When a cafe is already one of the most well-known in the city, it might be tempting to attempt tourist highway robbery.
Thankfully Pushkin's old hang-out, the Literature Cafe, offers a good menu and quiet atmosphere at a price about what you'd expect for a tourist attraction, without going overboard.
The food isn't spectacular, but then most of the clients are tourists who go there merely for the chance to say they've eaten there.
Now that capitalism is in vogue the restaurant has reverted to its pre-revolutionary name, Wolfe and Berange, after the original owners way back when.
Being in a very anti-tourist-trap mood at the time of my visit I was ready to explode at the first sign of tourist rip-offs. Much to my relief, dinner was relaxing and satisfying.
When I was asked to pay 5,500 roubles upon entering, "for classical music," I almost lost it. But I paid up and was rewarded by the quiet strains of a violin and piano duet throughout most of the meal.
Perhaps the performers wouldn't make first cuts for the Kirov Orchestra, but Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was pleasant and brightened the atmosphere.
Inside, the wood-trimmed yellow interior is dimly-lit, with metal "trees" standing on either side of the room, branches graced with light bulbs. Patrons were overwhelmingly tourists, but there were a few Russian couples and groups. Reservations are suggested, but if you get there before 6 pm, you should have no trouble getting a table.
Within these walls, it is rumored, Russia's beloved poet Alexander Pushkin ate his last meal before setting out for his fatal duel.
Sitting at the window, the view of the Moika Canal hasn't changed much, although the cars driving down Nevsky Prospect would have been carriages and carts back then.
Sketches hanging along the walls portray old St Petersburg. Surprisingly, the restaurant has avoided the kitsch-trap by resisting the temptation to scatter images of its most famous patron around the dining area.
The menu choice is less varied than some of the newer restaurants that have opened up, but the food is traditional Russian fare.
For appetizers, the cafe offers a choice including assorted fish (55,000 roubles), vegetable salad (15,000 roubles) and shrimp salad (45,000 roubles). The blini with honey (19,000 roubles) are typical Russian-style, and can also be ordered with caviar (65,000 roubles) or fish (30,000 roubles). The portion offers a plate of four blini.
A tasty choice of soup is the chicken noodle soup (25,000 roubles), a light, well-seasoned boullion with rice, noodles and small chunks of chicken. If you're looking for something more Russian, there is also borscht (30,000 roubles), soup with pelmeni (25,000 roubles) or fish soup (35,000 roubles).
The tasty, doughy rolls served with the meal are included in the price, so don't hesitate to munch on them between courses. Even better -- the waiter refilled our plate without being asked.
Service itself could have been better. We waited for nearly 10 minutes after seating ourselves before we were given a menu. After that, though, the courses came regularly. Our waiter even refilled the napkin cup in a spare moment.
Main course selections are pretty standard, such as beef stroganov (50,000 roubles), steak (58,000 roubles) and meat "St Petersburg" (60,000 roubles). The chicken tabak (50,000 roubles) was tasty and tender, featuring a spicy roasted chicken leg and thigh. The last option, the fried sturgeon (65,000 roubles), was light and flaky.
As with most Russian restaurants, each course comes with the same garnish. In this case, the meat was surrounded by lettuce, tomato slices, delicious roasted potatoes, peas, and red and yellow peppers. Together with the meat portion, the meal is enough to satisfy most hungers.
Dessert choices consist of ice cream, a "cream dream" (which they were out of at the time), and sponge cake, all for 10,000 roubles.
We went with the ice cream, which turned out to be heavenly. The dish offers two good-size balls of vanilla ice cream, which in case you haven't noticed, the Russians have perfected in sweetness and creaminess. Peanut halves are sprinkled on top, and then the ice cream is covered in chocolate sauce.