5 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.

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.

At this soothing place to take a break with a good view of Nevsky prospekt, you can enjoy coffee, ice cream, and scrumptious cakes, or a whole range of traditional Russian and European dishes. Out of the Russian menu try borscht (beetroot soup) with sour cream or pickled herring and mushrooms. In summer Abrikosov offers an open terrace.

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.

The extensive menu includes blini (pancakes) with caviar, homemade pelmeni (meat dumplings), borscht, and vareniki (a Ukrainian dish—dumplings filled with all kinds of stuffing, such as cabbage, cherries, and mushrooms). The name is both a play on Pushkin's name and the Russian word for cannon—which explains the military-theme paintings and the miniature cannon near the entrance.