The fridge is empty, you've had spaghetti and Ragu three times for dinner this week already, and you are not in the mood for creative cooking. Canned tuna? Cold cereal? A more exciting option would be to order a meal -- to take away or to be delivered to your home.
Several Moscow eateries offer takeout food. And even if no gourmet stuffed quails or goose-liver pat? are on the delivery menu, you can still have something tasty brought to your door -- a particularly appealing possibility when it's mucky outside.
Kropotkinskaya 36, one of Moscow's best-known Russian restaurants, has opened a small caf?-deli, Cafe Express, where hungry customers can choose from a wide range of Russian dishes and appetizers to take home or to the office. The cafe, which also has a few tables for a quick bite, is located next door to the restaurant, and the all the food comes from the Kropotkinskya 36 kitchen.
Though the caf?'s menu is not as extensive or sophisticated as the fare at the restaurant, the food is still good and fairly inexpensive. A variety of traditional Russian soups and zakuski, appetizers, are available. The fare includes shchi, cabbage soup, or borshch ($1.50 per serving) or bouillon ($1.20). Appetizers include chicken pie ($1.70), blinchiki, small blinis, with meat or tvorog, a sort of Russian cottage cheese ($2), smoked salmon ($3.30 for 100 grams), aspic of sturgeon ($1.50) or marinated fish ($2.25). For the main course, choices include fried sturgeon with potatoes ($3.50), fried spring chicken ($3.30), chicken leg ($2.00) and pilaf or a similar dish called liylia ($2.10). Desserts are limited to a fruit tart (70 cents), honey cake (80 cents) or rolled cake (70 cents). The caf? also sells a variety of wines, French for the most part, priced at about $15 a bottle.
If you are planning a party and need several portions, it is best to order them in advance.
Caf? Express, 36 Ulitsa Pretchistenka. Tel. 290-3521. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Payment in rubles or by credit card.
The Chinese restaurant Panda will prepare everything available on the menu for takeout, but for what it will cost you, you may be wishing you had dined out somewhere. The restaurant has a large selection of appetizers such as dumplings at $9.25 and fried shrimp for $8.25 and several chicken, duck, beef and seafood main dishes ranging from $15.95 to $36.
Panda, 3/5 Tverskoi Bulvar. Tel. 298-6565. Open daily from noon to 10:30 p.m. Payment by credit card or rubles.
For lunch, if the weather is really too bleak to go anywhere, or you are short on time, the solution is delivery. Two eateries, Jack's Sandwiches and Just Subs, deliver classic American lunch fare -- subs, salads, desserts and drinks that bring a bit of New York or San Francisco to your Moscow culinary experience.
All sandwiches and salads delivered by Jack's are the same price: $6.50. There are 11 kinds of sandwiches (pastrami, turkey, egg salad, roast beef, etc.), and six kinds of salads (green, Caesar, Greek, pasta, and so on), as well as brownies and cookies ($1.50) and soft drinks ($1.25).
Jack's Sandwiches. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tel. 281-8263. Delivers within 5 kilometers of the Kremlin in about one hour, depending on location.. The minimum order for delivery is $15. Payment in rubles only.
Just Subs delivers within 45 minutes anywhere in Moscow, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Twelve kinds of subs (chicken, tuna, vegetarian, etc.) come in two sizes -- 25 centimeters for healthy appetites ($6.50) and 15 centimeters for moderate ones ($3.50). They also have salads (green, coleslaw, Greek, etc.), $6 for a large portion, $2 for a small. Also on the menu is Ben and Jerry's ice cream ($5 a pint), soft drinks ($1) and Corona beer ($2).
Just Subs. Open 24 hours daily. Tel. 945-2766 or 2767. Payment in cash only: dollars or rubles.
For pizza lovers, Moscow has Jack's Pizza, made by the same company that makes the sandwiches. Jack's will deliver a 40-centimeter pizza that easily feeds three people. All pizzas are the same price, $18.50, except for the classic New Yorker, a tomato and cheese version for $16.50. There are about a dozen pizzas to choose from. Green salads, drinks and desserts are the same as those offered by Jack's sandwiches.
Jack's Pizza. Open Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tel. 956-6196. No minimum order for pizzas. Delivery within 5 kilometers of the Kremlin in about one hour, depending on location.
Pizza Hut on Tverskaya Ulitsa also has a delivery service, but it only operates weekdays. On weekends, takeout pizzas are available. Pizzas are available in different sizes: a small for one person ($4.50 and up), a medium for two people ($6.50 and up) and a large for three to four persons ($10 and up).
Pizza Hut, 12 Tverskaya Ulitsa. Tel. 229-2013. Delivers Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. within the Garden Ring only, in 30 to 50 minutes. Minimum order is 200,000 rubles. Payment in rubles only. Takeout daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
If you live nearby, Patio Pizza offers takeout pizzas, which are ready in about 10 minutes for $5 to $15, depending on size and topping.
Patio Pizza, 13A Ulitsa Volkhonka. Tel. 201-5000. Open daily from noon to midnight.
Finally, for breakfast or for a snack, Hol'n One Donuts delivers 11 kinds of real American-style donuts (50 cents each) such as chocolate glaze with peanut crunch. For delivery, a minimum order of a dozen donuts must be placed by 6 p.m. the day before. The donuts are delivered by 10:30 a.m. for a set $3.00 fee.
