Moscow has a lot of high quality restaurants with great vibes, quality food, and friendly service. Several new restaurants, like
Gorynych, Severyane and Sempre are truly original and will probably leave such a strong impression you will want to come back, again and again.
Those who want to re-live tsarist Russia, should head to
Pushkin Restaurant: chandeliers, pre-Revolutionary fonts in the menu, ceiling cornices etc. Obviously you will pay for the ambience, but food is exceptional.
Another great place to try authentic Russian food is Lavka Lavka farm restaurant, which serves delicious locally grown (often organic) stuff. Every item on the menu has the name of the farmer who provided the ingredients for it. Another authentic place, but with a twist, is a Siberian cuisine Chemodan restaurant: they have great recipes featuring nordic fish and deer dishes.
A concept store and a café
Kuznetsky Most 20 should satisfy those who look for the healthy and don’t look that much at the prices. Good place to work though, if you need a some time with your laptop and fast Wi-Fi.
Another fine-dining options is
Ugolek Restaurant, one of the most popular places in Moscow now. It is famous for its antique ovens, which add the very special flavour to originally simple dishes. Prices don’t bite as they could. Generally, expect to pay around €20 for a meal.
One of the top destinations in summer -
Veranda 32.05, which has a terrace inside the
Hermitage Garden, green oasis in the very center of Moscow. Before mentioned Ugolek and Delicatessen have terraces as well.
Reserve a table for one of the nights at
Café Mayak, the oldest hang out of intelligentsia, actors, famous lawyers, writers, and people in the "scene". Who knows whom will you meet there: maybe a philosopher, maybe a drinking buddy.
When you are ready, dive into authentic and a little bit rough environment in Ryumochnaya, Stolovaya N10, or even Bar Zasada if you happened to be near metro Pervomayskaya or visiting Izmailovsky Park. Prices will be low, food - traditional, experience - off-scaling and illuminating.
The last but not the least, Chaikhona N1 and Khinkalnaya N1 are not to be missed. They serve Uzbek and Georgian cuisine pearls respectively.