BEST OF MOSCOW

This Japanese pastry shop, near Kropotkinskaya subway station, has been around for several years. Three more have appeared in other parts of the city, at Chistiye Prudy, Presnenskaya Naberezhnaya and Shabolovka. Their main specialty is profiteroles of various kinds: filled with chocolate or ice cream (green tea, peach, cherry, coffee flavors), powdered or glazed with sugar, with crispy crust — you name it. The best are the "classic" profiteroles, filled with vanilla custard cream (the vanilla is natural, by the way). The coffee here is pretty decent, too.

Classic profiterole — 70 rubles
Address: Prechistenslye Vorota Square, vladenie 1, stroenie 4

This round bar on the 34th floor of the Swissotel Krasnie Holmi soars 140 meters above the city, and was designed especially for those who want to declare their everlasting love or call it quits forever. The walk through the hotel lobby, the wait for the elevator alongside strange guests and the liftoff to the 34th floor are so cinematic in and of themselves that they could smooth over or add to the romance of any confession. The best choice here is coffee (simply to avoid bankruptcy), which you can nurse for a couple hours. The view over twilight and moon-lit Moscow (the field of vision here is 360 degrees) will bring even the city`s bitter enemies into a state of pleasant reverie.

Coffee — from 300 rubles
Mon—Fr: 5:00 p.m. — 03:00 a.m.
Address: 6, Kosmodamianskaya quay, Swissotel Krasnye Holmy, 34-th floor

The situation with food at the Krasny Oktyabr art mall is not great. The area`s offerings consist mainly of canteens and cafeterias, amateur cafГ©s that are not much better than the canteens, and serious places where a cup of tea costs 350 rubles and a 200-gram meat assortment will set you back 900 rubles. Gipsy was designed mainly as a bar — a sort of new Simachiov with crowded parties in the evenings. But customers love this place first of all for its menu, which juxtaposes thai soups and samsa, pilaf and shaurma, leechi lemonade and lassi. So far this is the best food in the neighborhood. And in summer when Gipsy opens its terrace, the place is downright heavenly.

Address: 3/4, Bolotnaya quay

There`s nothing really special about this centrally located watering hole. But for some reason you want to hang out here until dawn. It`s a rare case where mere atmosphere — not interior design (which is, frankly speaking, mediocre), not an imported Belgian bar-counter, not a cocktail menu as thick as War and Piece — is the determining factor of success for a Moscow bar. You also get great cocktails, reasonable prices, the most friendly bartender in town and pretty tasty food.

Cocktail B52 — 400 rubles
Address: 23/12, Tverskaya str, build. 1-1a

This hotel, formerly known as the Orlionok, has spontaneously turned into an unusual-for-Moscow gastronomic enclave, with various ethnic quarters like Chinatown or Little Italy. It all started with a couple of great Korean restaurants, later followed by worthy Chinese, Greek and Japanese places. They`re aimed at Moscow-based Asian businessmen and embassy employees, which, conveniently, forces them to maintain the quality of their food.

Address: 15, Kosygina st.

This amazing place has even earned a mention in the Wallpaper Moscow guide. Not long ago, Armenia purchased the coal industry pavilion at Moscow`s Soviet-era exhibition park and turned it into a venue for stalls selling Armenian food and goods as well as a small restaurant. The most attractive part of the pavilion is a tasting room, which offers every Armenian spirit known to mankind. Besides the famous cognacs and brandies, the place pours less-known Armenian wines made of blackberries, pomegranates, cherries, plums and quinces, which helps explain its incredible popularity.

Address: 119, Prospekt Mira, All-Russian Exhibition Centre, Pavilion 68 "Armenia"

Located next to the station exit and across from a high-rise building, this kiosk sells probably Moscow`s best Lavash bread, chebureki (mutton pies) and belyashi (fried meat pies). Lines can be long.

A cheburek costs 23 rubles
Address: Barrikadnaya Street, at the subway exit

Two glass business centers dominate this corner, but what matters is the broad space nearby that looks like a small European square with a pedestrian area paved in granite, low lampposts and a dozen cafes ranging from Starbucks to a steakhouse. In the summer, most of them have open-air seating, which lends the place a unique, not-very-Moscow atmosphere.

This cheap Georgian restaurant is the only place in the city where they serve authentic Khinkali dumplings. Despite the plastic napkin holders, inadequate air ventilation, lack of spirits on the drinks menu and many competitors that also make Khinkali, Chito-ra is still beyond comparison.

Khinkali: from 35 rubles per piece
Address: 10, Kazakova st.

This new cafe offering inexpensive and authentic Asian food appeared unexpectedly in a cursed part of the New Arbat. The noodles, dim sum, rice and soups — all spicy but not excessively so — are surprisingly tasty.

Dim sum from 85 to 195 rubles; wok — 290 rubles; rice from 80 to 180 rubles
Address: 17, Novy Arbat st.

