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Russia Travel Guide - Dining and Drinking You are here: About > Travel > Eastern Europe for Visitors > Russia-Belarus-Ukraine > Russia Travel Resources > Travel Essentials - Russia > Russia Travel Guide - Dining and Drinking Travel Go Eastern Europe Essentials Best of Eastern Europe Map of Central/Eastern Europe Photo Gallery Country Profiles Discount Travel Websites Articles & Resources Planning Your Trip Ways to Travel What to Do in East Europe Maps for Eastern Europe Czech-SlovakTravel Hungary Travel Poland Travel Russia-Belarus-Ukraine Romania-Moldova Travel Baltic Travel Balkan Travel Culture and Holidays Photo Galleries East Europe Travel and Language Books Forums Help FREE Newsletter Sign Up Now for the Eastern Europe for Visitors newsletter! See Online Courses Search Eastern Europe for Visitors Stay up to date! Email to a friend Print this page Suggested Reading All Travel Guides Russia Travel Guide Profile of Russia Most Popular First Christmas Tree Europe map Best of Eastern Europe Croatia Naturism and Nudism Discount Travel Websites What's Hot Krakow Photo Gallery Profiles of Eastern Europe Moscow City Profile Czech Republic Photo Gallery - Charles Bridge and castle Sofia's Religous Buildings Related Topics Hotels / Resorts / Inns European History Architecture Air Travel Europe for Visitors Dining and Drinking - Russia From Apply Now , Your Guide to Eastern Europe for Visitors . FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Russia Travel Guide One of the pleasures of travel is reveling in the food and drink of the local cuisine. Russia has plenty to offer in this respect, whether you opt for traditional Russian fare or meals representative of other CIS countries.
What Not to Eat
You can eat well in Russia at any budget. However, because some people get sick when they travel and eat unaccustomed food, this situation can happen in Russia also. So, because you don't want to spend time being miserable in your hotel room from a stomach problem, it's wise to be careful, just to be on the safe side. Some suggestions:
Don't drink tap water. Drink only bottled water. It comes with or without gas. When you order bottled water at restaurants, make sure the waiter brings you an unsealed bottle (not an open bottle that could have been filled with tap water). Of course, if you order water with gas, you won't have this possibility.
Brush your teeth with bottled water, not tap water.
Avoid salad bars (vegetables washed with tap water).
If you buy fruit, wash it with bottled water, not tap water. You get the picture with tap water.
If you order a coffee or tea, be aware you might be drinking tap water, but it's boiled.
Avoid food from sidewalk stands.
Enjoy all thoroughly cooked food.
I should note that I have broken all the suggestions above throughout Eastern Europe and not suffered consequences. I love going to cafes for coffee and eating ice cream from sidewalk vendors. But again, you may opt for the safest route than take a chance spending your precious visit too sick to enjoy it.
Restaurants
Moscow and St. Petersburg have a proliferation of well-known chains, including McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King and TGI Fridays. But try to sample other food, as both Moscow and St. Petersburg can offer so much more. Check the English language newspapers such as the Moscow Times for listings of restaurants.
For restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg, also see these lists:
List of all types of restaurants in Moscow, from the Moscow City website
St. Petersburg restaurants Almost 500 restaurants listed.
Fodor's picks for Moscow restaurants
Fodor's picks for St. Peterburg's restaurants
Cuisine
Russian cuisine does wonderful things with meat, cabbage, potatoes, and dough (both bread and pastry). Well-known dishes include :
borsch (beet soup)
pelmeni (boiled dough pockets filled with meat)
beef roll (finely chopped meat and spices rolled in fine pastry)
chicken kiev
draniki (potato pancakes)
golubtsy (cabbage rolls filled with meat and rice, covered in a tomato broth)
There are many other dishes, with beef, pork, poultry and fish, as well as potato salad, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, caviar, and wonderful dark bread.
Don't forget dessert: bliny, ponchiki (doughnuts), kulich (rum cake) and ice cream.
Payment
In top restaurants you will likely be able to pay with credit cards. At smaller cafes and restaurants, you will probably have to pay with rubles.
Drinking in Russia
We'll get to the vodka later but first, know that Russians love to drink tea (chai). With samovars boiling away in offices and train compartments and lots of other places too, Russians drink tea all day long.
Vodka is a popular drink, and comes plain but also flavored: lemon, cranberry, herbs. It's hard to keep up with a Russian drinker so you may not want to try.
Beer (pivo) is also popular. Russian brands include Tinkov pilsner , Baltika, Stepan Rizan, Nevskoye, Klinskoye, and Tolstiyak. A low-alcohol beer is called kvas.
