10 Best Restaurants in Moscow, Russia

This modern chain of cafes shares a name with Georgia's most beloved culinary export, a crispy pie filled with a creamy, tangy cheese (six varieties of this Caucasus pizza are on the menu). The brick walls and track lighting at this popular branch create a bright and airy space, and the cooking displays a refreshing contemporary sensibility, with the always luscious chanakhi (a lamb stew, light with fragrant cilantro) and the hinkali (large dumplings you eat with your hands) available with salmon or pumpkin in addition to the traditional ground beef. Go for lunch to get the best value.

The name comes from a popular Russian pastry, but there's nothing common or traditional about the presentations in this old mansion stripped down to its bare-brick walls. Head Chef Dmitry Shurshakov lets fresh, locally sourced ingredients shine through in dishes like stewed turkey necks with pearl barley and spiced carrot puree, and cauliflower and cod liver crème brûlée. You can enjoy the namesake vatrushka, a cottage cheese–filled pie, for dessert.

This reliable Italian chain with outlets throughout Moscow may not whisk you away to a Roman piazza or the Tuscan countryside, but you can expect a well-cooked risotto and efficient if unenthusiastic service in slick environs. In the Kremlin branch, a very popular terrace that overlooks ulitsa Tverskaya is great for sipping a beer and watching the crowds in summer. Portions can be a bit small—an entrée may not fill you up if you're famished—but everything is very fresh.

Oompah music plays in the background, dirndl-clad waitresses carry fistfuls of liter-size mugs, and the smell of sauerkraut lingers in the air. Whether you fancy a snack of knockwurst or just want to sample German and Czech beers, this is the place. Instead of sitting indoors, head through the arch to the left of the main entrance to reach the quiet courtyard that holds the biggest beer garden in Moscow. Food is served in both areas, but credit cards are accepted only in the restaurant.

This massive Uzbek café and lounge on ploshchad Pushkin is part of a chain with almost 20 locations around the city and offers diners the chance to sample traditional dishes like plov, a rice pilaf with lamb, and succulent kebabs. Each pillow, light fixture, painting, and plate is worthy of note. The only downside is that hookahs are a major part of the concept, so don't be surprised if the flavor of your neighbor's aromatic tobacco smoke infuses your meal.

Students and a sizeable portion of the local office-worker population flock here for the three-course lunch special, and in the evening, the low lighting and soft wood tones provide a warm and intimate setting. The eclectic menu veers from the Alps to the Andes, and the salade niçoise and the steak with peppercorn sauce are standouts.

The minimalist interior isn't necessarily welcoming, but this a great place for a quick, healthy lunch near the city sights. There are lots of fresh salads with some ingredients that are quite rare in Russia, like quinoa and soy sprouts, and the sweet potato fries are a great indulgence. While here, try one of the many vitamin-packed mixed vegetable juices.

This may be one of Moscow's most popular clubs, but before the dance floor opens up, it lays out the tables for its own hearty, delicious food, for some of the most reasonable prices in the city center. The cuisine ranges over all the continents, from Indian to Thai to Russian, but the dishes are kept simple, and service is quick. The filling sandwiches and pastas, with such accompaniments as curried chicken and porcini mushrooms, are particularly good values. Warning: the place gets smokey at night.

A row of windows and the blond-wood patio provide you with a panorama of the Moskva River, the Kremlin, and the white marble monolith of Christ the Savior cathedral. Though the location alone warrants a visit, a reliable menu offers an interesting mix of salads, pastas, and grilled meats, and service is solicitous. The place buzzes with hipster youth and a velvet rope appears on Friday and Saturday nights, but, as at many Moscow clubs, foreigners don't usually have a problem getting in.

Copies of works by namesake Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani decorate the whitewashed walls that, along with wood-paneled ceilings, create the aura of an artist's studio. Try to sit by the window in the main hall or on the balcony so you can enjoy beautiful views of New Maiden's Convent, across the pond. The menu reads like a Georgian cookbook, though some complain that the food can be a bit hit or miss. But order the hachapuri, Georgian cheese pie, and a kebab and you can't go wrong.