A trip to Primorsky Krai would be incomplete without a gastronomic component. The local cuisine is rich in seafood; mussels, crabs, oysters and fresh fish can be bought at local markets much cheaper than in most regions of Russia. We have compiled a guide to Far Eastern cuisine, which includes the best local restaurants, seafood markets, interesting gastronomic places and festivals.
How to get there: by plane from Moscow or St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. The cost of round-trip tickets from the capital starts from 22,100 rubles*, from St. Petersburg – from 26,500 rubles*.
Where to stay:in the five-star Lotte Hotel Vladivostok from 13,200 rubles* per room, in the four-star AZIMUT City Hotel Vladivostok from 6,900 rubles* per night or in the three-star VLcome Inn hotel from 3,000 rubles* per night.
Features of local cuisine: abundance of seafood and Pan-Asian dishes
The main feature of Far Eastern cuisine is a large selection of dishes made from fresh and high-quality seafood. In the Primorsky Territory, seafood delicacies are caught in the Sea of Japan and bred on local farms. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of tasting oysters, sea cucumbers, mussels, crabs, scallops or urchins.
Seafood is not only tasty, but also a healthy delicacy. Restaurants in Vladivostok serve Pacific oysters, which are very different from European ones in size. Sometimes the mollusk can hardly fit into the palm of an adult. Local oysters are found in cold and salty sea water, so their taste is more pronounced.
You can eat oysters the classic way – live with lemon juice – or after heat treatment as part of dishes. These shellfish are a storehouse of useful minerals and trace elements: they contain B vitamins, nicotinic acid, iron, calcium, iodine and phosphorus.
Another marine organism rich in protein, organic acids and mineral salts is sea cucumber. Its meat is more reminiscent of the classic taste of sturgeon, but with a bright marine note. To preserve the beneficial properties and natural taste, sea cucumber is served raw, complementing the dish with soy and honey sauces.
In restaurants you can find many dishes of Pan-Asian cuisine, in which the culinary traditions of Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand are mixed. Vladivostok is a young city; it became part of Russia only in 1858 after signing a treaty with China. Historically, Primorye has always been home to a large number of Koreans and Chinese, who contributed to the peculiarities of the local cuisine. Over time, it developed its own pan-Asian cuisine, complemented by European notes and an abundance of seafood.
Where to try local dishes and delicacies
“Millionka”
The restaurant is located in the historical center of Vladivostok on the territory of the Millionki Chinatown. The establishment serves local seafood and fish in its original preparation: mussels in creamy sauce, sockeye salmon with quinoa, ravioli with crab, scallop or octopus carpaccio. The menu includes many Asian dishes and a wine list of 250 items. One of the features of the establishment is the design of the facades and interior in the Chinese style.
Rakushka Seafood bar & kitchen
In this restaurant you can taste the real taste of the Far East – mussels and oysters grown in the ecologically clean Khasansky region of the Primorsky Territory, as well as scallops that are brought from a farm in the protected area of Vityaz Bay, and various types of fish from Japan seas. Several times a year, a “Shell Festival” is held here with tasting of oysters, clams, mercenaria, cockerels and pistachios.
Tokyo
A chain of 10 Japanese restaurants located in major cities of the Primorsky Territory – Vladivostok, Artyom, Ussuriysk and Nakhodka. The menu has a huge variety of rolls, sushi, sashimi, soups and salads. Try traditional Japanese miso soup made from soybean paste with tofu cheese and seaweed, seafood tartare with yuzu sauce, or sushi with crab, scallop and octopus.
Ogonёk
Farm restaurant of Far Eastern cuisine in Vladivostok. They serve fish and meat dishes and seafood from the aquarium – king crab and sea scallop. Try a salad with smoked salmon and red caviar, assorted Far Eastern fish, traditional seaside fish soup or fresh scallop julienne. From Thursday to Saturday, the restaurant offers live music and a children’s room with a nanny.
«Supra»
A chain of restaurants serving Georgian cuisine in Vladivostok, where they serve khinkali not only with lamb, veal or pork, but also with local seafood. The menu has different options for fillings. Try khinkali with sea scallop and truffle oil, with king crab phalanges in caramel cream sauce, or with fresh shrimp in coconut milk tom yum sauce.
Brugge Pub
The main menu of the Vladivostok restaurant-pub contains many fish dishes from trout, sockeye salmon, halibut and salmon. Try the fish set, which is prepared in a home-made smokehouse on alder chips, and for an appetizer, take fried mussels, crispy envelopes with crab or charcoal flatbreads with scallops. For breakfast (daily from 11:00 to 13:00) they offer a creamy omelet with scallop, shrimp or squid. The bar menu has a large selection of light, dark, fruity and Belgian beers.
