By Karina Biok
I was keen to have an authentic Russian meal, and my dining companion assured me that the Universal would be a good place for the experience.
Located only a block down from Ploshchad Vosstaniya on Nevsky Prospect, it sits above the street on the second floor. On entering, you immediately get the feeling of a world-that-was, which somewhat intrigued me after the bright lights of some of the newer places in the center.
Past the dance floor (sadly empty) the dining room is dark, apart from the dimmed lights on each table. This creates an intimate, cozy feeling, whilst the heavy curtains and small mirrors along the walls suggest an imperial ambience without being overly ornate or gaudy.
After selecting a white wine, we began with cold salads -- tomato for my companion (12,000 roubles) and crab for myself (36,000). The pieces of crabmeat were mixed with a light mayonnaise and cucumber. Although a little salty for my liking, it was tasty if not authentically Russian.
My companion insisted that it would be heresy not to sample the caviar -- I didn't require much coaxing. As we waited, the band struck up with a somber opening number, a tragic love song which moved my companion but was unappreciated by one whose knowledge of Russian doesn't extend to expressions of love and longing.
Our pancakes and caviar arrived -- I had the red variety (24,000), and my guest the black (26,000). They were delicious, and the pancakes were piping hot. However we both agreed that a larger serving of caviar would have been appreciated -- but then maybe you can never have enough. As we munched our way through them, it was an equal balance of pancake and a strained rendition of "Lady in Red" by another singer.
On perusal, the rest of the menu was not so much Russian as heavy on the international titles. Apart from entrees of salted salmon (23,000) and sturgeon with lemon and butter (24,000) there was the mysterious salad cocktail Milanese (16,000). Equally intriguing was the Suvorov salmon soup (22,000).
Mains included sturgeon Hamburg-style (37,000), pike a la Leningrad (28,000), and boiled pike from Poland which sounded rather uninspiring.
Meat dishes offered were veal Hamburg-style (32,000), scalloped pork, and the famous Beef Stroganov (28,000). The multi-cultural theme continued with chicken dishes -- a choice of either Georgian, or Kiev cutlet (both 32,000).
I wasn't interested in Georgian or German fare, so I chose fried sturgeon (33,000) which my companion assured me was a very popular Russian dish. Crumbed and served as a fillet, tender and flavorful, it was accompanied by french-fried potatoes and an onion salad.
My dinner-guest had ordered the fillet of beef (30,000), a rather large portion covered in a dark mushroom sauce and fresh mushrooms. This confirmed my belief that there is a national obsession with this comestible. It was well cooked and tasty, although a little tough, and was also accompanied by potatoes and salad.
Unfortunately (and in flagrant contradiction of Russian dining-practice) there were no desserts. Etiquette probably required a few vodkas (of which there was a variety), or cognac to round off the evening, but we were quite happy finishing our wine. The service? Our waiter was polite and unobtrusive.
Hot tea was served with a calypso-number Barry Manilow would have been proud to call his own.
The table of tourists behind us were thoroughly enjoying the combination of music, caviar and vodka. It's possible to hire a banquet hall for 5-30 people, however be warned that in the dining-room the band charges 10,000 roubles per head after 10pm.
After listening to a few more Russian numbers we headed off to the recognizable strains of "Yesterday," rather appropriate for a restaurant that has a traditional old-world feel. Yet this gives the Universal much of its charm, and if you feel that you're slipping back in time, there's always contemporary pop tunes to jolt you back into the present.