Express guide to post-quarantine St. Petersburg: what to eat, what to drink and when.
While most trips abroad are not available, the best thing to do is to organize a gastro tour of St. Petersburg with an international twist. This way you can brighten up the longing for the nearest and not so abroad. The guide is easy to use whenever you’re hungry – morning, afternoon, evening or even at night. With our selection you will quickly decide where to go. We pack our bags and go to the city on the Neva, which, of course, is not only about “drinking.”
For those who want to take off for the weekend right now: the cost of tickets for Sapsan starts from 2000 rubles, travel time is 3.5 hours.
Coffee and breakfast. Mix of crops.
Australia, Bali, islands and steppe expanses: new and first superfood bar of the city Sundust. An intimate place of power for those seeking benefits from life is located on the Fontanka embankment. They offer drinks, for example, a chaga smoothie, coffee with lucuma (an ultra-healthy fruit from Peru that is rare in our food supply), or cocoa with guarana. For dessert – cheesecakes, Snickers and Bounty without sugar, smoothie bowls and a whole collection of chocolate. The main menu included a healthy lifestyle – shawarma. In general, the eco-bar concept is built around herbs, superfoods, and edible Russian endemics (plants that are found only in a certain part of the planet). As a bonus, there is a useful goods store where you can choose a useful “souvenir” for memory and health. Enjoy on the spot and take your food with you.
Address: Fontanka River embankment, 17.
New York and useful trends: a mini-coffee shop, as if taken from the settings of your favorite American sitcoms. Cookies Cafe —a cozy space, excellent coffee and a sea of cookies. Moreover, gluten-free, vegan, nut-based, matcha, carrot hummus, salmon with chocolate dough and others. Cookies Cafe isn’t on Google Maps yet, but you know where to go.
Address: Mokhovaya street, 14.
All-cultural futurism from «Futura Bistro». Coffee-bistro specializes for coffee (there is cold brew, different types of black coffee and coffee with milk), avant-garde pastries and homemade bread spreads (malt baguette with cranberries or miso with sesame). The baked goods are also interesting: croissants of irregular shape, giant brioche and rum baba with orange-rum syrup and cream based on cream cheese and coffee. On weekends Grill parties are held here, you can try combo lunches and picnic sets. And you can always buy a variety of products to take with you: from seasonal wild garlic pesto to hazelnut hummus and specialty coffee beans.
Address: Karpovka River embankment, 5, building 36.
France and a little bit of the Gatsby era. In Charliethey go for kilogram cheesecakes, morning sparkling cheese, which is served all day, amazing profiteroles (with tuna, pate and other sweet and salty fillings), unusual dishes that play on street food trends. And you will try it at tables overlooking the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a lecture on art, a jazz session, or a morning tour by the chef of some well-known establishment (they really put an emphasis on breakfast at Charlie). Petnuts, cava, champagne, wine of all colors of the rainbow and interesting cocktails are also on the menu.
Address: embankment Griboedov Canal, 54.
Coffee Petersburg: brew and espresso bar in the St. Petersburg front door Gotcha!. The microcoffee shop brews competent coffee. Here you will find coffee for every taste and literally color, as well as original instant mixes for home and toffee with sea salt, a couple of desserts, unusual drinks, like Hojicha latte (the Hojicha tea variety is fighting for the title of hero with the popular countryman Matcha), raspberry cocoa or gelato scoop in pure matcha shot.
Address: Liteiny Prospekt, 41.
«Sweet» St. Petersburg with all its buns, donuts and other pastries: “F. Volchek’s Bakeries”. Corner bakery chain. The owner specifically chose corner rooms at intersections and at the ends of streets. Prices start from 20 rubles for the freshest ciabatta, which literally melts in your mouth. The menu is extensive, here are a few excerpts: passion fruit macarons, a collection of sourdough breads, almond croissant, pumpkin flan, exemplary charlotte, poppy seed buns familiar from childhood, macaroons and cherry rosette. There is good coffee, but the tea is bagged.
