Of all the cats roaming the streets and alleys of St Petersburg, only one spends his time relaxing with a big mug of frothy beer.
Suspended high above Karavannaya Ulitsa, this neon cat heralds the way to the Cat Restaurant, a quiet and relaxing getaway just a few steps from Nevsky Prospect.
The Cat Restaurant is a place of subtle charms. With its back-lit Tiffanyesque stained glass windows, antique piano, cool forest green color scheme and waiters in bow ties, the restaurant manages to maintain an atmosphere at once elegant and unpretentious.
The menu, which is printed in Russian and English, has a decent variety of Russian dishes, ranging from standard -- Rostov fish soup at 16,500 roubles -- to slightly more upscale fare -- crab cocktail at 32,500 roubles.
The most intriguing items on the menu are by far the salads, which have names such as "Tenderness" (8,600 roubles), "Eros" (8,800 roubles) and "Romantic" (12,100 roubles). I turned the page of the menu half expecting to find entrees named "Pre-Nuptial Beefsteak" or "Meaningful Commitment Pork," but apparently the creative salad names are just a fling.
I did allow myself the pleasure of an "Eros" salad (8,800roubles) -- a very fresh and tasty combination of beets, chopped nuts and raisins with a slightly lemony sauce.
My companion indulged in the more dully-named but equally tasty "Slovenian" salad (15,970 roubles), with cucumbers, mushrooms, red peppers, tomatoes and peas.
The choices of hot hors d'oeuvres include bliny with red or black caviar, and mushrooms baked in smetana (sour cream) and cheese (19,300 roubles). The mushrooms are a treat, but only for those with no aversion to thick, creamy sauces. The chicken noodle soup (13,100 roubles), which is made with clear broth, is decent -- not extraordinary, but above criticism.
The two entrees we received -- fried beef fillet with tomatoes (28,100 roubles) and "Gusarskaya" sturgeon (30,000 roubles) -- were prepared and presented almost identically, right down to those little crunchy baked brown cups that hold sauce or occasionally a spoonful of peas.
Where do those things come from, anyway? Is there some factory in town that turns those out by the dozens for all the restaurants in town?
Both entrees were prepared with melted cheese and a tomato slice on top, a smattering of fried potatoes, pickled cabbage salad, and a few lemon slices and other assorted additional niceties to round out the dish. The beef was well-spiced and well-prepared, and only very slightly on the stringy side. The sturgeon was light and tender, and less filling than the beef.
The only significant difference in the entrees was that the beef came with a side of red sauce, and the fish came with tartar sauce. The potatoes were soggy and somewhat disappointing, but overall the presentation and quality of the food was excellent.
During the meal the waiters were available but unobtrusive, bringing each successive course as soon as the last was finished, regardless of whether the diners were eating at the same pace. And so I found myself indulging in ice cream with chocolate and fruit (9,600 roubles) as my companion very primly and properly continued to put away her sturgeon, chewing every bite the requisite 40 times. For fast eaters, the service will keep you busy.
The ice cream dish was very good, coming with shaved chocolate on top and a few bits of fruit on the side. My companion indulged in apples baked with blackplums and nuts (6,900 roubles), which actually turned out to be one large apple baked with apricots and cinammon and covered with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. The apricots were stuck into holes carved through the center of the apple, as if William Tell had run out of arrows and reached for the nearest projectile, which happened to be an apricot.
There is a wide range of alcohol available at the Cat Restaurant, from De Koninck beer (14,850 roubles) to Bailey's Irish Cream (12,000 roubles). Espresso and coffee with cream are also available, as are tea, juice, tonic and cola.