Moscow’s bar culture is gaining its momentum with new exciting venues popping up in Russia‘s capital almost every week. From an atmospheric speakeasy, to scenic rooftop bar to a hip piano bar in a Moscow apartment – here’s your list for an unforgettable visit.
15 Kitchen + Bar
Bar, Restaurant, European, Seafood
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An acclaimed bar that takes serving drinks as seriously as making them, this place showcases a cocktail card that changes every season but still remains perfectly balanced. The place has a surprising restaurant concept, inviting the world’s best chefs on a short-term contract and encouraging their experiments.
Bar, Cocktail Bar, Tea Room, Chinese, Cocktails, Tea
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Chainaya. Tea & Cocktails is Moscow’s first speakeasy with the spookiest location – a basement where there was once was actual Chinese tea house. The new owners have kept the atmospheric interiors and Chinese tea on the menu, but added Chinese food and a celebrity bartender.
A hipster paradise that set the tone for a new generation of Moscow’s bars, Delicatessen is known and loved for its honest hefty food and home-made infused alcohols. Located in a nondescript basement and hidden in a maze of Moscow’s alleys, this is the place for those in the know, where the owners cook, mix cocktails and wait tables.
Moskovsky Bar is a classy spot in the Four Seasons hotel, with deluxe interiors and impeccable staff. The cocktail card offers multiple variations of vodka-based drinks that feature all the traditional Russian ingredients you’d expect: kvas, birch juice, honey and Altai berries, with Moscow Mule being the most popular.
Public Bar will go down in history as the place where Kanye West had lunch with fashionista Gosha Rubchinskiy, which can only mean that Kanye knows a good bar. Though finding this enigmatic place is quite a challenge and you have to make a call to get in, you’ll be rewarded with a quiet evening of elaborate drinks.
As the name implies, here you can try all Russian drinks (and their variations) imaginable: from traditional infused alcohols to berry mors drinks. Located on the 85th floor of the Moscow City tower, Ruski is famous for its one-of-a-kind ice-bar and breathtaking view.
Santo Spirito is a tiny quirky bar, with a chill atmosphere and black-and-white movies on mute, but even when crowded it’s still a perfect place for a night out. Try their legendary Negroni Sorbet – gin and vermouth with campari sorbet on the side.
Saxon + Parole is a Russian adaptation of the legendary restaurant, that successfully mirrors its New York twin. Located at Patriarshiye Ponds, the restaurant features a predictably American menu, great Manhattan on tap and exuberant bartenders.
Bar, Wine Bar, Restaurant, European, Pub Grub, $$$
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Here you can actually buy whatever you’re sitting on: Antikvary is an antique shop, restaurant and bar with two menus and impressive wine card. Defined as an “intellectual club” by its owners, the place is favored for its pleasantly laid-back atmosphere and fantastic Dry Martinis.
Kvartira 44 is arguably the cosiest of all Moscow’s drinking places where you can casually eat, drink and talk – all while listening to live piano music. Apart from supreme food and drinks, regulars come for the unique atmosphere – the place is set in an old Moscow apartment.
