Podvoryé (Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA) ★★★☆☆

Located 30 km south of Saint Petersburg near Pushkin (Tsar Village), Restaurant Podvoryé first opened doors to customers back in 1993. The restaurant is beautifully set in a traditional Russian-style loghouse with an interior filled with wooden panels and conventional decor.

Nowadays, not only is Restaurant Podvoryé one of Mr. Putin's favorite restaurants in Saint Petersburg, it's a huge hit for locals and tourists too.



The traditional wooden decor resembling a typical Russian terem (wooden palace) was amazing. I also loved the bear skins hung on different sides of the wall. 

The atmosphere is very relaxed and inviting here. Once our servers started passing around our food, the folk music show began.



I had a quick lesson on how to use this Russian treshyotka (translate as rattle) which is capable of producing a variety of peculiar sounds. Too bad they still think I am not good enough to join their band.



I had the Ukrainian Borsch (or beetroot soup) and it was a sweet start to our relaxed lunch (5/10). There's a green Borsch with sorrel in the menu that sounds quite interesting too.



Tomatoes stuffed with cheese, greens, garlic and mayonnaise. Too cheesy for me (3/10).



Home-made chicken roll was tender but nothing to write home about (4/10).



Cabbage roll with minced chicken was nicely prepared. A slightly flavorful sauce would have been the perfect finishing touch (5.5/10).



Podvorskie traditional pancakes with cranberries, honey and ice-cream. Simple but delicate (5/10).



Restaurant Podvoryé is more than just a restaurant for tourists. It's an authentic Russian food experience that should not be missed.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: €€€

Address: 16 Filtrovskoe Shosse, St. Petersburg, Russia

Closest Metro Station: -
Tel: +7 812-466-8544

Website: www.podvorye.ru