A combination of black clouds of smoke billowing from a building up the street, and a string of multicolored lights flashing overhead, led me to one of the city's newest quality restaurants.
Opened just over a month ago `Kings of the East,' with the accent on Arabian cuisine, should be easier to find with the forthcoming addition of a sign on Rizhsky Prospect.
In the reception area is a small fountain and middle eastern decor which help prepare you for the spectacle of the main dining area. Here one's attention immediately lights on another, larger fountain picked out by colored spotlights. This and the predominantly blue interior gives a classy but cool atmosphere.
With only four other diners, a feeling of cosiness was lacking, but it meant we were lucky enough to experience service of an efficiency still unusual for St Petersburg.
Actually the restaurant was very comfortable and the waiter looked resplendent in traditional black Arabian costume complete with ceremonial dagger. Don't forget the tip!
The menu, printed in English and Russian -- and Arabic -- offers a wide selection of salads and main courses but little choice in the way of soups. Of the four soups, prices ranged from 12,000 roubles for tomato soup to 18,000 roubles for the lentil. That didn't perturb me, however, because a glance at the list of salads immediately raised my stomach's expectations.
Choosing was made a little easier when a selection of samples were brought for us to taste before ordering.
Among these were Turkish salad (20,000 roubles), a lightly spiced and very tasty mixture of pureed tomato and onion; eggplant salad (20,000) and meat salad (25,000). All were excellent and commended themselves to the palate.
But yet another option commanded my attention, the Eastern salad (25,000). This simple-looking vegetable salad conceals a combination of spices that caused my taste-buds to work overtime and left my palate tingling. My companion was equally enthusiastic about the hummus (25,000) smooth and flavorsome and eaten with Arabian-style flat bread resembling pita.
Everything about this restaurant is authentic. From the music (taped on this occasion), to the batik artwork covering the windows. Even the fountain was brought especially from Syria.
Little details such as freshly squeezed orange juice (15,000) and spring water collected at a source 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the city add to the royal setting.
The menu features a good range of mains, including Arabian specialties such as stuffed lamb (40,000), Kufta (55,000) and Mansaf (70,000), as well as more standard fare such as peppered steak (60,000) and filet of fish (55,000).
We tried the rice and meat wrapped in grape leaves (35,000 roubles). After the salads it felt a little tame but nevertheless was wonderfully cooked.
We were also fortunate not to miss the magnificent Makloba (50,000) a mixture of rice, lamb and pine nuts. The lamb was so tender it disintegrated on the tongue, a welcome change from the mutton served in most Russian restaurants.
There is a modest range of deserts ranging from the sticky sweet baklava (12,000) to the enormous `Kings of the East' ice cream selection, four flavors accompanied by fruit, cherry sauce and chocolate cream. (It should be avoided at all costs by calorie counters).
There is the usual range of alcoholic beverages on offer at the expected prices but we decided to blow the expense and treated ourselves each to a shot of Arak. At 40,000 roubles per 50g it's not what you would call cheap but when in Rome, as the saying goes.
The evening was nicely rounded off with a strong thick Arabian coffee flavored with cardamom.
The only disappointment of the whole evening was that we came across this restaurant on the wrong night. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 9pm-midnight, patrons are treated to a show of traditional belly dancing.
For afternoon diners there is a treat of a different kind -- a 20% discount before 6pm.