Addresses: fvolchek.ru
Lunch: from Hawaii to Israel
California and Hawaii: wine from the “On wine!” team (we will discuss them below), Hawaiian poke, salad and smoothie bowls and the feeling of salt in your hair from Californication Poke & Bowls. The menu includes poke with Faroese salmon and eel, vegan sets with tofu and superfood algae, fresh rolls, tuna tataki, Asian soups in bowls, smoothies, coffee with lemongrass. And for those who are serious – rum, wine selected to suit the Californian mood (and food, of course) and other attributes of a relaxed island life.
Address: Zhukovsky street, 15.
Israel “with a visit” to Italy: Israeli joys from Saviv and Bekitzer. If the second one is the most youthful and fashionable street food bar, where everything is “quick” (that’s how the name “Bekitsera” is translated), then the first is a bistro not with a totally authentic focus, packed into the interior expected from St. Petersburg – with retro details and an antique chandelier.
V Saviv, in addition to half a kilo sandwiches in challah (traditional Israeli bread), Hummus with black chickpeas, perfectionist falafel drowning in tahini and yoghurt sauce, and other traditional Israeli dishes are included in the breakfast menu, which is served from morning until lunch. For example, shakshuka with French cremant, kebabs and desserts with a national accent. The menu includes a shop with Italian products (you can try it in the hall or take it with you). The last option is just for those who don’t want to bring Aurora magnets and wooden ships from St. Petersburg, because the right souvenirs are those that you can eat.
Address: Bolshaya Konyushennaya street, 9.
Bekitzerinspired by Tel Aviv. The creators specially went to the Israeli capital to succumb to gastronomic madness for two weeks, and then structure everything, select and bring the best to the city. The result is a fast, tasty and extremely affordable cafe, where you can treat yourself every day and or take food with you on the train (plane or car). The guys are ready to deliver the dishes even to the Moskovsky railway station a couple of minutes before departure.
Address: Rubinshteina street, 40/11 and Admiralty Canal embankment, 2T.
Russia and the immediate surroundings: bio-project from Matilda Shnurova Bio My Bio, which opened during quarantine. The key word here is awareness. A scientifically thought-out menu, decor, packaging, dishes and a triple “no” to sugar, gluten, lactose. Instead of frying – minimizing heat treatment, sous vide, baking and RAW formats. It’s worth going for Instagrammable breakfasts, like acai bowls with elderflower, buckwheat bread with pine nut paste or sweet potato hummus with blueberries and Viennese waffle, as well as for more hearty dishes – all kinds of bowls, duck with Jerusalem artichoke, sea sausage with scallops or bouillabaisse with rouille sauce. The menu also includes biodynamic wine, organic beer, a fresh bar and a huge selection of smoothies.
Address: Voznesensky Prospekt, 6.
Japan: the northern capital’s ramen boom happened a couple of years ago, but J. ramen forever registered on the map of local foodies. And not only locals – people come from different cities for exemplary ramen, gyoza and “silk” shrimp in kutaifi dough. The ramen here is prepared endlessly – handmade noodles stretch, just like in the movies and in the most implausible photos from gastronomic gloss. Moreover, there is a classic version of the Japanese soup (with broth) and maizemen (without broth). There’s also plenty of tempura and batter for fans of the genre, as well as authentic Japanese snacks (like shrimp popcorn) and salad bowls.
Address: Rubinstein street, 38.
Timeless Georgia: in “Dzamiko”on the island of New Holland they bake khachapuri with a multi-centimeter (no joke) layer of cheese and make perfect khinkali – with smooth dough and broth, which they drink with eyes closed in pleasure. This is a piece of modern Tbilisi in the center of St. Petersburg: tribute is paid to both current food trends and authentic traditions, without which Georgian cuisine does not exist. Generous prices from the generosity of the soul are included. By the way, during the acute period of the pandemic, the team closed the cafe and worked only to help those who especially needed food. At “Dzamiko” go for any khinkali, closed khachapuri kubdari and, of course, Adjarian “boat”, cod satsivi, eggplant baked with suluguni and sweets with figs.
