A few weeks back, I found myself in Russia (Moscow to be precise) for work at the all new Zarydye Concert Hall. It's a pretty amazing construction, and I understand that the whole of the Zaryadye Park area was newly constructed to overlook the Red Square and the various momuments that are built there (like the Kremlin!).

Whilst we were at the Concert Hall it was suggested that we eat at the Zaryadye Gastronomic Center that was just a short walk away in the same park area. Given that it was so close, and the concert hall canteen was not that exciting (we tried it the previous evening), we decided to head on out and try out this awkwardly named place!

The Space

When you first enter, it seems like a very fancy food hall. However, it is actually all one restaurant with a eight different stations that provide a wide variety of food styles. When you first sit down, a waiter comes to you and asks you what you have in mind for eating (vegetarian, meat, or whatever else that you might have in mind). With that information in mind, they bring you one of the 8 menus that are being on offer. It's a little bit of a strange system, but if you want you can also ask for all the menus!

The place is new and quite unapologetically trendy looking (hipster even?... although I'm not really a good judge of what that means!). I'm guessing that a place that will see many tourists that are nearby at the Red Square will want to look it's best!

In fact, it is a place that wouldn't look too out of place in any other Western country! Open kitchens, CHECK!

The Menu

The menu (all 8 of them!) is pleasantly varied with pretty much something to suit every taste. There are Russian specialties, and Asian themed ones, a cafe menu or various other many food dishes.

I'm not going to list all 8 menus, I was taking pictures of the menus on the way out of the restaurant, and the security guard on the door was starting to give me funny looks.... So here are just a couple of examples.

Thankfully, the menu (and the wait staff) is in English... what I mean, is the wait staff SPEAK English and the menu is WRITTEN in English!

However, if Russian is more to your taste! That is also available!

The Food

For a starter, I ended up order some Duck/Goose Dumplings that are a Russian speciality. They were incredibly tasty, but if you are familiar with the Chinese Wontons... they are almost the same! Just with no soup and served with Sour Cream! It's quite wierd if you are more familiar with the Chinese version, but it is quite nice!

For the main course, I took a Roast Duck with Apricot sauce. Definitely a good choice! I can almost never pass up a duck choice if it appears on the menu, and this time was no different. The sauce was something new to me, but it was something that paired well with the meat.

Unfortunately, there was not enough time to try the desserts or wine as I had a concert to give... Perhaps next time... although, most of my Tasteem reviews are like this, limited time to eat and not able to drink due to the onset of the public stage!

The Experience

The place was amazing! The choices on offer were vast, the space was quite comfortable and it was in close proximity to the Red Square (if you were visiting as a tourist). For me, it was close to the Concert Hall, so I would definitely be going back if I was back in the area.

Wait staff were incredibly helpful and friendly, and the food arrived quite quickly! The price was very cheap when you did the conversion back to Euros... I'm not sure how it rates against normal Russian prices.

Highly recommended!

Opening Times

Monday 12PM–12AM

Tuesday 12PM–12AM

Wednesday 12PM–12AM

Thursday 12PM–12AM

Friday 12PM–12AM

Saturday 12PM–12AM

Sunday 12PM–12AM

Contact Details

Address: Ulitsa Varvarka, 6, Moskva, Russia, 109012 (ул. Варварка, 6, Москва, 109012)
Phone: +7 495 531-09-50

Website: http://zaryadyegastrocenter.ru/ (http://zaryadyegastrocenter.ru/en)

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