5 oldest restaurants in St. Petersburg
Where did Rasputin, the confidant of the imperial family, like to dine? Where did famous Russian writers go to converse with their peers? Well, these prominent restaurants are not merely in the history books. They’re open today and we can visit and try their dishes.
1. Palkin
Restaurant "Palkin" in 1910-1914.
In 1874, the restaurant entrepreneur Konstantin Palkin opened a lavish venue for fine dining, with a marble staircase, a grand fountain, and exotic plants. Located in the center of St. Petersburg, on the corner of Nevsky and Liteiny prospects, this restaurant quickly gained popularity among young people thanks to its reasonably priced but high quality delicious dishes, excellent wine list, and room for billiards. They say that Gogol, Chekhov, Bunin, Tchaikovsky and Blok loved to frequent Palkin.
The restaurant closed in 1917, unable to stay profitable in the wake of the government’s alcohol prohibition that had been introduced during World War I. In Soviet times, the building hosted a cinema, but in 2002, it opened again after extensive restoration work. Experts from the State Hermitage Museum helped restore its halls.
Restaurant "Palkin".
The new menu embraced the sumptuous flair of the imperial era, and included dishes such as sterlet baked in champagne, venison carpaccio with blackberries, or rum baba with sugar fudge and cloudberry jam.
There are also several dishes for connoisseurs of wild game: well-boiled bear meat with wheat and berry sauce or brown hare with kidneys, ground with wheat souffle, and a herbal sauce.
Address: Nevsky Prospekt, 47
Average bill: 4000 rubles ($45)
2. Astoria
Restaurant "Astoria".
The Astoria restaurant is located on the ground floor of the hotel of the same name right in front of the famous St. Isaac’s Cathedral. The year 1912 is the date of the restaurant’s founding. Since then, it has transformed many times, but it still attracts guests with its location, the luxury of its interiors, and its cuisine.
Here, apart from European cuisine, you can try authentic Russian dishes: Pozharsky cutlets, Olivier salad with Kamchatka crab, Orlov-style veal, borsch, solyanka, or Leningrad-style rassolnik – a proper one, with pickles, beef, pearl barley, and vegetables.
People also come to Astoria for afternoon tea – the ‘Rotonda’ lounge hosts daily teas with traditional Russian bliny, pirozhki, buns, and desserts. Tea and finger foods are served on a fine porcelain set with a cobalt web pattern from the Imperial Porcelain Factory.
Adress: Bolshaya Morskaya, 39
Average bill: 2400 rub ($27)
3. Metropol
Restaurant "Metropol".
In the late 19th century, the restaurant entrepreneur A. Nemchinsky rented a building a stone’s throw away from Nevsky Prospekt, on the corner of Sadovaya Street and Krylov Alley. He opened the first restaurant on this spot, and it was the predecessor of Metropol, which later became a favorite place to dine for leading poets of the Silver Age, as well as the Romanov family, and Grigory Rasputin, who was the confidant of Empress Alexandra.
Even though an extraordinarily opulent place, Metropol managed to find favor among the proletarian elite of the Soviet era. The restaurant became the place where Soviet leaders sometimes entertained official delegations and heads of state from overseas. Among the most prominent guests over the years were the Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and French leader Jacques Chirac.
Restaurant "Metropol".
In 2009, the restaurant was renamed in the Franco-Belgian manner – to “Brasserie de Metropole”. The large wide open space inside was separated into three parts: two restaurant halls and a classic Belgian pub. Today, the menu features both Russian and European dishes: Beef Stroganoff with mashed potatoes; also, there are exquisite scallops stuffed with truffles and Dorblu sauce; and certainly try the Finnish-style ukha and borsch with smoked beef.
Address: Sadovaya, 22/2
Average bill: 2700 rubles ($31)
4. Europa
Restaurant "Europa".
Since Saint Petersburg was Russia’s imperial capital, it’s not surprising that the density of high-end restaurants in the city center was very high. Another hotel with a luxurious restaurant in the city center near Square of the Arts opened in 1875 – the Grand Hotel Europa. The hotel’s restaurant, which was merely called Europa, opened its doors to the city’s beautiful people and big spenders in 1905. Anyone who is particularly interested in late imperial era interiors will be impressed by the gigantic stained glass window and carved wooden balconies.
This restaurant was frequented by a multitude of famous foreign guests. In the late 20th century, prominent guests included the likes of Bill Clinton and Sharon Stone. If you get the chance to dine here, then certainly try bliny with caviar and steamed Kamchatka crab Romanov-style. There are also Sunday brunches with a seafood buffet and Tchaikovsky evenings – musical dinners with opera and ballet artists’ performances.
Address: Mikhailovskaya, 1/7
Average bill: 2500 rubles ($28)
5. Stray Dog’s Cellar (“Podval brodyachey sobaki”)
Restaurant "Stray Dog’s Cellar".
This place is today marketed as the favorite cafe of Silver Age artistic and literary circles, and indeed it was. From 1911 to 1915, the Stray Dog’s Cellar was frequented by poets Anna Akhmatova, Nikolai Gumilev, Osip Mandelstam, and theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold. They say that another famous visitor, the proletarian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, would often get the better of other guests in a game of orlyanka (heads or tails where you have to guess which side of the flipped coin will face up).
In Soviet times, however, this once popular imperial era hangout was turned into storage, as well as workshops. The cafe was relaunched in 2001, and today you can admire its historical red-brick vaults and the stage with a red velvet curtain. People come here for both the food (we recommend not to skip the draniki with sour cream or pike cutlets), as well as the artistic evenings and chamber literary performances.
Address: Arts Square, 5/4
Average bill: 1300 rubles ($15)
READ MORE: 6 dishes that you must try while in St. Petersburg
