Eating - St Petersburg - page 47

International Cuisine
There was a time when international cuisine in St Petersburg was limited to the odd
Georgian or Italian (read: bad pizza) place. Next came sushi in the late 1990s, which
is still universally adored by locals and can be found on every corner (and even on the
menu of many non-Japanese places!). These days the choice is far greater, with plenty
of excellent French, German, Italian and pan-Asian places. More common, however,
is the international menu, where Russian dishes, pizza, sushi and noodles all compete
for your attention. In many cases this means that all four are pretty average, but in-
creasingly there are places that know what they're doing with multiple cuisines.
Vegetarian Options
There is also a surprisingly good variety on offer for vegetarians, both at mainstream
restaurants and at an increasing number of meat-free places. Fish is plentiful and fresh
in St Petersburg, so it offers an excellent alternative for pescetarians. Most import-
antly, there is no shortage of starch in Russia. Bread, bliny and potatoes are always on
the menu, and they are filling. During the 40 days before Orthodox Easter ( veliky
post in Russian), many restaurants offer a menu that is happily animal-free. St Peters-
burg also boasts Troitsky Most, an excellent chain of vegetarian cafes that are all over
the city. Moreover, one of the city's most pleasant and friendly restaurants is the
charming Botanika.
NEED TO KNOW
Price Ranges
In our listings we've used the following price codes to represent the cost of a
main course:
€ less than R500
€€ R500-1000