143. St. Petersburg Food #7 - Fine dining in Russia
It seems to be a tradition in my family (most families, probably) to go out for a nice dinner on special occasions. And what could be more special than my parents visiting me in St. Petersburg? This will likely be our only time together during a 15-month period, so it was important to celebrate.
On Friday evening, we went to a restaurant at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Rubinshteyna Ulitsa (so, a five-minute walk from my house). It's named "Palkin" and has been in operation since 1874 (in a series of locations around the city center). Luminaries such as Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Fyodor Dostoevsky once dined here. The restaurant operated intermittently during the Soviet period, but was revived in 1995 and has operated continuously since then. We had not made reservations in advance, and I was worried about the huge group of people (30-40 people who were perhaps there for a wedding reception) who entered right in front of us, but they went to a banquet hall on the second floor and we had no trouble getting a table in the main dining room on the third floor.
This meal was an experience. My father rated it as one of the top three highlights from his five days in St. Petersburg. I ordered a shchi soup to start, which is a Russian sauerkraut soup that in this case included mushrooms and pork, and was slow-cooked over a 24-hour period. They sliced the pastry cap off at the top of the bowl as they served it, along with sour cream and mustard sauce on the side. They also brought a selection of flavored vodkas to the table, and I chose the horseradish vodka as the best accompaniment to the dish. My main course was assorted pelmeni (dumplings) with wild boar and doe venison stuffing. My mother enjoyed the most unique and tastiest dish ever (to paraphrase her reaction in the moment) of sliced prawns inside a squid-ink dyed shell. She also enjoyed grilled whitefish from Lake Ladoga as her entree, and my father ordered a goose pie. Several of us had a side of pan-fried spinach with sun-dried tomatoes. One of the highlights was the "Russian Winter" surprise that they brought out with a between-course palate cleanser of gelato - a dry ice bucket that covered our table with thick fog. The Russian wines we ordered (one red, one white) were an excellent accompaniment to the meal.
Dinner at Palkin was an extravagant expense. But it would have been a much bigger hit on the wallet if any of us had decided to order one of the specials - Kobe beef marinated in a 1973 vintage scotch whisky. A bargain at only 60,000 rubles (~$1,000 USD)! Fortunately, the regular menu was much more reasonable at a small fraction of that price. Perhaps the chef came up with that item just in case an oligarch showed up for a meal.
On Saturday evening, we attempted to visit one of my favorite Georgian restaurants for dinner. Again, without reservations, but this time we were thwarted and no tables were available for a party of three. No problem, though - we just went across the street to a fancy traditional Russian restaurant that I've been wanting to try. "Tsar" is part of the Ginza Project, a restaurant group with four dozen locations around the city. I've been to at least three of their other locations - all of which were similar to one another, but quite different from this one in menu, ambience, and price. Tsar definitely provides the best gastronomic experience and ambience of the lot, at a higher price point but not quite to the same level as Palkin. I've enjoyed learning about the history of the tsars (at least, beginning with Peter the Great; I still don't know too much about the Russian rulers in the 17th century and earlier). So I definitely enjoyed the decor, which featured paintings of all the emperors who ruled Russia during the last three centuries (including my favorite, Paul I).
The food was again outstanding. I began the meal with a vinaigrette salad that included tomatoes, peppers, and onions. My parents ordered fish pelmeni and a prawn Caesar salad. This doesn't usually happen with my family (especially because I followed a vegetarian diet for eight years), but all three of us ordered the same entree as one another: Chicken Kiev on a bed of fried potatoes. Although not especially exotic, it was delicious and skillfully prepared. And we again enjoyed a selection of wines - this time from Georgia. One of the best (as well as oldest, and most expensive) wines I ever had the pleasure of drinking was Georgian - on a trip to the Russian Caucasus region in 2012. I've been a fan of these wines for six years now, and I definitely recommend that you try one if you happen to see them in a restaurant or liquor store - not a common occurrence in the United States, unfortunately.