Hol'n One Donuts. Tel./Fax: 975-3392.
Several Moscow eateries offer takeout food. And even if no gourmet stuffed quails or goose-liver pat? are on the delivery menu, you can still have something tasty brought to your door -- a particularly appealing possibility when it's mucky outside.
Kropotkinskaya 36, one of Moscow's best-known Russian restaurants, has opened a small caf?-deli, Cafe Express, where hungry customers can choose from a wide range of Russian dishes and appetizers to take home or to the office. The cafe, which also has a few tables for a quick bite, is located next door to the restaurant, and the all the food comes from the Kropotkinskya 36 kitchen.
Though the caf?'s menu is not as extensive or sophisticated as the fare at the restaurant, the food is still good and fairly inexpensive. A variety of traditional Russian soups and zakuski, appetizers, are available. The fare includes shchi, cabbage soup, or borshch ($1.50 per serving) or bouillon ($1.20). Appetizers include chicken pie ($1.70), blinchiki, small blinis, with meat or tvorog, a sort of Russian cottage cheese ($2), smoked salmon ($3.30 for 100 grams), aspic of sturgeon ($1.50) or marinated fish ($2.25). For the main course, choices include fried sturgeon with potatoes ($3.50), fried spring chicken ($3.30), chicken leg ($2.00) and pilaf or a similar dish called liylia ($2.10). Desserts are limited to a fruit tart (70 cents), honey cake (80 cents) or rolled cake (70 cents). The caf? also sells a variety of wines, French for the most part, priced at about $15 a bottle.
If you are planning a party and need several portions, it is best to order them in advance.
Caf? Express, 36 Ulitsa Pretchistenka. Tel. 290-3521. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Payment in rubles or by credit card.
The Chinese restaurant Panda will prepare everything available on the menu for takeout, but for what it will cost you, you may be wishing you had dined out somewhere. The restaurant has a large selection of appetizers such as dumplings at $9.25 and fried shrimp for $8.25 and several chicken, duck, beef and seafood main dishes ranging from $15.95 to $36.
Panda, 3/5 Tverskoi Bulvar. Tel. 298-6565. Open daily from noon to 10:30 p.m. Payment by credit card or rubles.
For lunch, if the weather is really too bleak to go anywhere, or you are short on time, the solution is delivery. Two eateries, Jack's Sandwiches and Just Subs, deliver classic American lunch fare -- subs, salads, desserts and drinks that bring a bit of New York or San Francisco to your Moscow culinary experience.
All sandwiches and salads delivered by Jack's are the same price: $6.50. There are 11 kinds of sandwiches (pastrami, turkey, egg salad, roast beef, etc.), and six kinds of salads (green, Caesar, Greek, pasta, and so on), as well as brownies and cookies ($1.50) and soft drinks ($1.25).
Jack's Sandwiches. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tel. 281-8263. Delivers within 5 kilometers of the Kremlin in about one hour, depending on location.. The minimum order for delivery is $15. Payment in rubles only.
Just Subs delivers within 45 minutes anywhere in Moscow, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Twelve kinds of subs (chicken, tuna, vegetarian, etc.) come in two sizes -- 25 centimeters for healthy appetites ($6.50) and 15 centimeters for moderate ones ($3.50). They also have salads (green, coleslaw, Greek, etc.), $6 for a large portion, $2 for a small. Also on the menu is Ben and Jerry's ice cream ($5 a pint), soft drinks ($1) and Corona beer ($2).
Just Subs. Open 24 hours daily. Tel. 945-2766 or 2767. Payment in cash only: dollars or rubles.
For pizza lovers, Moscow has Jack's Pizza, made by the same company that makes the sandwiches. Jack's will deliver a 40-centimeter pizza that easily feeds three people. All pizzas are the same price, $18.50, except for the classic New Yorker, a tomato and cheese version for $16.50. There are about a dozen pizzas to choose from. Green salads, drinks and desserts are the same as those offered by Jack's sandwiches.
Jack's Pizza. Open Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tel. 956-6196. No minimum order for pizzas. Delivery within 5 kilometers of the Kremlin in about one hour, depending on location.
Pizza Hut on Tverskaya Ulitsa also has a delivery service, but it only operates weekdays. On weekends, takeout pizzas are available. Pizzas are available in different sizes: a small for one person ($4.50 and up), a medium for two people ($6.50 and up) and a large for three to four persons ($10 and up).
Pizza Hut, 12 Tverskaya Ulitsa. Tel. 229-2013. Delivers Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. within the Garden Ring only, in 30 to 50 minutes. Minimum order is 200,000 rubles. Payment in rubles only. Takeout daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
If you live nearby, Patio Pizza offers takeout pizzas, which are ready in about 10 minutes for $5 to $15, depending on size and topping.
Patio Pizza, 13A Ulitsa Volkhonka. Tel. 201-5000. Open daily from noon to midnight.
Finally, for breakfast or for a snack, Hol'n One Donuts delivers 11 kinds of real American-style donuts (50 cents each) such as chocolate glaze with peanut crunch. For delivery, a minimum order of a dozen donuts must be placed by 6 p.m. the day before. The donuts are delivered by 10:30 a.m. for a set $3.00 fee.
Hol'n One Donuts. Tel./Fax: 975-3392.