Rus: Eateries, Cafes, Snackbars and Groceries

We are going to discuss eating away from the home as well as how & where to shop for groceries. In the Rus depending upon the size of the city, town or village there are anywhere from several to many places to eat away from home. From resterans, bistros, kafes, bars, kafiteree or pubs one may get snacks, full meals or elegant dining.

Some resterans are small and others are larger. In most hotels there are dining rooms which are also resterans. Some carry a wide variety of items on the menu & others have a small specialty oriented menu such as a seafood resteran or a chicken resteran. Most bars & pubs serve a fairy good menu. The food is usually some of the best to be found out. Bistros serve some foods, mostly what we would call snacks & hor' d'vors.

Rus folk will be quick to tell you not to go to a hotel dining room no matter how many stars it rates! Seems that the food there is less than thrilling. It usually is bland, over cooked, warmed over & less than palatable. There are exceptions to be found throughout the former Soviet Union. Some notable exceptions are, in Kyiv, Ukraine at the Hotel Dnipro. The food there is excellent although a little pricey. Another exception is in Odessa at the Hotel Kyiv. Recently in Kyiv another hotel has been making strides in the right direction. It is the Hotel Slavutych. They serve very good Italian food as well as fairly good Ukrainian traditional fare. In St. Petersburg the Hotel Pulkovskaya has some excellent ,i>resterans within the hotel.

Most towns & small cities will have resterans that resemble large dance halls. Huge halls with table-service. Usually bands play & people dance as well so the dance hall resemblance is accurate. If you watch to see what the locals order & request the same thing you cannot go wrong. Some of the best food is to be found in these sort of eateries. Many times I have eaten excellent meals in the middle of what seemed like a dance marathon. If you take along a good tourist-type Russian language book or the best of the books of the sort in my opinion, Langensheidt's Pocket menu Reader-Russia, and just show the various items that you want to the waiter or waitress you will be able to order. If you are offered a ",i>full" meal it is better to decline. It would consist of multiple courses, lots of beverages and would be exorbitant in price. Better to order several things individually. If there is a zakuska table present you can actually make a fine meal from that all by it self.

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