I don't expect to eat at this level of restaurant on a frequent basis in St. Petersburg (or anywhere else, for that matter), but it was great fun to try them with my parents. Perhaps if there are any other special occasions to celebrate during the next six months here, I've already found my best options for a delicious and indulgent meal.
On Friday evening, we went to a restaurant at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Rubinshteyna Ulitsa (so, a five-minute walk from my house). It's named "Palkin" and has been in operation since 1874 (in a series of locations around the city center). Luminaries such as Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Fyodor Dostoevsky once dined here. The restaurant operated intermittently during the Soviet period, but was revived in 1995 and has operated continuously since then. We had not made reservations in advance, and I was worried about the huge group of people (30-40 people who were perhaps there for a wedding reception) who entered right in front of us, but they went to a banquet hall on the second floor and we had no trouble getting a table in the main dining room on the third floor.
This meal was an experience. My father rated it as one of the top three highlights from his five days in St. Petersburg. I ordered a shchi soup to start, which is a Russian sauerkraut soup that in this case included mushrooms and pork, and was slow-cooked over a 24-hour period. They sliced the pastry cap off at the top of the bowl as they served it, along with sour cream and mustard sauce on the side. They also brought a selection of flavored vodkas to the table, and I chose the horseradish vodka as the best accompaniment to the dish. My main course was assorted pelmeni (dumplings) with wild boar and doe venison stuffing. My mother enjoyed the most unique and tastiest dish ever (to paraphrase her reaction in the moment) of sliced prawns inside a squid-ink dyed shell. She also enjoyed grilled whitefish from Lake Ladoga as her entree, and my father ordered a goose pie. Several of us had a side of pan-fried spinach with sun-dried tomatoes. One of the highlights was the "Russian Winter" surprise that they brought out with a between-course palate cleanser of gelato - a dry ice bucket that covered our table with thick fog. The Russian wines we ordered (one red, one white) were an excellent accompaniment to the meal.
Dinner at Palkin was an extravagant expense. But it would have been a much bigger hit on the wallet if any of us had decided to order one of the specials - Kobe beef marinated in a 1973 vintage scotch whisky. A bargain at only 60,000 rubles (~$1,000 USD)! Fortunately, the regular menu was much more reasonable at a small fraction of that price. Perhaps the chef came up with that item just in case an oligarch showed up for a meal.
On Saturday evening, we attempted to visit one of my favorite Georgian restaurants for dinner. Again, without reservations, but this time we were thwarted and no tables were available for a party of three. No problem, though - we just went across the street to a fancy traditional Russian restaurant that I've been wanting to try. "Tsar" is part of the Ginza Project, a restaurant group with four dozen locations around the city. I've been to at least three of their other locations - all of which were similar to one another, but quite different from this one in menu, ambience, and price. Tsar definitely provides the best gastronomic experience and ambience of the lot, at a higher price point but not quite to the same level as Palkin. I've enjoyed learning about the history of the tsars (at least, beginning with Peter the Great; I still don't know too much about the Russian rulers in the 17th century and earlier). So I definitely enjoyed the decor, which featured paintings of all the emperors who ruled Russia during the last three centuries (including my favorite, Paul I).
The food was again outstanding. I began the meal with a vinaigrette salad that included tomatoes, peppers, and onions. My parents ordered fish pelmeni and a prawn Caesar salad. This doesn't usually happen with my family (especially because I followed a vegetarian diet for eight years), but all three of us ordered the same entree as one another: Chicken Kiev on a bed of fried potatoes. Although not especially exotic, it was delicious and skillfully prepared. And we again enjoyed a selection of wines - this time from Georgia. One of the best (as well as oldest, and most expensive) wines I ever had the pleasure of drinking was Georgian - on a trip to the Russian Caucasus region in 2012. I've been a fan of these wines for six years now, and I definitely recommend that you try one if you happen to see them in a restaurant or liquor store - not a common occurrence in the United States, unfortunately.
I don't expect to eat at this level of restaurant on a frequent basis in St. Petersburg (or anywhere else, for that matter), but it was great fun to try them with my parents. Perhaps if there are any other special occasions to celebrate during the next six months here, I've already found my best options for a delicious and indulgent meal.
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