Address: Admiralty Canal embankment, 2.
Dinner, cocktails, wine. Purely Peter: love of life within the framework of a pan-cultural mix.
Scandinavia and surroundings: New Nordic cuisine is borderline high at Nordic. Chef Alexey Alekseev popularizes Nordic cuisine, grows food in his own greenhouses and relies on seasonality. And all this against the backdrop of aesthetic presentation and the author’s approach to each dish. Food is prepared in the open kitchen while you enjoy the stylish neo-Scandinavian design using natural materials. For a serious program, a set of 13 serves is suitable, fully introducing the concept of the restaurant. The wine is divided by country, color, degree of sparkling, and cocktail mixes include Viking shots, Nordic twists and original plots based on Scandinavian motifs.
Address: Pulkovskoe highway, 107.
Unifying Globalization:
“Dreamers” – here comes the coffee, both breakfasts and dinners, and with a glass of wine the mood itself becomes dreamier. Moreover, the wine space for people in love was opened by Lyudmila Ivanova, who has visited an endless number of wineries and vineyards, often tours with master classes and, together with the project team, teaches people to understand not only wine, but also themselves, their taste preferences. As a dream pairing for a drink made from grapes (and not only – the bar list is extensive) there is a clear, but philosophical and extremely gourmet menu that contains everything: from starters in the form of langoustines with stracciatella with strawberries to farm duck and pasta with seafood and gooseberries.
Address: embankment. Fontanka River, 11.
Team “Blame!” directly states: “Here they will give you wine and meat!” And also cheeses with any mold and from alternative milk, black Camembert and hand-dried tomatoes, that same farm meat and all its derivatives: from steaks and bresaola to sausages and dumplings. In addition to gastronomic “other things,” the guys write about wine trends and compile a dynamically updated wine alphabet. It is useless to list the bottles with their contents; you need the help of a consultant and a sample exclusively in person. Once you’ve decided, your glass will be signed by name, Starbucks-style, and asked to be picked up at the counter.
Address: Kronverksky prospect, 65 and Kazanskaya street, 3A.
“Bar 8”, like all bars on the Petrogradskaya side, attracts local bohemia and regular guests who look at newcomers with surprise. But without a touch of hostile localism – simply, the “locals” are interested in who you are and why they don’t know you. The bar, shrouded in the flair of the St. Petersburg underground, is hidden inside an ancient front door: stucco on the walls, a painted vault under the domed ceiling, vintage mirrors – everything is as it should be. The menu is intimate, but wine geeks have plenty of room for revelry.
Address: Lenin street, 8.
In “The Architect” celebrates mixology and, to be more precise, the science of taste. The supposedly hidden space on Rubinshtein Street was chosen by the elite and those who are not indifferent to bar culture. Competent music, a small but complete menu with tapas and oysters, compiled according to the current laws of preparing cocktails. Bar managers focus on flavor and adhere to external minimalism – without decorations or pretentious presentation. A secret – the bar’s architecture includes a very secret veranda for its own people. Ask.
Address: Rubinstein street, 13.
Huge gastro and art space in “Port Sevkabel”. In addition to literally everything edible that your heart desires, there is also a green lawn, a view of the Neva and a complete infrastructure with various establishments. Mussels in chestnut sauce, Roman pizza, hummus, Czech trdelniki, Pangan ice cream, burritos and an impressive collection of world street food from Asia to Mexico. Wash it down with competent coffee, craft beer, cider, wine and cocktails from the already legendary residents of Sevkabel. You can go with your pets, noisy friends or by yourself.
Address: Kozhevennaya line, 40, Vasilyevsky Island Harbor.
