Russia's Top 40 Best High-End Gourmet Restaurants

Bugrovo

• CAFÉ BY WINDMILL - U Melnitsy. NW. Specialty: clay-pot soup (shi).

Moscow

  
• With a new Michelin guide, Moscow's best-kept culinary secrets are out - "It's been described as one of the Russian capital's best-kept secrets: Moscow's restaurants are excellent."
• Bon - one of the most unusual restaurants in Moscow. The creation of renowned designer Philippe Starck.
• Buona - at Radisson Royal Hotel. Chef: Christian Lorenzini .
• CAFÉ PUSHKIN sp. 26A Tverskoy Boulevard. Designed to recreate the feel of a 19th century aristocrat’s house, the restaurant has become one of the most popular in Moscow, thanks to the quality of its food, the impeccable service and excellent vodka selection.
• CARRÉ BLANC
• CDL - "Inside this elegant mansion is one of the city's most beautiful dining rooms — and one of the best places to sample authentic Russian cuisine."
• CHAIKA sp (Chef: Dmitry Shurshakov).
• DOCE UVAS sp
• Gallery Cafe
• GODUNOV RESTAURANT
• GUSYATNIKOFF - "Feast on exquisite traditional Russian fare in what was once (and still feels like) a private mansion." The beef Stroganoff is outstanding.
• L'Albero - Italian cuisine. Chef: Nicola Canuti.
• Les Menus par Pierre Gagnaire - "Les Menus in Moscow presents the bold and experimental cuisine of the Michelin three star Chef Pierre Gagnaire, regarded as one of today’s most innovative and artistic chefs. Classic French cuisine with a modern twist and culinary artistry at its finest interpretation creates an unforgettable feast for all the senses." At Lotte Hotel.
• Metropol - cuisine: Russian-European. "Recalling the splendor of prerevolutionary Russia, the opulent interiors of the Metropol hotel's grand dining hall are a stunning memorial to Russian art nouveau. The nearly three-story-high dining room is replete with stained-glass windows, marble pillars, and a leaded-glass roof. Among the famous guests to have dined here are George Bernard Shaw, Vladimir Lenin, and Michael Jackson."
• O2 LOUNGE - on the 12th floor of The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow.
• Pavilion - "The white tuxedoed waiters, palm trees, period pavilion building, crisp tablecloths and various old family photos that decorate this large dining room overlooking the beautiful Patriarch’s ponds all combine to give off an elegant period feel worthy of an Agatha Christie novel and which the restaurant describes as 'Soviet 1950s'."
• Piccolino
• RESTAURANT CHINA DREAM
• RESTAURANT MARIO'S
• RESTAURANT PALAZZO DUCALE
• Scandinavia - "Your favorite restaurant in Moscow."
• SEMIFREDDO RESTAURANT sp (Chef: Nino Graziano).
• Shinok - Moscow's best Ukranian restaurant.
• SOHO ROOMS
• TURANDOT - "Turandot a place where a Chinese princess and a French king could be tasting viands while laughing merrily with happiness."
• U Pirosmani - "The menu reads like a Georgian cookbook."
• VARVARY sp. Chef: Anatoly Komm. The only Russian chef to receive a Michelin star (it was at a restaurant in Geneva). The intricate cuisine fuses "molecular gastronomy" techniques with down-home ingredients, all of which come from within Russia.

Nizhny Novgorod

• CHAIKA NW. Specialty: kamchatka crab.

St. Petersburg

• BELLEVUE BRASSERIE - at Kempinski Hotel. French cuisine.
• Bistro Garcon
• Erivan Restaurant - one of the city's few Armenian restaurants.
• L'EUROPE - Russia’s oldest continually serving restaurant, this culinary hotspot brims with timeless elegance. At Grand Hotel Europe. Russian cuisine.
• MANSARDA RESTAURANT
• ONEGIN
• Palkin - a legendary restaurant of the same name was established on this spot in 1785. The formal and elegant interior evokes those bygone days.
• RESTAURANT NA ZDOROVIE
• Taleon Restaurant - at Taleon Imperial Hotel. Chef: Alexander Dregolsky. Three times voted ‘The best luxurious restaurant in St Petersburg’.
• Tsar - "Drinks are served in fine crystal glasses, old portraits of noblemen cover the walls and the toilets are even encased inside giant, leather-lined thrones. The Russian cuisine on offer is first rate."