Cuisine: Fish, Mediterranean Address: Nevsky Prospect, 174 Nearest metro station: Ploshchad Alexandra Nevskogo Telephone: (812) 271-7677 Working hours: 12.00-0.00 Additional service: banquets, business lunch Average bill: £40 Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard
The seafaring theme starts with the porthole in the door, which opens directly onto a fish counter spilling with octopus, lobster, sturgeon, and more. Though the restaurant is nominally Maltese and offers Mediterranean seafood, the menu favors fish caught in the rivers and lakes surrounding St. Petersburg, such as pikeperch and som, a kind of catfish. The octopus and squid are good but are shipped in and not as fresh as the local fare. The salad bar -- a relative rarity in St. Petersburg -- is also seafood-centered, with shellfish salads and several versions of Baltic herring. Fish is sold by weight and priced per 100 grams (3.8 oz.). Porto Maltese is one of the best dining options at this far end of Nevsky.
TRITON
Cuisine: Fish Address: Fontanka river embankment, 67 Nearest metro station: Dostoyevskaya, Vladimirskaya Telephone: (812) 310-9449 Working hours: 12.00-2.00 Additional service: banquets, business lunch Average bill: £40-50 Credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Triton is one of the best places to go for a luxury seafood experience. The glass floor in the foyer reveals an aquarium beneath your feet, and a waterfall cascades in the main hall. Even the fish swimming in the transparent toilet tanks manage to look sophisticated instead of kitschy. A harpist accompanies dinner service. Try one of the several kinds of caviar - they're pricey, but so is everything in this restaurant – as is the lobster, surprisingly succulent given that it's shipped in. The foie gras is the finest choice if you don't want fish.
RUSSKAYA RYBALKA
Cuisine: Fish Address: Yuzhnaya Doroga, 11 Nearest metro station: Krestovsky Ostrov, then trolleybus #6, 11, or 40; ask the driver for "Russkaya Rybalka" Telephone: (812) 323-9813 Working hours: 11.00-0.00 Additional service: banquets, business lunch Average bill: £30, fish sold by weight Credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
For a more hands-on dining experience, head to this island escape not far from the city center and catch your own meal. This restaurant took over a territory of ponds and now harvests local fish that customers can reel in themselves. The chefs then do the dirty work of cleaning, and prepare the fish for you to order. Catfish, eel, carp, crayfish, sterlet and even sturgeon are among the offerings, but the choice depends on the season. Some months only one type of fish is big enough to eat, limiting you to the fish they bring in from outside. Ducks and swans populate the ponds, too, but are not on the menu. Among the dozens of homemade sauces, the garlic-almond cream sauce is the standout. The restaurant itself is welcoming and offers a generous children's play area. The wooded location is a plus and a minus: You get to enjoy fresh air and exhaust-free outdoor eating, but you have to find your way here first.
DEMYANOVA UKHA
Cuisine: Fish Address: Kronverksky Prospect, 53 Nearest metro station: Gorkovskaya Telephone: (812) 232-8090 Working hours: 12.00-23.00 Additional service: banquets, business lunch Average bill: £15-20 Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard
The restaurant features a fine selection of traditional European and Russian cuisine, with an extensive menu of fish and seafood specialties in a pleasant atmosphere of regular live music performances
Cuisine: Fish, Mediterranean