Russia also produces wine, with three million acres of vineyards. Russian wines aren't for everyone, as they can tend to have concentrated fruity flavors and some are rather sweet. While you're in Russia, you may want to try the wine of former Soviet republics, such as Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. Popular white wines are the Anapa Riesling, Tsinandali, and Gourdzhuani. Reds are Saperavi and Mukuzani.
Tipping
Tipping has not yet become an expected norm in restaurants around Russia, although at better restaurants and cafes, you will find that patrons will do so. However, a normal rate has not been really established yet, so many people leave between five and ten percent, or more depending on the service. At not so fancy restaurants or cafes, you can round up the bill. Some restaurants will add service to your bill, so check first before you tip, and feel free not to tip at all if you believe the service doesn't deserve it. If there is a cloakroom where you need to leave your coat, there may be a sign telling you the amount to release your belongings. Otherwise, leave a few rubles or a dollar. Russia Travel Guide Index
Profile of Russia
City Profile: Moscow
City Profile: St. Petersburg
Before You Go
Need to Know
Money Matters
Intercity Travel
City Transit
Driving
Health and Safety
Lodging
Dining and Drinking
Communications
Shopping
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Cheap Travel) Thanks to
Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations Places where a fistful of dollars will pay for weeks of hotels, train rides, and meals. December 12, 2005 Student Travel (Usually Cheap Travel) Thanks to Kathleen Crislip who runs the student travel section of About.com. She mentioned The World's Cheapest Destinations in her holiday gift feature: Top 10 Best Student Travel Books 2005. I feel kind of guilty being on this esteemed list since my book came out a few years ago. But I am hard at work on the home stretch of an updated version, due out sometime around the end of February next year. No earth-shattering changes, but much of Eastern Europe has gotten more expensive, especially for Americans, and a few up and comers have gotten more attractive. New additions will be Argentina, Nicaragua, and Romania. I want to keep the number at 21 though, which means a few will drop out and become "honorable mentions." I'm also adding a short bit on East Africa, since more than a few backpackers make that trek down the coast. Having just gotten back from Botswana and South Africa, however (more on that in the next blog), I stand by my assertion that just because a region has a lower per-capita GDP than where you come from, it doesn't mean it's a bargain. If you are a student traveling on a budget, as opposed to a trustafarian who just wears the uniform of the rebellious disenchanted, you need to go where your limited funds will go a long way. This means avoiding the places 90% of college kids on summer vacation set off for: Western Europe, Australia, the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. Yes, it sounds cool to say you spent your summer bopping around London, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, and Sydney, but you'll come back with a debt load rivaling next semester's tuition. Look beyond the obvious--it'll be much more of an adventure, and you can live it up on the cheap. Posted by Tim Leffel at 10:43 AM November 29, 2005 A Home Abroad vs. A Home at Home Many long-term travelers daydream about not just passing through the places they go, but actually picking one and moving there. Their friends and relatives might tell them it's risky, but is it really more risky than buying something in our current overheated home markets? After all, with housing prices through the roof in most developed countries now, buying land or a house overseas is looking like a safer bet. I won't say more since I wrote a long article on the subject for the current issue of Offshore Real Estate and Investment Quarterly , put out by the publishers of EscapeArtist.com. But I will add that when you start reading EscapeArtist and International Living on a regular basis, you realize that some people don't just daydream about buying a little place of their own overseas someday--they really do it. Lots of them. Every month. Then after they get there, they often find they're spending a small fraction of what they did at home. A safer investment and cheaper living--a nice combination. Posted by Tim Leffel at 12:20 AM RSS Feed Forbes Best of the Web Buy The Book Untitled Document The Worlds Cheapest Destinations provides a capsule overview of 21 great travel bargains, with cost information for lodging, restaurant meals, local transportation, and attractions, including what you can get for a buck or less in each country. From the Great Pyramids to the Taj Mahal to some of the best snorkeling and diving spots on Earth, this book will show you where to have a fantastic experience without spending a fantastic fortune. Free Excerpt From The Book (PDF file - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Buy the Book Links Cheapest Destinations Web Site Destination Articles Search Search this site: Recent Entries Student Travel (Usually Cheap Travel) A Home Abroad vs. A Home at Home "Cheap" Travel is Relative More Reasons Not to Take a Cruise U.S. Survey - Our Airlines Suck Responsible Tourism - Your Job Too (Relaxed) Travel Is Good for Your Health Charities Block Famine-Relief Savings Do Your Homework Before You Travel Yo, What About Guatemala? Archives December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 Find Other Blogs Popdex Blogarama BlogUniverse BlogWise Eatonweb Globe Of Blogs Powered by Movable Type 2.63