ST. PETERSBURG - St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Tallinn - page 100

Stolle (Штолле), another Russia-wide chain, specializes in crispy pies, both savory
and sweet. Their handiest location, near the start of Nevsky Prospekt (at #11), combines
order-at-the-counter, point-to-what-you-want efficiency with a refined drawing-room at-
mosphere. This makes it popular with local tour guides...and with pickpockets (pies sold
by weight—figure about 200-250 R for a large portion, daily 8:00-22:00).
Sit-Down Restaurants
Zoom Café (Zoom Кафе) serves solid Russian cuisine at good prices in a pleasant
basement-level dining area. Popular and a good choice for a sit-down Russian meal, it's
just off Griboyedova Canal, a bit south of Nevsky Prospekt (130-200-R soups, 180-330-R
main courses, by the corner of Gorokhovaya and Kazanskaya at Gorokhovaya Ulitsa 22,
Mon-Fri 9:00-24:00, Sat 11:00-24:00, Sun 13:00-24:00, tel. [phone]).
Pelmeniya (Пeльмeния) is a great place to sample the food for which it's named:
delicious filled dumplings—both Russian-style and from other cuisines. Besides Russian
pelmeni, choices include khinkali (from Georgia, with a thick dough “handle”), varenyky
(from Ukraine, like Polish pierogi), manti (from Turkey and the Caucasus), gyoza (from
Asia), and even ravioli. The modern interior overlooks the Fontanka River next to the
Anichkov Bridge (100-150-R small portion, 150-400-R large portion, well-described Eng-
lish menu, daily 11:00-23:00, Fontanka 25, tel. [phone]).
Russian Vodka Room No. 1, connected with St. Petersburg's vodka museum, is a fan-
cier, more expensive restaurant with classy food and service (and yes, 200 types of vodka)
that caters to tourists. It's a little beyond St. Isaac's Cathedral—trolleybuses #5 and #22