Five establishments belonging to the restaurateurs Borisov and Yampolskiy (Jean-Jacques, Mayak, Kvartira 44, John Dunne, Bontempi) form a sort of triangle in the Nikitskiy Boulevard area, where you find yourself every time you go for a drink with a friend. Even if you start your evening in Altufievo, you`ll find yourself in Mayak later on.

Addresses: Mayak,Bolshaya Nikitskaya st.; Kvartira 44, 22/2, Bolshaya Nikitskaya; John Dunne and Jean-Jacques, 12, Nikitskiy Boulevard; Bontempi, 8a, Nikitskiy Boulevard, stroenie 1

This restaurant is unique: it`s the only molecular cuisine restaurant in Moscow and Russia, and the only one in the world that specializes in Russian cuisine. Varvary has entered the ranks of the world`s 50 best restaurants. Moscow is not particularly sympathetic to the arrogant chef and restaurateur Anatoly Komm, but perhaps he has reason to be arrogant. If Michelin stars were given out in Moscow, this progressive, world-class establishment would be the first to be rewarded. He might be pompous, but his cuisine is not. It can best be described as simple and cheerful, super-contemporary gastronomic science, toying with the themes of Mikayan`s culinary (the traditional Soviet-era three-course dinner). This place would be a must, though (alas!) not everyone can afford its mind-blowing prices.

Address: 8а, Strastnoy Boulevard

Frankly speaking, this is the best small restaurant among those that have recently opened. The place`s location (in a basement) is a great disadvantage. Prospective visitors are highly unlikely to find the place without a guide (the only reference point one can use is an arch with garbage bins on Sadovaya-Karetnaya). But a trip here is worth it. It`s a place with real character, original and up-to-date. The amateur chef Ivan Shishkin, who is truly fond of his job, offers creative, tasty and inexpensive dishes. The restaurant`s menu is simple, but every dish is absolutely delicious. And that`s why the place is often packed.

Opening hours: tue—sat 12:00—0:00
Address: 20, Sadovaya-Karentnaya st., stroenie 2

Launched by the creators of Noor, this restaurant is small, wonderful, quiet and unpretentious. Its main focus is good food from fresh products for reasonable money. In other countries, Dodo would be called a "gastropub" or "gastrobistro." But Moscow doesn`t have such categories, so Dodo is just a place, albeit a place that represents new Moscow cuisine (along with Ragu, Delicatessen and, perhaps, Prostie Veschi). The Dodo is primarily the pet project of its creators, and only secondarily a commercial enterprise. That said, the business side looks successful as well. There is no lack of customers.
P.S.: In summer Dodo offers one of the best terraces in town.

Quiche Lorraine — 390 rubles
Address: 21/2, Petrovka st.

It may be fashionable to be snobbish about this restaurant as we know it is inconceivable without Pushkin. If you have a foreign guest who is interested in Russian cuisine, it would be a sin not to bring him here. Half of the city comes here for power lunches. Breakfast at Pushkin will undoubtedly help a tired traveler get back on his feet.

Beef steak a la russe — 2 750 rubles
Address: 26a, Tverskoy boulevard

A tiny cafe of 10 tables, this is the first Moscow eatery to offer cheap and fast food in the European style: sandwiches, pies, salads, a couple of simple hot meals, desserts, excellent coffee and a dozen different fruit smoothies. The prices never rise above 200 rubles. The counter staff work at warp speed.

Mushroom pie, 130 rubles. Salami sandwich with arugula and red currant chutney, 150 rubles. Cappuccino,100 rubles. Fruit smoothie (strawberries, cherries, banana and cherry juice), 150 rubles
Address: 1/4, Soliansky Tupik

This house of tea and ice cream is actually a tiny section of a book store on Pokrovka Street. It`s a sort of private tea salon, which also makes its own delicious tea-based ice-cream, using unusual ingredients such as brown bread, meadowsweet herb, Northern cloudberries and shadberries. The ice-cream always makes a strong impression on foreign guests, who, alas!, are still rarely brought to this gem of a shop.

Address: 27, Pokrovka st., stroenie 31

This Georgian restaurant is hidden away in a quiet courtyard in the depths of the Old Arbat, where the familiar sights of old Moscow, not quite yet destroyed, are an attraction in themselves. The main thing here is home-style Georgian cuisine: khachapuri, pkhali, dhondzholi, lobio, elardzhi (mamaliga), piti soup, kebabs, adzhapsandal, chvishtari with matsoni (Georgian yogurt), all presented in a European interior. It`s best in the summer time, when there are two open terraces, live music, and badminton, table tennis, chess and backgammon available for enthusiasts. The courtyard is equipped with a playground including a slide, a swing and a hammock, and a mini petting zoo with a goat, squirrels, rabbits and a zookeeper. The restaurant gathers quite a diverse crowd: suited businessmen, students who've managed to save up enough for a first date, expats, moms with children, and simply fans of Georgian cuisine.

Elardzhi with matsoni — 420 rubles
Address: 15a, Gagarinsky pereulok