Fashionable/Top end, Moscow

We have meeting in this restaurant with old school-friends one or two times a year. Restaraunt is good and expensive.

Favorite Dish: All dishes are delicious. So you can chose everything by your taste. I like to enjoy with oysters there. If you are in 5-6 person`s company , I recommend to offer also Big Sea Coctail for whole table. It`s really fine !

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The interior of the restaurant looks and feels like the galley of a ship. There are aquariums which line the walls with many different species of fish in them, and nautical themes throughout. The waiters wear the uniform of a salior's mate. In one room, there are clear, plexi-glass floor, with aquariums under the floors, so that you can dine while watching fish swim underfoot. Quite interesting. The food is good. The prices quite high. A good restaurant for special occassions, but not for everyday dining.

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nice relaxing ambiance, not cheap at all, be ready to pay at least 20$ for a glass of wine But the good one), anyway everyone knows he's paying that much for one of the best views of Moscow-great view over Moskva river, Vorobievy hills, Moscow State University and the stadiun Luzhniki, fashionable dj's are playing there and late evening in summer time it feels perfect. the evening i went there i had occasionaly my camera with me and was very happy to take a lot of pictures that i still like much..of Moscow at sunset

Cafe Pushkin is without a doubt the best restaurant in Moscow, and my favorite.

So much so, that I hesitate to even post it on these pages. The last thing I want is the restaurant to be over-run by loud, obnoxious tourists, which, did I mention, talk too loud. However, in all fairness, I have posted it here with a caveat, do not yell at the waiters, and please turn your stupid mobile phones off.

Cafe Pushkin is spread over three floors, each with their own ambiente - the Pharmacy, the Library and the Mezzanine level. They are open 24/7, but are always quite busy. It is best to make reservations if you are more than a few people.

Last time I was there, we sat beside Mikhail Gorbachev, who was looking years younger, now that he is earning good money on the international speaking circuit, and does not have to worry about running an Empire anymore.

Favorite Dish: The cuisine is traditional Russian, which means wide and varied, as history has endowed Russia with Ukraine, Georgian, Uzbek and other local culinary delights, in addition to homegrown favorites.

They have a good selection of wines, which tend to be quite expensive. Expect to spend no less than $100 per person on the meal, and please give at least 10% tip to the waiters because they are good and they deserve it. This is an experience, so don't be cheap. At home, you would spend more to go to this quality of restaurant.

So go ahead and enjoy my inside tip, but please, just like the wilderness, do not ruin it for those that come after you, or unfortunately must sit beside you and ruin an otherwise perfect evening.

This is probably one of the most expensive resteraunts in Moscow, but if you have a few extra dollars in your pocket the food and atmosphere are worth it. The interior is somewwaht typical of what you would see in Uzbekistan (outside of Tashkent anyway) and there are even belly dancing shows! The food is all pretty much typical of what you would sample in it's Central Asian namesake, although for the price you pay, you cuold probably buy your own resteraunt in Bukhara.

Favorite Dish: I had the plough and it was fantastic! Plough is an Uzbek version of rice pilaf but with alot more fat in it. I would turn into a ballon if Iate it every day (When I was in Tashkent visiting my wifes family I did gain several pounds eating her fathers plough) but on an occasional basis...yum

The interior of the restaurant is unusual: a model of a Ukrainian village. Tables are placed next to the windows with a view at a "village": a grazing horse (live), a cock, a goat and a Ukrainian woman. The opposite windows look like neighbouring khaty (houses). On the menu: borsch, pasties, stuffed aubergines, vareniki with cherries and buckwheat porridge, veal brains, raspberry mousse, real Ukrainian gorilka and lard.

Favorite Dish: Dinner for two, excluding alcohol - up to $50.

It's a cafe with the best view ever, facing Red Sq. and Kremlin wall....
It's a place where one can sit back to back with a Gucci model girl, famous polititian or disgraced tycoon....
It's a nice bay to sit and relax, have a cup of coffee or light lunch observing the glorious past....

There are two things about this place - breathtaking view over Moscow (better to be seen at nights) and wacky man's toilet with huge windows.
On Friday and Sunday nights the bar is fully packed (to book a table in advance would be a good idea), on other days the main crowd start to appear not earlier than 9pm.
Not much to eat there, but there are good cackes and desserts. The place also boasts good collections of wines and cigars.
From time to time really good live jazz is played there.

Everytime I watch Casablanca I lament the lack of a Rick's in real life. So elegant, so Old World, so classy, so romantic.

The pianist is playing Mozart?s Rondo alla Turca downstairs and the music sifts through the smoke as it rises to the mezzanine on the third floor, reaching us like a dream, hushed and exotic.

The mayor of Moscow routinely brings his guests here. President Clinton and President Nixon have been entertained here. Pushkin Caf?, housed in a mansion decorated in the style of the early twentieth century, is widely considered Moscow?s classiest and best restaurant.

The music alternated between piano, violin, clarinet and the harp throughout the evening. Two statues of the Egyptian goddess Baath, a slim black cat with a golden collar, greet guests on the second floor and overlook the staircase. The second and third floor resemble an Old World private library, with antique telescopes, globes, and a bookcases reaching from the second to the top of the third floor. After our starters, I pulled down a book. It was all in French, but the copyright was 1862.

The Russian tradition of after-dinner toasts alone is worth the trip: the host orders everyone a shot of ? what else? ? Russian vodka and begins the toasts by making a short speech about the guest of honor. The first toast used to go to Stalin, but he has since fallen from favor. The toasting does not stop until everyone at the table has ordered a round of shots and made his or her own eloquent (and usually increasingly lengthy) speech. Dinner arguments are apologized for and forgotten, and the unity of the table increases until it is necessary to part, usually at least four hours after the meal began. Russian dining is not just an amusement; it is an experience.

Favorite Dish: amazingly delicate crab salad starter ? just enough to whet the reader?s appetite for the main course (I had the Turbot). The salad is topped with caviar and olives; surprisingly light and fresh but perfectly satisfying.

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A super cool place to hang out, a bookstore cafe and a resaturant all in one. It is spacious, great interior decoration, seems to be popular with young people. We had a great time there, relaxed atmosphere, friendlier staff than in other places we've been to in Moscow. Also the food was great, not something you usually espect in places like that (bookstore-cafe-..), prices were also below average too.

Menu is in russian only and staff spoke only russian, we managed because we know some russian, but the waitress was so kind that she called some girl from one of the table to translate when we didn't understand some words.

Favorite Dish: Everything we tried was great.