Even streets off the tourist's beaten track in St Petersburg are getting new, pleasant-looking restaurants and cafes.
Suvorovsky Prospect is one of those streets, and the White Elephant is one of those restaurants. Located in a mostly quiet residential area of town it's easy to get to by public transport -- a mere four stops on trolley bus No 5 or 7 from Ploshchad Vosstania -- the bus takes you to the corner of Suvorovsky Prospect and Zayachy Pereulok, where you'll find the White Elephant.
The restaurant has a modestly tasteful exterior, in character with the soft pastel colors which decorate the interior and create an elegant atmosphere.
The small dining area with its cosy tables for two covered with tablecloths of white and light-orange, and resting on a cool white marble floor creates a little oasis of luxury in this run-down part of town. Larger parties can book one of the four booths.
Several reproductions of Impressionist paintings decorate the walls and diners are treated to light jazz music played softly.
When we visited this latest addition to St Petersburg gastronomy, it was a quiet evening with few patrons. We had two waiters to attend us hand, foot and finger. One who served us apologized that the English menu is not yet available but said it was in the oven.
For now, you'd better brush up on your Russian because you'll definitely need it to study the lengthy menu -- this ten-page document is quite an essay to labor over.
In the best tradition of Russian restaurants, appetizers (zakusky) take up a large portion of the menu. The starters are divided up into hot, cold and seafood sections. The latter included royal sturgeon at 40,000 roubles -- almost as expensive as the most expensive main dish on the menu, Norwegian salmon (45,000).
My companion ordered the sturgeon for starters while I had a Jewish salad which was little more than shredded beet and cabbage with minced walnuts dressed in mayonnaise (15,000).
We didn't regret our choices. The sturgeon slices, served with lettuce and a garnish of red caviar, looked appetizing even to me -- a person not generally fond of fish. The Jewish salad was unexpectedly small, but also surprisingly good.
Then came the long wait for our main dishes. I had ordered a mushroom pizza (20,000) while my companion decided to persist with sturgeon. She had the baked sturgeon Klyar with french fries (34,000).
The fish was worth the wait, while the huge pizza's thin crust reminded me of American fast food pizza chain Domino's -- which means it was a disappointment. My companion finished off the generous portion of sturgeon rather quickly -- she had had adequate time to rebuild her appetite between appetizers and the main dish. I had a harder time with my pizza because it was so big. Even the fact that its crust was thin didn't help. I ended up not being able to finish it.
Happy with her multiple sturgeon, my companion suggested dessert. We ordered fresh strawberries with whipped cream and an ice cream called White Elephant. Another wait -- this time only ten minutes -- followed. The ice cream turned out to be strawberry-flavored, served in little cubes and garnished with raspberries. To our delight the strawberries were indeed fresh, but the servings were too small for the price of 15,000 roubles.
The White Elephant is pleasant and not as expensive as its decor may at first suggest. Entrees are mostly under 40,000 roubles, the Norwegian salmon being the only exception. Roast beef costs only 27,500 roubles, while a pork cutlet costs even less (25,000). The wine list includes French red and white wines at 100,000 roubles per bottle. If you feel like a big spender you can certainly go for gin (375,000 the bottle) or Piper champagne (280,000). I only had the pocket for a glass of Bailey's (8,300).
The rest of the menu, however, is rather moderate. 10-15,000 roubles for an imported beer. All side orders are only 2,500 roubles and all the Italian dishes, such as spaghetti and pizza were 20,000 roubles. Keep in mind that a 10% service charge is added to the bill.