Gorod-Sad is a chain of small cafés and shops in central Moscow for lovers of healthy food. They use only natural ingredients with no additives. The menu has special dishes for adherents of Keto and LCHF diets (for example, beef meatballs for 169 rubles [$2.6] or chicken curry in coconut milk for 250 rubles [$3.8]), vegetarians (tofu syrniki [cottage cheese pancakes] for 180 rubles [$2.8] and chia pudding for 340 rubles [$5.2]) and people who are lactose intolerant (coconut milk oatmeal porridge for 210 rubles [$3.2]) or gluten intolerant (raw vegan cannoli for 220 rubles [$3.4]).
And every Wednesday the Gorod-Sad café at 6 Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane, puts on free thematic lectures by doctors, coaches and healthy lifestyle enthusiasts.
Average check: 700 rubles [$11]
Addresses:
6 Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane
16 Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street
12 Bolshoi Patriarchy Lane
The founders of LavkaLavka point out that it is neither a shop nor a café, but a cooperative where farmers and buyers can meet directly. Since 2016, LavkaLavka has been a member of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). All their food is produced by small farms with no negative impact on the environment.
In addition to the shops and small cafés, LavkaLavka has a restaurant serving Russian cuisine, where you can taste well-known dishes with a distinctive twist. For instance, pancake tapas (630 rubles [$9.7]) or pelmeni [dumplings] in a creamy truffle sauce (650 rubles [$10]). You are invited to wash them down with kvas [a drink made from fermented rye bread], vzvar [stewed dried fruit and berries] or compote (at 300 rubles each [$4.6]), and, to raise your spirits, down a shot of samogon [homemade moonshine] (270 rubles [$4.1]). Organic, naturally.
Average check: 1,500 rubles [$23]
Address: 21/2 Petrovka Street
This secret vegetarian health food restaurant is hidden in the Kitai-Gorod area. In order to get in, you need to book a table in advance and study a map of the area - the place doesn't even have a sign, and the door is kept locked. If you do manage to find it, tasty dishes and a pleasant atmosphere will await you! The restaurant owners say the menu is seasonal: For example, in winter they do not use tomatoes for cooking because they have no taste at that time of year. By contrast, in the summer there are vegetables and herbs galore. For breakfast, you can have spelt porridge with dates (250 rubles [$3.8]); for lunch, fish solyanka [a thick, spicy and sour soup] (350 rubles [$5.4]); and for dessert, the house special gluten- and sugar-free honey cake (300 rubles [$4.6]).
Average check: 1,500 rubles [$23]
Address: 1/15, Building 2, Yauzskaya Street
This homemade food restaurant is located at the Moscow Golf Club. All dishes are prepared from organic produce from different parts of the country delivered specially to order. Visitors can choose from juicy chebureki [deep-fried meat pies] (380 rubles [$5.8]), golubtsy [cabbage rolls with meat filling] (650 rubles [$10]) or smelts [a fish dish] (850 rubles [$13]). The restaurant's signature dishes are on its desert menu, which offers old-fashioned apple pie with lingonberries (550 rubles [$8.4]) and homemade doughnuts in kisel [a traditional Russian juice made from berries or fruit with starch thickening] (450 rubles [$7]). And a pleasant view of the golf course is thrown in as a bonus.
Average check: 2,000 rubles [$31]
Address: 1, Building 1, Dovzhenko Street
The café owners find recipes for their dishes on their travels. Because of this, their menu is very eclectic, including Peking chicken (480 rubles [$7.4]) alongside homemade udon noodles (450 rubles [$7]) or a burger served in lettuce leaves instead of a bun (430 rubles [$6.6]). They also have baked goods and pastries made on site, without the use of coloring or preservatives. The café's motto is ‘Like it or have it for free’: If a customer doesn’t like a dish, it won’t be included in the check!
Average check: 1,000 rubles [$15]
Address: 10 Bolshoi Kozikhinsky Lane
The concept is very simple: Seasonal vegetables, fruit and a lot of meat. The menu is small but rather intriguing: Reindeer meat tartare (640 rubles [$9.8]), duck liver salad (490 rubles [$7.5]), pelmeni with elk meat (480 rubles [$7.4]) and wild boar cutlets (760 rubles [$12]). People say that the owner, who is a hunter himself, even supplies the wild game for some of the dishes!
Average check: 1,500 rubles [$23]
Address: 74 Mytnaya Street
This chain of restaurants named after the city in central Russia offers a taste of provincial cuisine. The menu lists a couple dozen types of steak (ribeye goes for 2,600 rubles [$40] or a machete steak costs 840 rubles [$13]), several types of oysters (400 rubles each [$6.1]) and simple vegetable salads (cabbage salad for 480 rubles [$7.4] or tomato and cucumber for 540 rubles [$8.3]). Beef is supplied by farms in special, ecologically clean areas of the Voronezh Region, the fish is sourced from the Barents Sea and the Sea of Japan and vegetables are brought in from Ryazan and Krasnodar.
Average check: 2,500 rubles [$38]
Addresses:
4, Prechistenka Street
12/1 Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street
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