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Popular eating trends in Moscow
Cosmopolitan tastes from sushi to Georgian khachapuri Traditional Russian food is hearty and filling but contemporary Muscovites prefer the exotic, and the city has cosmopolitan eating options to satisfy them. ap
Tatyana Leonov SPECIAL TO RBTH
Sushi
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Muscovites love their sushi, and Moscow has a profusion of sushi bars and restaurants to choose from. Some come with a hefty price tag, such as the sophisticated three-level Misato, where diners can select their cut of sashimi in person (misato.ru). Others, likeYakitoriya, are more reasonably priced.Yakitoriya led Moscow’s sushi wave when it opened in 1999, and since then, sushi has stuck (yakitoriya.ru). To cater to Muscovites’ discerning palates, most Japanese restaurants have their fish flash-frozen before it’s flown in, to maintain taste and texture.
Caviar
A new caviar bar recently opened at the city’s Clumba Club where customers can order delicacies like caviar dumplings, caviar pasta and caviar sushi (clumba-club. ru/moscow_caviar_bar). With 11 types of fish roe on offer, patrons are encouraged to learn about the different kinds of caviar which are flown in from various regions of Russia. Prices vary quite a bit, depending on the type of caviar. For a 40-gram serve, prices can range from 150
Moscow's Medieval Kremlin, next to Red Square, sits midst a miscellany of sights, including the 19th century GUM department store (directly above).
The Metro: perfect blend of art and transport
What did you like about Moscow? The sense of history; the blend of east and west and a sense of worlds colliding. It’s a city where you can see opulence and raw humanity side by side. How did you get around? Mainly on the metro, and the
What was the food like? I loved the Georgian restaurants, especially the one in Dolgorukii Square. Fresh Georgian salads were my favourite, second only to meltin-your-mouth khachapuri [Georgian baked cheese bread]. I also loved eating hot dogs at little kiosks, and that
wonderful Russian tradition of eating fast food standing up at waist-high tables. But the best culinary experiences of all were in the tiny kitchens of family apartments: pelmeni [dumplings], zakuski [appetisers] and tea swallowed through a cube of sugar or with jam.
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Georgian food
Moscow has a lot of Georgian eateries and restaurants. The impeccably reviewed restaurant Sakhli has a country-home interior and summer-terrace dining. Its specialities include tarragon juice, delicious lobio kakhetinsky (kidney beans with onions), cheese khinkali (giant cheese-filled dump-
Japanese restaurants have their fish flashfrozen before it's flown in, to maintain taste and texture. lings) and phakhli – a dip with crushed nuts, eggplant, spinach and capsicum (en.sakhli.ru/). If you’re after khachapuri (Georgian woodfire-ovenbaked cheese bread), the restaurant Dacha na Pokrovke is said to bake the city’s best (dacha-na-pokrovke.ru/).
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Mini cafes
Mini cafes, or tiny spaces that specialise in just one type of cuisine, are superpopular in Moscow right now. Doodles is one example. It serves tangy stir-fry noodles and it has a buzzing busy atmosphere (facebook.com/ cafedoodles). The Burger Brothers’ innovative gourmet hamburgers attract a hip corporate crowd (facebook.com/TheBurgerBrothers).
What did you think of Muscovites? They’re well dressed, often stylish… and sometimes completely over the top. People in Moscow come from all over the former Soviet Union, so it’s a city where you can meet people from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and walks of life. press photo
Moscow Metro is an incredible museum of the Soviet era and to the aesthetics of the 1930s: the perfect blend of art and public transport. I remember Belorusskaya Station looking like a ballroom and the inspiring heroic figures at Revolution Station.
travel to russia's far reaches
roubles ($4.50) to 3300 rubles ($99) for black sturgeon roe.
Interview Jane Williamson
Jane Williamson is an Australian expat now living in Thailand, where she is working for the UN. A devoted Russophile, she loved her stay in Moscow, and has been trying to find a way back there ever since.
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Where did you stay? I stayed in the dormitory at Moscow State University, where it felt like the Soviet era hadn’t ended yet. The lift didn’t work and there was a grumpy dezhurnaya [woman on duty] on every floor. The dezhurnaya on my floor was bad-tempered, but she still shared her vodka with me. Being green, I didn’t realise you had to down the glass in one hit.
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