Restaurants in Moscow
Moscow's restaurant scene has exploded in recent years, with international options throughout the city, but particularly in upmarket neighbourhoods like Kuznetsky Most and Patriarch's Ponds. Affordable choices, and many 24-hour options, can be found around the main streets - Arbat and Tverskaya - and at great-value buffet chain Grably. Georgian and Azerbaijani eateries, like Shesh Besh, are normally a safe bet. Most restaurants open 12pm-12am. Service is not usually included - 15% is about right.
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22 Results
- European
Academiya
This low-key eatery is a favorite hangout of politicians, who come here for lunch or dinner from the Duma (the Russian parliament), which is nearby; in summer the outside tables are a top Moscow spot for people-watching. The menu is modern and eclectic, with the usual lunch…$$Near Red Square, off Tverskaya St. - Bulgarian, Eastern European
Baba Marta
Named after Grandma Mart, a Bulgarian folk character who's a harbinger of spring, this is the rare Moscow restaurant that serves authentic Bulgarian food. The main ingredients in these typically simple and quite amble dishes consist of different types of meats, potatoes, and…$Gogolevsky Boulevard - Café
Bar Strelka
Strelka is arguably the trendiest café in town. Artists, writers, architects, posh hipsters, academics, and all types of movers and shakers come here for a cappuccino or a cocktail amid the posh bohemian vibe, which is enhanced by comfortable couches and views of the Kremlin and the…$$$Near Christ the Savior Cathedral - American, Burgers
Beeftro
Drop in at this cozy French spot for the best burger in Moscow—all the beef here is from either Australia or the US. You can design your own or try one of the specialties: a cheeseburger, smothered in Beeftro's own special sauce and topped with American cheese and pickles, is…$$Tsvetnoi Bulvar - Russian, French
Bolshoi
The restaurant, named for the Bolshoi theater, which is nearby, serves high-end Russian cuisine in a suitable lavish setting, as might be expected from the famed restaurateur Arkady Novikov. The dining room is decorated in white, red, and blue, with round dark-wood tables and…$$$Kuznetsky Most - Italian, European
Bosco Cafe
After snapping some photos in Red Square, stop in at the upscale Bosco Café to enjoy a coffee or an ice cream—it's a great place for lunch as well as for people-watching or a coffee break. Russia's love for flashy lavishness comes alive here: it's usually crowded during…$$$Red Square - European, French
Café Mayak
Until 2006 this artsy café that's atop the still-functioning Mayakovsky Theater was an exclusive club for actors and their friends, but now it's open to the general public as well. It's a favorite with journalists, musicians, and expats as well as actors, in part because the food is…$Near Tverskoy Boulevard - Russian, European
Café Pushkin
This "new Russian" classic has been around since the late 1990s, but it's still the to-go place for a taste of aristocratic 19th-century czarist Russia. Inside a renovated 18th-century mansion, the dimly lit three-story restaurant is meant to resemble a nobleman's house. The guards,…$$$Near Pushkin Square - Café, European
Coffeemania
Stop in at this branch of a national chain to try one of its award-winning cappuccinos. Coffeemania takes its coffee very seriously here, and there are also lots of tea, juice, and cocktail choices. The menu changes from season to season, but it always has a big selection of…$$Near the Alexander Garden - French, European
Cristal Room Baccarat
Located on the second floor of the Moscow Maison Baccarat, this modern-French restaurant is a perfect spot for a classy romantic dinner or an important business meeting. The location alone, a refurbished 18th-century mansion that used to house a pharmacy, is worth a visit. The…$$$Near Lubyanka Square - Steakhouse
El Gaucho
This Argentinian steakhouse chain, popular with wealthy men, is the to-go place for a business lunch or dinner, or just a sophisticated, and very expensive, steak dinner. Fittingly for such a manly place, the interior looks like a posh version of a cowboy cantina. Service is…$$$Paveletskaya - Italian
Il Forno
Situated as it is near the TSUM department store and the so-called "golden mile," which has some of Moscow's most expensive real estate, Il Forno is almost bound to be impressive. Although all the food is authentic, with ingredients imported from Italy, and most of the pasta…$$Near Christ the Savior Cathedral - Georgian, Russian, European
Khachapuri
Tucked away in a quiet alley off of Moscow's ritzy Tverskaya street, this upscale but simply furnished Georgian café is a favorite with hip Russians and expats. Try the khinkali, large meat- or vegetable-filled dumplings, or the different types of khachapuri, a cheese pastry…$Near Pushkinskaya Square - European, Georgian
Madam Galife
Visit this bohemian café, favored by artsy locals, for an excellent Georgian meal. Start with the khachapuri, a pastry filled with cheese and done adzharsky-style here, with a raw egg on top; or the eggplant rolls sprinkled with pomegranate, and accompany them with a bottle of…$Prospekt Mira - Armenian, Caucasian
Noah's Ark
Located near the ancient Ivanovsky convent, this biblically named restaurant is one of Moscow's top places for Armenian food. The authentic specialties make use of homemade breads, salads, cheese, yogurt, fresh vegetables, and grilled meats. Order the signature Noah's Ark, which…$$Kitai-Gorod - Russian
Oblomov
Oblomov, the hero of Ivan Goncharov's 1859 novel of the same name, was a famous gourmand, and it's unlikely that this classic restaurant for traditional Russian cuisine could disappoint even him. Blinis with caviar, herring in a "fur coat" (under a coat of beets and …$$$Zamoskvorechye - American
Starlite Diner
Soon after it opened in the 1990s, this Russian version of the traditional American diner became synonymous with foreign cool. The exaggerated and colorful interior could be straight out of the movie Grease: there are jukeboxes, a long bar, a black-and-white checkered floor, red…$$ - Georgian, European
Tetri
Visit this elegant restaurant for modern Georgian cuisine with a pan-European twist. The cozy interior is done with brown terra-cotta tones, accented by paintings of red pomegranates and such, with big windows providing street views as well as views into the kitchen. The menu…$$Near Olympic Stadium - French, Asian
Turandot
Come to this faux 18th-century château to feel like French royalty. Café Pushkin's sister restaurant is meant to evoke an 18th-century rococo palace, with tapestries and gilded mirrors on the walls, as well as reproductions of famous paintings from that era, many of them…$$$Pushkinskaya Square - European, Russian
Uilliam's
This restaurant on the exclusive Malaya Bronnaya Street has a mix of Russian, Italian, and French dishes, all of them cooked right before your eyes in the open kitchen by the Italian star chef Uilliam Lamberti and his staff. Unlike the grandiose opulence favored by so many…$$Near Patriarch's Ponds - European, Russian
V Temnote?
The black silhouette of a blindfolded man and woman outside of this restaurant is a clue to what happens inside, as is its name, which means "In the Dark?" Four prix-fixe menus are available: meat, seafood, a mix of the two, or vegetarian. (Menus vary in price, depending on whether…$$$Yekaterininsky Park - Russian
Varvary
At Varvary (Russian for "barbarians"), the celebrity chef Anatoly Komm gives the traditionally quite hearty Russian cuisine a very artistic and creative spin, playing with textures and ingredients in what he calls "gastronomic theater." That staple of the Russian…$$$Strastnoi Boulevard
