For a cool Arctic escape on a hot summer's day, you don't have to travel any further than China Town.
The Expedition restaurant -- which opened last month on Pevchesky Pereulok in Kitai Gorod -- boasts Arctic cuisine and a dining room equipped with pine trees, maps of the north and even a helicopter, all of which combines to create the fantasy that, on entering the restaurant, guests have embarked on an adventure-filled Arctic safari. To complete the illusion, Expedition also has one of those trendy transparent floors, with pebbles, sparkling crystals and firewood scattered on top and a "stream" flowing between snow-dusted rocks below. Firewood "gathered" from around the stream feeds a roaring fireplace, happily without altering the cool ambience in the room.
One evening last weekend we were among the first customers to arrive at Expedition, and the restaurant's staff was bending over backward to please. One charming waiter brought us the aperitifs menu and took our pre-dinner drink orders -- Kir Royale ($8) and Becherovka on ice ($4) -- before presenting us with the food menu. Within minutes, another waiter appeared and smilingly offered his assistance in making our selections; and then the friendly Swedish chef came out for a chat.
"We bring the Siberian forests to Moscow," he said, explaining that reindeer, elk, wild birds and fish indigenous to Arctic north Siberia form the basis for northern-Siberian-Nordic cuisine. After hunting season begins in autumn, the restaurant will be at its best, he said, serving fresh game -- but, for the moment, the kitchen must use a good deal of frozen meat and fish.
The menu -- like everything at Expedition -- is beautifully designed, featuring lush full-page photographs of frosty north pole scenes. The gastronomic selection is limited but interesting and doesn't waste space with dull everyday staples. And if you think cold-climate food is stodgy, you're in for a surprise at Expedition, where the food is not at all heavy. Russian cuisine, it seems, is at its best the further it departs from Central Europe, whether that be in a northern, southern or eastern direction.
In order to sample the widest possible range of dishes, we chose the Siberian Delicacies Starter ($22) -- a mouth-watering selection of appetizers for two people that includes diced reindeer meat with chanterelle mushrooms and sour cream on toast, smoked ryapushka fish (otherwise known as Siberian cisco), whitefish roe, boiled burbot liver with vinaigrette, pickled herring with onion, crunchy pickled cucumbers, damsons and boiled potato with horseradish and mayonnaise. The starter was served with two shots of smooth, flavorsome chef's-recipe herbal Aquavit, which was included in the price. The sliced white and rye bread on the side was fresh as can be.
On the waiter's recommendation, we shared a single portion of Siberian ukha, or fish soup ($7), served in two small bowls, each with generous chunks of salmon, burbot and muksun, a freshwater whitefish similar to salmon. The ukha was probably the best we'd ever had.
For our mains, we were tempted by the salmon and the curious-sounding partridge, but in the end we chose the juicy and tender saddle of reindeer with fried wild mushrooms, celery and shallot puree and orange and mustard sauce ($28); and the fillet of muksun with Kamchatka crab risotto, parmesan cheese and red wine sauce with thyme ($24). Neither dish could be faulted, nor could the palatable house red and white wines ($6 a glass) which surprisingly turned out to be from Thomas Hardy's winery in Australia.
Dizzy with bliss -- or perhaps the Aquavit-wine combo -- we asked for the dessert menu. Again, the selection was small but intelligent, and we finally settled on the assorted homemade sorbets and ice creams with lime and mint sauce ($6), and the warm apple and ginger tart with bitter cocoa sorbet ($5) -- both masterful creations, and the espresso coffee ($2) was up to standard as well.
Downstairs, Expedition has its own banya, Istobka, which is home to two private cabins with steam rooms, dunking pools and lounges, where visitors can relax before dinner with a therapeutic massage and a selection of teas and honeys. On the way back upstairs we checked out the restaurant's summer terrace -- a tasteful open-air hideaway with a parachute-like canopy for shelter. Apart from the excellent food, both are good reasons to make a return expedition.