Where to look for fresh and inexpensive seafood
- Beryozka Fish Market(Russkaya street, building 16). There is a large selection of river, lake and sea fish, salmon caviar, shrimp of various sizes, scallops, mussel meat, whole Kamchatka crabs or individual claws. Approximate prices per kilogram of seafood: seaside scallop – 2,600 rubles, unpeeled Kamchatka crab – 2,600 rubles, mussel meat – 600 rubles, peeled tiger shrimp – 1,350 rubles, sea cocktail – 400 rubles.
- Fish market on Sportivnaya (Fadeeva Street, building 1A, building 2). Here they sell live sea cucumbers, botan shrimp, peeled king crab claws and scallops. A kilogram of steamed scallop will cost about 2,500 rubles, crab claws – 1,200 rubles, and giant shrimp – from 900 rubles.
- FishStore Store (Lugovaya street, building 30, building 2). Branded seafood store with delivery throughout Vladivostok, Artyom and to Knevichi airport. On sale is a large selection of red caviar from sockeye salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon, pink salmon and chum salmon. Cost – from 1,000 to 2,175 rubles per 250 grams. The assortment includes Kamchatka crab (from 2,000 rubles per kilogram), wild langoustines (2,400 rubles per kilogram), scallops (from 1,000 rubles per kilogram), semi-finished fish products and canned food.
Gastro tourism in Primorye: sea farms, Sea cucumber Museum and school of Far Eastern cuisine
In Primorye you can not only try delicious delicacies, but also see the places where they are bred, attend culinary master classes and even the Sea cucumber Museum. On Russky Island in the village of Voevoda there is a marine farm “Dalstam-Marin”, where they grow sea cucumbers and bivalves – mussels, scallops and oysters. Here they conduct excursions led by a marine technologist, tastings of delicacies and master classes on their preparation.
In the village of Vityaz, Khasansky district, on the shore of Vityaz Bay, visit a sea scallop farm. This place was not chosen by chance; the bay has ideal conditions for mollusk breeding – clean, cool water, high water exchange rate and sufficient depth. Excursions to the farm are conducted in the summer through local travel agencies, and the program includes an introduction to the process of growing scallops in sea gardens and tasting fresh shellfish.
And in Vladivostok itself, on the shores of the Amur Bay, take a look at the world’s only Sea cucumber Museum. Here they conduct excursions, interactive activities, master classes and quests, during which guests get acquainted with the echinoderm organism that has lived in the waters of the Sea of Japan for more than 500 million years. The atmosphere of the sea reigns within the walls of the museum – wooden steering wheels, lighthouses, swollen sails and even a porthole.
If you want to learn how to cook delicious seafood dishes, go to culinary master classes at the Pacific Russia Food school of Far Eastern cuisine in Vladivostok. Here, new programs are held every month, teaching the art of cooking scallops, smelt, wild salmon, seaweed, squid and crab. Several times a month, chefs move away from the marine theme and offer to learn the secrets of preparing dishes of Thai, Korean and Chinese cuisine.
Gastronomic festivals of Vladivostok
- Festival “On the Crest!” Takes place annually in early July (duration 15 days) in Vladivostok restaurants with Far Eastern cuisine. At the festival, dishes are prepared from the sea scallop, which is considered the pearl of the Sea of Japan. All restaurants set the same price for a set of three scallops with signature sauce – 500 rubles.
- Smelt festival and folk fishing. Takes place annually in January (in 2023 – from January 20 to 30) in city restaurants and on the Sports Embankment of Vladivostok. Restaurants offer fried smelt at a single price – 100 rubles per 100 grams. A city festival is held on the embankment, where chefs cook fish on the grill and treat festival guests for free.
- Far Eastern mussels festival. Takes place annually in mid-May (duration 10 days) in 29 city restaurants in Vladivostok. As part of the festival, restaurants serve mussels with traditional and original sauces, conduct culinary master classes and free tastings.
- Festival “Hold the Crab!” . Takes place annually in October after the end of the Kamchatka crab harvesting season (duration 15 days) in Vladivostok restaurants serving Far Eastern cuisine. Festival participants offer guests 3 versions of signature Kamchatka crab dishes. All restaurants have a promotional price – 1,400 rubles per 1 kg.
*Prices are current at the time of publication.
