Vegetarian food, vegetarian-friendly accommodation, & anything else on the subject in St. Petersburg, Russia

From Sept. 30, 2009 mailbox

hi!  Hope it will be useful for your resourse . For vegeterians who are for abroad in Russia , S.-Peterburg there is a good Indian foodstuffshop "Himalaya" .Location:  S.Peterburg, Sovetskaya street 1 , house 6 ,  metro Ploschad Vostaniya. http://himalayaindianshop.ru    Its like "Indian Spices" in Moscow. Indian spices , indian veg snacks ,chutnies , daals(lentils, beans, peas). Besides vegeterian foodstuffs the shop always has vegeterian Indian cosmetics ( soaps , shampoos nontested on amimals)and Aurvedic medicines. English language site soon will be edited.

Dec, 15, 2007, from the  International Vegetarian Union newsgroup> Botanika // 7 Ulitsa Pestelya // Tel: +7 812 272 7091 // Open 12p.m. through > 11.30p.m. // Menu in Russian and English // Dinner for two: 1,110
> rubles ($45)...

Dec. 5, 2009 Cafe Botanica page...

Weiwang Chinese Imports has a lot of Chinese/Japanese things. Their site www.weiwang.ru is in Chinese and Russian only. Getting there: Moskovksy Prospekt 107a, Metro Moskovskiye Vorota, get up to Moskovsky Prospekt, turn right, walk 150m, go around Chinese restaurant "Chayny dom po-vostochnome - Tea House a-la East", enter the courtyard.. Open 10:30 to 18:30 weekdays, 12:00 to 18 Saturdays. Tel./fax: 812 3889266/89119455259. E-mail: wwspb@hotmail.com

Eyewitness resport coming up. Their main outlet is in Moscow. See Vegetarian Supplies in Moscow

Avoid "Russkoye To-Fu". By far the most disgusting product bearing the name I've ever tried.

A successor to the Hare Krishna establishment. If so, highly recommended. I plan to personally visit it on my next trip to  St. Petersburg.

Warning to fellow alcoholic vegetarians: PROBABLY NO BOOZE.

February 22, 2007 - Visited them. A pleasant place, good food, but EXPENSIVE. A snack for two was 850 roubles plus something put into the donations box = $36-36. Yes, the same Hare Krishna cafe visited back in 1993 but much more business-like and 10x more expensive.

This one does have beer and wine!!!!!!!!! And is located near the famous Masha & Tamara for the connoisseurs of budget accommodation. Vegetarian visitors welcomed, these two Russian ladies are familiar with the concept of sausage-free existence.

February 23, 2007 - Found Troitsky Most Vegetarian Cafe at this location. No beer, no wine, no spices. Even the soy sauce was of fake (non-fermented) variety. The most substantial-looking salad, on closer examination, turned out to consist of canned beans AND canned peas. A chain establishment with bland food and disinterested, even by Russian standards, staff. 

A fashionable and touristy place, hugely popular, expensive, reservations recommended.

Run by the Disabled Association of St. Petersburg. The point is health and fitness through diet. Not a trace of Indian mysticism. Ideal for people with people with diabetes and allergies. Unconfirmed rumours that honey brew (4-5% alcohol) is served. Most vegetarian establishments in Russia (my Dacha is one notable exception) refuse to understand that booze, being of plant origin, is entirely vegetarian-kosher.  

• Kronversky proyezd? prospekt? 35
  +7-812-326-8221
• Malaya Posadskaya 9/2, tel. +7-812-232-6693
• Vasilyevsky Ostrov, 6th Line 15
  +7-812-325-2214
• Vasilyevsky Ostrov, 6th Line 27
  +7-812-327-4622

Note that the above two are 15 min. walk from the Homestay from Masha & Tamara where vegetarians are, if not welcomed, then well-tolerated. When I asked Tamara about feeding those who prefer purity or even ritual purity, the response was "what do you mean by no animal product at all?!"  Still, for budget travellers who want a soft version of the immersion experience with a helpful host I sincerely recommend Masha & Tamara.

6th Lane of Vasilyevsky Island, a tamarack-lined pedestrian street.

• Bolshoy prospekt? proyezd? 55
  +7-812-321-4719
• Grand Cafe "Troitsky Most"
  Zagorodny prospekt? proyezd 38
  +7-812-115-1998 / 715-1998
  Open 1pm to 11pm
• Kamennoostrovsky proyezd? prospekt?  9/2
  +7-812-232-6693.

Open 9am to 11pm 

Salads 100g 36 roubles ($1.40)
Borshch 300g 49 roubles
Broccoli cream soup 300g 35 roubles
Green beans in nut sauce  250g 63 roubles
Bakes broccoli 250g 68 roubles
Baked potatoes & mushrooms 250g  75 roubles
Mushroom lasagna 250g 75 roubles
Cauliflower in Chinese sauce 250g  75 roubles
Meat French style  250g  75 roubles

(Prices from winter 2007; probably 10% higher in dollars now, October 2007; $1US=24.5Roubles)

February 23, 2007 - Visited their 6th Line of Vasilyevsky Island, 15 location. Relatively inexpensive (500 roubles, or close to $20, for a serious snack for two) but... Salad made of canned beans and canned peas would make further comments redundant if not for soy sauce of the sort that contains caramel and MSG. Soy sauce  is a brewed product. By definition. Anybody who dares to put on the table any of cheap fake Chinese substitutes deserves to die in ignorance. (The funny thing is that people usually get what they deserve. Was I a praying type my dominant mode would be thanksgiving. And awe at how things work out as they should.)

Grumpy-looking staff made me hesitate to ask for a permission to take photos of their food and interior.

At a glance, a New Age/Health Food type establishment. Associated with the restaurant is said to be the expecting women's club and cooking courses.  One of my "recommended" hosts in St. Petersburg has a nice little apartment in the same neighbourhood, on Bolshana Konushennaya. See Apartments in St. Petersburg from Marina & Andreas

[To be checked. An unbearably bright and cheerful place, judging from their site.]

Dec. 20, 2007
October 9, 2007
June 20, 2007

Also see Accommodation in St. Petersburg, with a review of vegetarian-friendly offers.

See also Vegetarian shopping in Moscow / Vegetarian cafes in Moscow