What (& Where) Do You Eat in Russia? - Konyushennaya area

Sorry I've been away for a while.  But after all of those posts on Israel, I needed a break!  Plus, I was on a trip that took me from Brussels to Paris to Memphis to Pittsburgh (and then back home) in less than 2 weeks. 

I'm working on a post from a trip that we took to Prague over my birthday (over 1 month ago).  But in the meantime.....................................................

 "What do you eat in Russia?".  It's a natural question, that we get from almost anyone when they learn that we live in Russia. Where do you eat?  What do you eat?  Do you eat Russian food?  Is the food any good?

So I thought I'd do a few posts on this topic.  Because we really can't complain.  At all!  Within 10-20 minutes walking distance from our apartment, we have a lot of really good & interesting restaurants.

So today's post is about one particular area - Bolshaya Konyushennaya Ulitza (Street) and Konyushennaya Ploshad (Square).  I thought I'd show you some restaurants

We live within the green strip on the map near Admiralteistvo.  And the street I'm highlighting is Bolyshaya Konnushennaya, about a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment

Here is Konyushennaya Ulitsa

 

 So let's start in Spain, of all places.  Barcelona is fairly new, and specializes in Tapas.  VERY busy, especially from 9pm-2am.  Good Sangria.  And really smoky until Russia put the smoking ban into effect for all restaurants & bars on June 1st (yea!).  It's a fun place, and in the summer they now have an outdoor terrace.

 

A few shops down is one of our favorites, Mollie Mews Irish Pub.  A good selection of cold beer, good appetizers (classic Russian apps are fried rye bread strips with garlic and cheese, smoked sausage, and smoked Russian string cheese).  And another place with a patio in the summer. 

 

Yes, the window says they are open from 12pm until 6AM.  Party on!

 

There are actually 3 pubs on this street.  Here's the English one, The Tower Pub.

Another one we like is O'Hooligans.  Big beer selection, some good local pub grub, and a fun place to watch football.

So many choices, where to start?................

 

Next, let's move to the end of the street and turn right onto Konyushennaya Ploshad.  Here are a few more upscale places, and it's where a lot of the clubs are.

Tao is a new one that we recently discovered.  It's Pan-Asian food - Thai, Chinese, Japanese.  Nice sushi menu.  A little trendy and "where the beautiful people go", which means it's great for people watching

Right next door is Barbaresco.  A favorite of a few of our friends, so we go here pretty often.   Upscale Italian food, with a menu that changes every season.  The pasta dishes are great, as is the cheese and charcuterie platters.  The wine list is mostly Italian, and is not unreasonably priced like many of the local "upscale" places.

And then we have Jamie.  Jamie Oliver, that is.  It's very good and well priced - classic Italian, burgers, a big selection of antipasti and salads that they serve on big wooden planks, and a variety of grilled meat and fish options.  I've eaten at another Jamie's Italian in Dubai and it's the same exact menu. But consistency can be good!

 

More to come on this topic......we have lots of options and Pat & I rarely miss a meal! 

Imatra, Finland

In late May, I decided to work from our Imatra (Finland) office, which is right across the border from our IP Mill in Svetogorsk Russia. 

It's less than 7 km away.  A much nicer (although small) town, nice hotels, good restaurants.  But I don't normally bother to go there because those 7 km can be the longest 7 km - border crossings can be brutal!

But it's early summer and I had a reason for being there for more than a day (3 days, actually).  So I crossed into another world...........................


View from the Svetogorsk hotelroom

 View from my Imatra hotelroom!

 

Svetogorsk

Imatra!

The outside of the Svetogorsk hotel

The outside of the hotel in Imatra (it's a old castle, originally built in 1903 for visiting wealthy  Russian nobility)!

OK, so the comparison study is pretty clear, and we have a winner! 

Imatra is located on the Vuoksi River.  It was founded in 1948 after the Second World War.  By some, it's considered the 1st real tourist town in Finland, thanks to the 1772 visit by Russian Empress Catherine the Great.

It's always interesting to me how different Finland and Russia are, even two towns that are steps away from each other.  Finland became an independent state in 1917 (it was part of the Russian Empire).  And when I'm in Finland, I always feel like people are saying "Look how we turned out!". 

Imatra's not big - maybe 25,000 people. 

But everyone was enjoying the nice weather in the "city center" while I was in town.

Imatra has a dam.  The Imatrankoski Rapids, which run during the summer evenings  (unfortunately, they didn't open while I was in town)

Imatra has a gorge. 

But my favorite thing to do is just walk along the river path, breathe in the fresh air (we don't get much fresh air in St. Petersburg), and enjoy the scenery.

A fishing shop and boat launch.......

Birch trees

A bird hangout

The train trestle leading out of town

Along a portion of the path, I found a section with private houses, right on the river, all with their own boat docks.  I would take any of them!

 

Livin' the life.............

At first, I thought, "ooh, naked people".  And so I had to zoom in & take a picture. 

They aren't naked, but might as well be!  Flesh-colored bathing suits (especially Speedos) are weird.

 

Finally, and on a more somber note, I stumbled across this small cemetery, in honor of local heroes who lost their lives during the 2nd World War

 

 

Israel - Tel Aviv & Herzliya

My final post on Israel.  I know, there were a lot of posts (probably too many).  But, so many pictures and so many stories........

 

So we'll wrap this up with a few days on the beach, in Herzliya, and a day in Tel Aviv.  By this point in the trip, we were "toured out".  No more history, no more guides, no more facts.  I just wanted to relax, walk on the beach, and chill.

 

Here's the view from our hotel.  Herzliya is a nice, smaller town around 10 km north of Tel Aviv. 

 

 

Herzliya had a great marina, with lots of restaurants and bars.  And boats!

We had mostly great weather. 

 

And peaceful sunsets

 

An old mosque that we discovered during a morning beach walk.....

 

The one colder, rainy day...... benefit is that you have the beach all to yourself

And you can look like a drowned rat!

 

Sleeping kitty.....

A not-so-happy kitty who was rudely woken up by the waitress

 More kitties on the rocks.....

 

Me on the pier

 

Ditto for Pat

 And finally, Tel Aviv.  Like I said, we were not interested in doing any touring by this point.  Except to find lunch, a beer, and the market.  So that's what we did.....

 

Goldstar Lager - not bad!

 

The Carmel Market.  CRAZY busy on Friday morning before Shabbat.  Everybody was stocking up for the weekend meals

 

Great olive bar......  Although the neon pink pickled vegetables are a bit much, even for me :)

Honey-soaked pastries

I loved all of the bread in Israel.  "Bread is the staff of life"

The meat, not so great looking. 

Luckily, I could be a vegetarian fulltime.  Especially with this kind of produce....

That's all.  Thank you Israel for a wonderful time!  My posts will be moving back East....................