It is not a secret, that cafes and restaurants in Moscow are very different in their prices and quality of food. Some of them are incredibly expensive; others look too bad to enter them. But there are cafes and restaurants, where you can have a meal for the reasonable price, and I’ll tell about some of them. I mention only the cafes where I have been myself, the prices of which are suitable for the average earners as I am.

1. Lyudi kak lyudi

The title could be translated like “just folks”. This café is famous with its original fruit cocktails (9 types, mainly alcohol free. Their recipes are business secret of the café), hot sandwiches (90 – 100 rubles), pies with onion, salmon or champignons (80 rubles) and very tasty poultry pilaf (one portion casts about 130 rubles). The desserts cooked there are also original, but not know-how of them. The main disadvantage of this café is its popularity. There are crowds of regular and casual customers there. It is not a very big problem, if you wait about 10 minutes one of the tables becomes free. The average bill is about 150-200 rubles.

The café is situated in the centre of Moscow, near the metro station of Kitay Gorod. The address is Solyanskiy proyezd, 4/1.

2. Bilingua

This café-club is notable not only for its European and Russian kitchen, but for the concerts, lections and other actions carried out there. There is also a shop with books and disks in the club. Like all the clubs of the OGI network, Bilingua has a little library. The most expensive meal is duck breast with figs and port. It costs 550 rubles. The most expensive drink is the French wine Bordeaux, 590 rubles for a bottle. I spend not more than 600 rubles, when I have dinner there. Because of the Wi-Fi internet access, provided in the café, you can also check your mail having a meal there.

Bilingua is situated in the centre of Moscow, in 5 minutes walking from the metro stations of Turgenevskaya and Chistye Prudy. The address is Krivokolenniy Side Street, 10/5.

3. Mu-Mu

Mu-Mu is a net of the free-flow cafes in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The kitchen is mainly Russian; the dishes are unpretentious, but absolutely eatable. The concept of Mu-Mu is to take all the best from the soviet public catering and to do it tasty and various. I say, the soviet public catering was not very bad! Homelike atmosphere and polite personal surprised me when I visited it for the first time. The prices are not high: a good dinner will cost from 300 to 400 rubles, if you are not a greedy eater. There are many Mu-Mu’s in the centre of Moscow; they are identified by their logotype, black and white cow.

The cafes I visited are situated near the metro stations of Novoslobodskaya and Arbatskaya or Smolenskaya. Their addresses are: Novoslobodskaya Street, 34/2 and Stary Arbat Street, 45/24, building 1.

4. Udonyasan

Udonyasan is a network of the Japanese fast food restaurants without sushi or sashimi. The network challenges to provide excellent service, product quality, speed including hospitality, cleanliness and accuracy, and not without success. The system of service is unusual for the Russian restaurants and café. After you order meal and pay it by the counter, you become a number and have a seat. In 5 minutes or a little more a waiter brings the meals. The lunch costs 210 rubles and includes miso soup, udon (traditional Japanese noodles) or rise with meat or seafood, salad and cup of green tea. If you want more tea, it is free for you. The main disadvantage of the Udonyasan on the Stary Arbat is the waiters greeting you in a loud voice. It is a part of the concept, because in Japan they do it in such way, but in Moscow it grates upon the ears. Although it is a fast food restaurant, I don’t find its meals so harmful for the stomach and waist like McDonald’s ones.

The restaurant with the greeting waiters: Arbatskaya or Smolenskaya metro Station, Stary Arbat Street, 1. The second restaurant: Novoslobodskaya or Mendeleevskaya metro Station, Seleznevskaya Street, 28. There are also some restaurants in the big supermarkets, mainly in the distant parts of Moscow. I have never visited them.

All in all, the information provided here does not pretend to be absolutely full, but I can account for the quality of described ones, because visit them rather often. I would be interested in your comments, because I also can mistaken, although don’t want to misinform you.

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Sources:
    guestinmoscow.ru

    timeout.ru

    udonyasan.ru

    bilinguaclub.ru

Yulia Buzykina