Review of the restaurants close to Arbat street.

As I promised, this is a review of the restaurants close to Arbat street.

Ok, so Brian and I did not eat at McDonalds, TGI Fridays no even Baskin’s Robins while we were in Moscow Are you surprised? even though these restaurants are all found on the Arbat Street. Well, the way we see it is, we can always get to one of those when we are home (not likely really!) so why not venture into something new and exciting!!

We were so tired while in Moscow that we actually never got to have dinner in the actual Arbat street. You see, when you walk from the Arbat Hotel towards the Old Arbat street you will find plenty of restaurants.

Right across the street from the hotel, there is the newly open restaurant called Hindu serving Indian fusion cuisine. We went inside and got to see the décor and environment. Pretty nice furniture, hardwood floors, it looked very upscale. Their chef is one of the most famous Chef in London and he just opened this location in Moscow 1 month ago. The prices are in Euros – around 30 Euros per dish. Bentleys, BMW’s and 7 series Mercedes are the type of cars parked at dinner time. Brian and I did not eat there. I just was not in the mood for the celebrity-chef type of restaurant plus I like Indian food but would not want to pay 30 Euros for one dish.

If you continue walking you’ll find a French restaurant – Great Food! Decent prices. The picture above shows the dish I ordered – Sea Bass Provence Style: Just Delicious! I know some of you would not touch this dish – since it comes with the head! – the meat between the fish cheeks is the most delicious – Ask any fish connoisseur :)

Water in Moscow is more expensive than ordering Russian Champagne – so what do you do? Yeah – get some Champagne and caviar while you are at it! Anyways, I highly recommend this French Restaurant for food, ambiance and great service: very friendly people. Brian had some chicken breast wrapped in bacon in a creamy mushroom sauce it was awesome! It came with potatoes. We also shared a green salad that was also very fresh and tasty.

Continue the walk and you’ll find a Turkish Restaurant: our favorite! I love Middle Eastern food and this was great and tasty food. For lunch, this restaurant has a US$10 special where you get to choose one type of salad, one type of soup, one meat dish and your choice of coffee or tea. For meat dishes they have a choice for chicken, beef or Lamb. Go for the Lamb!! Or any other will just taste great. The Lentil soup is to die for and you also have the option of chicken soup. I love lentil soup anyways! So this is a great Lunch alternative when you are in a budget since Moscow restaurants can be very expensive.

Across the street from the Turkish restaurant there is a Uzbekistani restaurant – the food is similar to the Middle Eastern cuisine but it was not my favorite – I would not go back to it, plus, you have to pay cash since they do not accept any other type of payment!

Then, right next to this restaurant is the famous Moo Moo restaurant. Great food at very reasonable prices. There are lines at any hour of the day to order your food but, somehow you will always find a spot to sit once you order. If you are in a hurry or just have something to do after your meal, I would suggest not to order anything that will require further cooking for it will take a long time to come to your table; just choose from the already prepare food – it is fresh and delicious. We ate there a couple of times, but with kids, is better to let your partner order for both of you while you wait at a table with the kids. This is a place you got to go to eat while in Moscow! Is like coming to the United States and going to Cheesecake Factory, it is just a Russian experience. There are many Moo Moo’s around town so even if you are not close to Arbat street you could get to one of them.

Next to Moo Moo there is an Italian Restaurant called “Italia” we ate there .. good food! I thought it was a little pricy but not so much if you ask for Pizza which is around $7 per personal pizza – it is very, very thin crust, which I love.

Then there is McDonalds! No we did not eat there but we had coffee at the Mac Café which is a cool place for people watching and having a good latte (did not like the cappuccino) and a dessert; I would not go for the looks of the desert but I will just go for ingredients, looks were deceiving when we chose some of the cakes; tiramisu was not great.

If you are staying at the Arbat Hotel and too tired to walk anywhere, try the restaurant at the Arbat Hotel. The menu points out which items are traditional Russian. I wrote some about their food in a previous post Blog from April 25th – “We made it to Moscow” so, scroll down and check it out!

Again, there are also other options once you are in the Arbat Street we did not get to experiment – there were some restaurants getting ready for the summer and they were constructing their outdoor patios with canopies for seating – just getting ready for our second trip to Moscow!

In case you are wondering: no, I did not gain weight while in Moscow, even though I was a big “Moo Moo” eating – you can eat as much as you want but the stress of the adoption process and all the walking somehow will help your metabolism.