Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Sorry! We don't have any recommendations for Moscow right now.
In a city where onion domes and Soviet-era monoliths bespeak a long, varied, and storied past, it's easy to forget that the dining scene is relatively new, having emerged with democratization in 1991. Now, nearly twenty-five years later, the Moscow restaurant scene is still going through growing pains and has yet to find its pace. This is good news for adventurous diners. You might still find yourself being served by pantaloon-and-ruffled bedecked "serfs" beneath glittering chandeliers in one of the showy, re-created settings that arose in the post-Soviet era—and that even a tsar would find to be over the top.
But many restaurants now approach their food sensibly and seriously. A new crop of chefs is serving traditional Russian fare, often giving it some innovative twists. One European cuisine to invade the city anew is Italian, and scores of dark-haired chefs from the Mediterranean are braving the cold to bring Muscovites minestrone and carbonara. Other ethnic restaurants have long since arrived as well, and you can sample Tibetan, Indian, Chinese, Latin American, or Turkish cuisine any night of the week.
One welcome, long-standing Russian tradition that remains in place is a slow-paced approach to a meal. It's common for people to linger at their tables long after finishing dessert, and you're almost never handed the bill until you ask for it. Keep in mind that chef turnover is high in Moscow, which means restaurants can change quickly—and that there's always a new culinary experience to be had in this ever-evolving city.
One of the very few places in Moscow with a terrace on Red Square is on the first floor of the GUM department store. You pay for the view, but the Mediterranean fare is tasty, and you can just order a coffee if you're not hungry for a meal. The terrace closes once it gets cold.
It's all about the view atop this Stalin-era skyscraper that also houses the Radisson Royal hotel. The cuisine takes few chances, hewing to classics, such as lemony octopus salad and sea bream with tomato and fennel, while the desserts are fanciful and fantastic.
This is one of the few truly excellent Italian restaurants in a city full of pretenders. Brand chef Nicola Canuti is a pupil of French great Alain Ducasse, and his creative Mediterranean cuisine has an artistic flair. The menu is large, with standouts that include foie gras with a sangria sauce and a signature 36-hour braised lamb. Potted plants dot the sumptuous glassed-in dining room, making it feel like a modern noble's playhouse/greenhouse.
This British pizza chain has slowly cornered the market for inexpensive Italian fare in Moscow with several branches. The Tverskaya location is the largest, serving decent pizzas and pasta dishes to local business people, students, and foreigners who pack into the two floor of dining rooms. Reasonably priced wines are available by the glass.
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
Thank you for your interest!
