Caucasian Cuisine St. Petersburg

BAGRATION

Cuisine: Georgian
Address: Liteiny Prospect, 5/19
Nearest metro station: Chernyshevskaya
Telephone: (812) 272-6046
Working hours: 12.00-0.00
Additional service:
Average bill: £30-35
Credit cards: American Express, Master Card, Visa

This small, sleek hall is one of the most attractive dining options in the gradually reviving neighborhood. The hall centers around an open grill sizzling with lamb kebabs and succulent spiced sausages. The fare is largely Georgian, with some Azerbaijani and Uzbek specialties available, such as regional variations on lamb-rice pilaf. The tasteful, silvery setting includes creative wine displays and Caucasus Mountain sabers mounted on the walls. The extensive selection of Georgian wines is worth sampling instead of the overpriced French offerings. Georgians often accompany meat with heavy, sweet wines, so if you'd prefer something else, make that clear to the waiter. 
 

KAVKAZ BAR

Cuisine: Georgian
Address: Karavannaya street, 18
Nearest metro station: Mayakovskaya
Telephone: (812) 312-1665
Working hours: 11.00-22.00
Additional service:
Average bill: £10-15
Credit cards: American Express, Master Card, Visa

For expats and visitors, this is St. Petersburg's most popular spot at which to sample cuisine from the former Soviet state of Georgia. Its Caucasus Mountain spices and fruits are not found in Russian cooking. Cozy and tastefully decorated with Georgian pottery and tapestries, the restaurant is just a block north of Nevsky but the atmosphere is relaxed. Garlic is used liberally, so if you'd prefer a dish without it, be sure to ask. Try the enormous khinkali, spiced meat dumplings you're supposed to eat with your hands; the tandoor-style chicken (chicken tabaka); or the eggplant slices slathered in walnut-garlic paste. Meat dishes come with tkemali, a sweet and spicy sauce made from Georgian sour plums; plus you get stalks of fresh cilantro, dill, and lemony cheremsha to munch on. The food is reasonably priced, but the wines, mostly Georgian and French, cost more than they should. If you want to try Georgian wine, stick with the dry reds.
 

KILIKIA

Cuisine: Armenian
Address: Gorokhovaya street, 26/40
Nearest metro station: Sennaya Ploshchad
Telephone: (812) 327-2208
Working hours: 12.00-last dinner
Additional service: business lunch, banquets, take away service
Average bill: £10-15
Credit cards: American Express, Master Card, Visa

For an elegant, nourishing, and leisurely dinner or hearty lunch, come to Kilikia. Even if you know nothing of Armenian cuisine, you're bound to find something familiar and satisfying. It resembles Middle Eastern cooking, with added fruits and spices found in the Caucasus Mountains. The grilled lamb and beef dishes are excellent, as is the stewlike teva. The vegetable-based appetizers can constitute a meal in themselves; try anything with eggplant or grape leaves. Don't tell the server it tastes like Turkish food, however - hostilities between the nations remain fierce nearly a century after the 1915 genocide of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire. Even the restaurant's name is controversial, referring to a traditionally Armenian region that's now in Turkey. 
 

VOSTOCHNY EXPRESS

Cuisine: Caucasian
Address: Marata street, 21
Nearest metro station: Vladimirskaya
Telephone: (812) 325-8729
Working hours: 9.00-22.00
Additional service:
Average bill: £15-20
Credit cards: Master Card, Visa

You can easily spot this place by a miniature train engine thrusting out of the front door. Situated just 10 minutes walk from Nevsky Prospect; the restaurant is divided into a buffet with first and second-class compartments-restaurants. When inside the restaurant one experiences a constant feeling of traveling by train, not only thanks to the original design but also due to the sound of wheels that can be heard even through quiet music. Fortunately this is more pleasant than you might first imagine. The passengers of Vostochny Express are offered a splendid menu of the best Russian and Caucasian dishes. 
 

KOLKHIDA

Cuisine: Georgian
Address: Nevsky prospect, 176
Nearest metro station: Ploshchad Alexandra Nevskovo
Telephone: (812) 274-2514
Working hours: 12.00-1.00
Additional service:
Average bill: £20-30
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express

The Kolkhida restaurant on the Nevsky Prospect awaits the best connoisseurs of exotic and tasty Georgian cuisine in all its varied forms. Skilled chefs prepare the meals according to the old recipes of the Caucasus. House specialties include the Argo salad and Kolkhida fillet. The restaurant's interior is splendidly decorated with motives of the adventures of Argonauts who traveled between the ancient European civilization and the mysterious Orient. Guests at Kolkhida can choose from a wide selection of fine Georgian wines. Live music and Georgian signing in the evening.