Quick Bites, Big Flavours

Ketch Up

People come here for the signature burgers, the perfectly balanced Caesar salad with crispy kataifi-battered prawns, and the inventive cocktails. But also for the vibe! The music sets the pace for clinking glasses and dancefloor moves. On Fridays and Saturdays, the place turns into a club, so you can eat, dance, and generally make a night of it.

Burger Heroes

Moscow’s coolest burgers — period. This mini-chain has been serving gourmet patties for over a decade. The top item on the menu is the Black Mamba, a black bun packed with cheese sauce, bacon, and smoked cherry. Regulars also swear by the Bad Bro (red onion and spicy pepper sauce) or the Baron Dupont with blue cheese. Bonus: any burger can be swapped for a chickpea patty (veggie-friendly) or served with lettuce leaves instead of a bun (calorie counters, that’s for you).

Chiho

Chiho is China — that’s how they present themselves, and they’re not wrong. Expect sweet-and-sour aubergines, smashed cucumbers, fried rice, wontons, bao buns, half a dozen noodle varieties, and much more. For pudding: traditional Chinese fried milk and, naturally, green tea. China is having a moment right now, and here you can briefly feel like you’re in Beijing or Shanghai without leaving Moscow.

Kook

This trendy Korean bistro is a hit with the younger crowd, but anyone who loves Asian vibes will feel right at home. The menu offers banchan (little bites like kimchi or pickled lotus), steaming bowls of ramen, stylish corndogs, spicy tteokbokki rice cakes, crispy fried chicken in various coatings, and bungeoppang — puff-pastry pies with different fillings.

Address: Petrovsky Boulevard, 15c1

Kulёk

Fancy a twist on the classic sandwich? This is your spot. They pack the fillings into little pouches of fresh bread (hence the name — kulёk means ‘pouch’). It’s not a burger, not a wrap — it’s a unique, ridiculously handy dish invented right here in Moscow. Every month they roll out a special seasonal pouch in collaboration with a brand or a celeb, but the classics run the show. Choose from cold sandwiches (stracciatella with prosciutto cotto and truffle, or prawns with yoghurt and avocado) or hearty hot ones — we recommend the chicken in mushroom sauce, braised beef cheek stew, or grilled beef with peppercorn sauce and cheddar. You can add soup or salad, but fair warning — these pouches are proper fillers!

J’Pan

A Japanese menu without a single standard roll — that’s the concept at bistro J’Pan. People come for pristine salmon and tuna sashimi, hearty cheesy ramen, Japanese curry, or donburi — rice bowls with meat and veggies. The real showstoppers are the playful desserts: cakes shaped like Mount Fuji or a shiba-inu dog face. The matcha cocktails are also worth a try.

Frank by Basta

Their motto: ‘The way to the heart is through the ribs!’ Pop in at least for the stylish menu. It’s printed like a newspaper. The mascots are a dinosaur and a piglet, and the menu revolves around ribs in a dozen different sauces and loads of beers. They even do ribs with ice cream and corn chips — you might just love the combo! For the more traditional, there are ribs in honey-teriyaki, pepper-cola, barbecue, ginger, and more. Also worth the trip: the indulgent Cheesy Killer burger (drenched in molten cheese), chicken wings, tacos, and other bar snacks.

Svoboda-2

A stylish bar on Rozhdestvenka Street — pop in for a proper contemporary Moscow evening. They make house-infused spirits and offbeat cocktails (don’t skip the Shchavelini — made with sorrel!), all paired with tasty bites. And the real reason to come? A properly Russian dessert — cranberry pie with sea-buckthorn ice cream. Where else are you going to find that?

Address: Rozhdestvenka 6/9/20c1