6 Pevchesky Pereulok. Metro Kitai-Gorod. Tel. 917-9510. Noon to midnight, or until last guest leaves. www.expedicia.ru.
The Expedition restaurant -- which opened last month on Pevchesky Pereulok in Kitai Gorod -- boasts Arctic cuisine and a dining room equipped with pine trees, maps of the north and even a helicopter, all of which combines to create the fantasy that, on entering the restaurant, guests have embarked on an adventure-filled Arctic safari. To complete the illusion, Expedition also has one of those trendy transparent floors, with pebbles, sparkling crystals and firewood scattered on top and a "stream" flowing between snow-dusted rocks below. Firewood "gathered" from around the stream feeds a roaring fireplace, happily without altering the cool ambience in the room.
One evening last weekend we were among the first customers to arrive at Expedition, and the restaurant's staff was bending over backward to please. One charming waiter brought us the aperitifs menu and took our pre-dinner drink orders -- Kir Royale ($8) and Becherovka on ice ($4) -- before presenting us with the food menu. Within minutes, another waiter appeared and smilingly offered his assistance in making our selections; and then the friendly Swedish chef came out for a chat.
"We bring the Siberian forests to Moscow," he said, explaining that reindeer, elk, wild birds and fish indigenous to Arctic north Siberia form the basis for northern-Siberian-Nordic cuisine. After hunting season begins in autumn, the restaurant will be at its best, he said, serving fresh game -- but, for the moment, the kitchen must use a good deal of frozen meat and fish.
The menu -- like everything at Expedition -- is beautifully designed, featuring lush full-page photographs of frosty north pole scenes. The gastronomic selection is limited but interesting and doesn't waste space with dull everyday staples. And if you think cold-climate food is stodgy, you're in for a surprise at Expedition, where the food is not at all heavy. Russian cuisine, it seems, is at its best the further it departs from Central Europe, whether that be in a northern, southern or eastern direction.
In order to sample the widest possible range of dishes, we chose the Siberian Delicacies Starter ($22) -- a mouth-watering selection of appetizers for two people that includes diced reindeer meat with chanterelle mushrooms and sour cream on toast, smoked ryapushka fish (otherwise known as Siberian cisco), whitefish roe, boiled burbot liver with vinaigrette, pickled herring with onion, crunchy pickled cucumbers, damsons and boiled potato with horseradish and mayonnaise. The starter was served with two shots of smooth, flavorsome chef's-recipe herbal Aquavit, which was included in the price. The sliced white and rye bread on the side was fresh as can be.
On the waiter's recommendation, we shared a single portion of Siberian ukha, or fish soup ($7), served in two small bowls, each with generous chunks of salmon, burbot and muksun, a freshwater whitefish similar to salmon. The ukha was probably the best we'd ever had.
For our mains, we were tempted by the salmon and the curious-sounding partridge, but in the end we chose the juicy and tender saddle of reindeer with fried wild mushrooms, celery and shallot puree and orange and mustard sauce ($28); and the fillet of muksun with Kamchatka crab risotto, parmesan cheese and red wine sauce with thyme ($24). Neither dish could be faulted, nor could the palatable house red and white wines ($6 a glass) which surprisingly turned out to be from Thomas Hardy's winery in Australia.
Dizzy with bliss -- or perhaps the Aquavit-wine combo -- we asked for the dessert menu. Again, the selection was small but intelligent, and we finally settled on the assorted homemade sorbets and ice creams with lime and mint sauce ($6), and the warm apple and ginger tart with bitter cocoa sorbet ($5) -- both masterful creations, and the espresso coffee ($2) was up to standard as well.
Downstairs, Expedition has its own banya, Istobka, which is home to two private cabins with steam rooms, dunking pools and lounges, where visitors can relax before dinner with a therapeutic massage and a selection of teas and honeys. On the way back upstairs we checked out the restaurant's summer terrace -- a tasteful open-air hideaway with a parachute-like canopy for shelter. Apart from the excellent food, both are good reasons to make a return expedition.
6 Pevchesky Pereulok. Metro Kitai-Gorod. Tel. 917-9510. Noon to midnight, or until last guest leaves. www.expedicia.ru.
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