"Pietari" is the Finnish word for St Petersburg. But for St Petersburgers, Pietari is also the name of a restaurant in the city.
I wondered if it was a little part of Finland in the heart of St Petersburg, and perhaps it is, as most of the clientele in the restaurant the night I was there were Finns. And the menu is written in Russian, Finnish and English.
Something between $30 and $50 will make your evening at the Pietari worth recalling, and leaves you with an idea of what a middle-class restaurant ought to be.
We spent about $60 for our three-course meal. Everything -- food and atmosphere -- was enjoyable.
If space is something that matters to you, then the Pietari will suit you just fine. Its atmosphere says that you are at the right site for a date. It's clean, quiet, cool and calm enough for a rendezvous associated with some fun.
The interior is skillfuly designed and well furnished, giving the restaurant good reason to boast itself as one of the best.
Though the menu variety is not as wide as one might imagine in this class of restaurant, it seems Pietari has put more emphasis on the quality of food served and the services offered. And they really succeeded.
For her appetizer, my dining mate chose fruit salad (her favorite) at 20,000 roubles. It was a mixture of kiwi, orange, apple, banana and pineapple. It was superb.
While she then went for a vegetable salad at 25,000 roubles, I preferred something different, shrimp salad at 34,000 roubles. It was delicious, but perhaps red caviar with pancakes at 40,000 roubles was also worth ordering, even though it was one of the most expensive starters on the menu.
There was also sturgeon salad with rice "pietari," at 26,000 roubles.
While we didn't order a hot hors d'oeuvre, there was quite a variety including borshch at 28,000 roubles and sturgeon soup for 44,000 roubles.
For the second course I chose fried trout with French fries for 49,000 roubles, of which I did not regret its taste and portion. My mate preferred a fair portion of pelmyeni at 28,000 roubles.
Beef pot (strips of beef in cream sauce) would cost you 42,000 roubles, while the garlic steak (fillet with garlic potatoes) costs 48,000 roubles. At the same price are the chicken breast, sauteed and covered in curry banana sauce; and the Chinese pork made of pork fillets in sweet and sour sauce. The Kiev-style cutlet is 52,000 roubles.
Pizza is also offered, but pizza lovers, beware: pizzas are in high demand and are available only during the day.
There is a wide variety of pizza, including della cosa (ham and pineapple) and Pizza Veneziana (salami, mushrooms and pickles) each for 25,000 roubles.
The Alla pietari offers ham, mushrooms, pickles, shrimps, onion, salami, garlic, peach, pineapple, paprika and tomato for 38,000 roubles.
The restaurant was so pleasant, I felt like passing more time there even after sipping the last drop of Cappuccino at 10,000 roubles.
I found a good excuse for the delay, for my dining mate took about 20 minutes to finish her ice cream (25,000 roubles).
She told me it was a simple ice cream with vanilla, but so tasty it seemed that Pietari had used its own homemade recipe.
The alcohol menu offers vodka, gin, beer, cognac and wines ranging from 10,000 for 100 mg of Stolichnaya to 110,000 roubles for a bottle of Rondel Rose.
On leaving the restaurant I couldn't help but think there was something missing in other restaurants I have visited, but could not put my finger on it. Whatever it was, Pietari had it.
See Dining Guide