7 Best Restaurants in City Center, St. Petersburg

The breathtaking surroundings—there's an art-nouveau stained-glass roof, shining parquet floors, and private balconies—are fit for a tsar, as are the prices. The mouthwatering menu includes some dishes inspired by authentic royal recipes, among them beef filet with a bacon and mustard champagne sauce. The chef's tasting menu gets off to a memorable start with a pair of eggshells filled with truffle flavored scrambled egg topped with Osetra caviar. Reserve well ahead, especially in summer.

Inside an opulent mansion connected to the Taleon Imperial Hotel you'll find the usual array of fun for the bodyguard-protected high-society set (cigars and cognac are much in evidence) in a glittering setting, with marble fireplaces and gilded ceilings. The menu is laden with hearty Russian classics with European inspiration, including caviar, consommé with fois gras ravioli, and sea bass with truffle risotto.

This large, bustling, and brightly lit dining room where oil paintings commemorate various Romanovs seems to be lifted right off the pages of War and Peace, and the dining experience is truly royal. A meal might begin with the classic Russian appetizer of layers of herring enclosing a beet vinaigrette and move on to beef Stroganoff or a Pozharskaya cutlet, served with sizzling hot potatoes, made in a copper pan. Despite the grandeur, the atmosphere is pleasantly relaxed and the service is anything but intimidating.

A meal atop the Kempinski Hotel is literally head and shoulders above any other dining experience in St. Petersburg, thanks to a breathtaking, 360-degree panorama. The menu fuses French classics with traditional Russian classics, such as beef Stroganoff. For dessert, there's the coupe Romanoff, an artfully presented concoction of strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. Bellevue welcomes those who just want to stop in for coffee or a drink and take in a view that includes the golden spire of the Admiralty, the top of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the roof of the Hermitage, and the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

You can enjoy a pot of tea or a glass of champagne, served with bowls of strawberries, in this lovely mezzanine café. You can also order unique chocolates made at the hotel's own factory. Take a peek at the art-nouveau lobby, furnished with stained-glass windows and antique furnishings.

One of the city's few Armenian restaurants is calm and simply decorated, and nicely located along a quiet stretch of the Fontanka around the corner from the Alexandrinsky Theatre. Every element of the dining experience—from the food to the table linens—has been lovingly crafted: the kufta (stone-ground veal sirloin) and stuffed quail are authentic and delicious. Every night, except Sunday, live folk music adds to the atmosphere.

A legendary restaurant of the same name was established on this spot in 1785. The formal and elegant interior evokes those bygone days, though the present incarnation has become a bit worn around the edges since its Yeltsin-era heyday. You'll still feast like an aristocrat, on such dishes as chicken with morel sauce, venison with pine-nut marmalade, fillet of turbot served with pistachio nuts and curry sauce, and a salad of smoked salmon with fresh oysters and beluga caviar. It's worth a visit for the window seats alone, which look out onto bustling Nevsky prospekt.