'll see me smoking at the sundeck of our office

WindFlyer

I second the recommendations to Pushkin. You should go there once... (I wouldn't advise for everyday eating unless you have a good expense account ). It is the best traditional Russian cuisine I've had.

As for distance to the Bolshoi... If there's a lot of traffic, it can take just as long to cab it as to walk (a nice downhill stroll on Tverskaya; be sure to turn left at Kamergersky Per. so you don't have to backtrack to the Novaya Tsena). The metro is also a possibility (Tverskaya to Teatralnaya Stations on the #2 line), but pay attention as those are multi-station stations.

lewinr

if you really want "reasonably priced", then try Yolki Polki, which is a short walk behind the bolshoi. it isnt the pushkin (and it is a chain) but it has genuine russian food at reasonable prices, and the interior is the style of a country village. I quite like this place, and I often take guests here (and to Pushkin also of course!) I dont remember if they have any menus in English.

Another similar option with a Ukrainian theme is Korchma (Taras Bulba) where they have menus in many different languages. This is also a chain with many locations throughout the city.

(it is at the corner of Kuznetsky Most and Neglinaya).

sobore

As mentioned Yolki Polki was very good. I had the grilled chicken. ^
Genatsvale was lacking in decor but the food was very good.
Another place I ate at called MY-MY (pronounced: MOO MOO) has a cow theme and decent prices. Food was ok.

lewinr

The Gentasvale just off Old Arbat has the best interior.
Tiflis on Ostozhenka is my favourite choice for summertime georgian food if budget is not a big issue. I went there last week but it is not the same when they have no Georgian wine or minerial water...

Dave8481

I would say as others have that yes you should dine at the Pushkin and in my opinion for no other reason than to say that yes you did eat at the Pushkin...I ate there a few times last summer and we ate out on the roof and each evening we did it was beautiful outside so it was nice, but while I did enjoy most of the food there I was not overwhelmed by the quality of the food I ate there...So after Pushkin I stand by my recommendation of The Loft as mentioned earlier if you can get a table outside...the food was great, the service was great, and the view was outstanding...Just remember to bring your camera...I don't know if anyone else has eaten at this restaurant and it's very possible that not everyone shares my opinion, but The Loft really left an impression with me.

After reading my posts on this thread...it might be easy to draw the conclusion that I am more in love with this restaurant than I am with my wife...Ok, I promise no more of my sick love fest with The Loft, but it is a good restaurant...jeez I can't stop

paulmoscow

There's a good restaurant not very far from Bolshoi and Marriott Royal Aurora, it's called Petrovskiy on Petrovka street: http://www.petrovskiy-rest.ru/contact.html