During the years of Soviet regime Russians hardly ever dined out of their homes. The restaurant offer was so weak that meals cooked at home usually had a far better taste than the ones they would get in most of the restaurants in Moscow, so at that time Russians only occasionally had lunch at the local stolovaya (cafeteria). However, Moscow today has many different restaurants with a great offer of traditional and international dishes and unique atmosphere in each of them. Many modern cafeterias today have an all-you-can-eat-buffet and offer family celebrations, business lunches or just a simple dinner. Although restaurant offer has improved significantly, Russians still prefer to gather at someone’s home. They’re very hospitable people and if you visit a Russian family, expect to drink a lot of vodka, eat plenty of food (usually from a very small plate) and have some great time with them. In case a Russian family invites you to their home, make sure you bring a gift – cake, wine or some Russian sweets are a good choice. If you’ve decided to bring flowers, keep in mind there should be an odd number of flowers – even number of flowers is for funerals only.

If you’re staying in a hotel in Moscow and have breakfast included, you can expect anything – from a big breakfast buffet to some bread with marmalade and black tea. Typical Russian zavtrak (breakfast) includes porridge (kasha) and pancakes (bliny). Foreigners and wealthy Russians are the main consumers of Sunday brunch offered at some restaurants. Lunch (obed) is eaten in the early afternoon and dinner (uzhin) in the evening. Lunch is usually much heavier meal than dinner. Meals include several courses: appetizer (zakuski), first course (usually a soup), hot course or second course and dessert.

Popular Russian soup - borsch

Traditional Russian zakuski include Russian caviar (ikra) – the black sturgeon caviar (ikra chyornaya) or cheaper red salmon caviar (ikra krasnaya), usually served on a buttered bread or pancake and with some vodka or champagne. Russians even have a vegetarian version of caviar, ersatz caviar made from eggplant. Different salads (salat) are offered in the Russian restaurants, including the most popular capital salad (stolichny salat) with eggs, beef and potatoes, and vegetable salad (ovoshnoy salat) with cucumbers and tomatoes. Try out Russian pirozhki – small buns filled with meat, mushrooms and some other ingredients.

First course usually means one of the famous Russian soups. Most popular Russian soups are borscht (vegetable soup made from beetroot), solyanka (meat salty soup with vegetables), shschi (pickled cabbage soup) and okroskha (cold cucumber soup with kvass). Soups are usually served with some sour cream. Second course usually means some meat (myaso), poultry (ptitsa) or fish (ryba). Try the popular and very tasty Russian dish – pelmeni. Pelmeni are a special kind of filled pasta and the filling usually includes meat (although it can also include cabbage, potatoes or mushrooms). A side dish (garnir) has to be ordered separately and usually includes rice (ris), potatoes (kartoshki) or vegetables (ovoshy). Russian black bread is added to every meal and has a great taste. Rusiann desserts include very sweet cakes (tort), ice-cream (morozhenoye) and chocolate (shokolat).

Try pancakes with caviar for the real taste of Russia

If you want to try some Russian fast-food specialties, opt for already mentioned bliny with different fillings or pirozhki, sold at street food stalls. Very popular bliny filling is sgushchyonka, sweet condensed milk, but they can also be filled with meat, cheese, caviar or other ingredients. Russians also have their own version of Shish kebab, the Shashlyk, with pieces of marinated meat grilled on a skewer. Schaurma is a Russian version of Döner and although local Russians will suggest you not to eat it (since it’s not originally Russian), don’t hesitate to try this tasty and cheap fast food when in Moscow. Kefir is a nice addition to these fast food meals. It’s a sour yogurt-like drink, very popular among Russians for its strong taste.

Vodka is the most popular Russian drink

When talking about Russian drinks, foreigners immediately think of vodka. Vodka is definitely the most popular drink in Russia and Russians consume it generously and traditionally follow the shot with a pickle for a better taste. The best Russian vodka is produces by the Kristall distillery, with the Yuri Dolgoruki being the finest brand, but Moskovskaya and Zolotoe Koltso are also very good. Klassik is another popular brand, while Smirnovskaya vodka comes from a small town close to Moscow, Chernogolovka.

Russians are also very fond of beer and the beer has become the second most popular drink in Russia, right after vodka. Baltika is the most popular Russian beer, very strong in taste and in alcohol percentage. There are nine types of Baltika, labeled with numbers from 1 to 9. Russia also has a national chain of microbreweries called Tinkoff which has become more popular recently.
Sparkling wine or ‘Soviet champagne’ (Sovietskoe shampanskoe) is served only in special occasions. Kvass is an alcoholic drink made of rye-bread water, very popular in summer as refreshment. It used to be sold in the streets from the kvass truck, but today it’s mostly served in the restaurants. For those who don’t drink alcohol tea is the best option. It’s available everywhere and even Russian trains are equipped with samovar with hot water to prepare your black tea. Russians drink a lot of black tea, while coffee isn’t very popular here.