Although nominally disguised as a bridge, the silver and blue cylindrical thing stretching across the Moscow River near Krasnopresnenskaya feels deceptively like an airport. Complete with horizontal escalators and that clean, air-conditioned feel of all West European airports, it's not the first place you'd think of going for something to eat.
But about a third of the way along the bridge is the welcoming Wienerhof restaurant. Part of it is lodged in a triangular segment within the tube of the bridge. There's also a balcony, where you can watch the proposed snazzy finance center grow up. At the moment, it looks like a lunar landscape after a bad day at the office, but if you pop downstairs, you can see its future gleaming glory in a model of the proposed vast stalagmites of tower blocks.
Once the city's built, the balcony will probably never see the sun again, but if you sit in the coffee shop, there's a splendidly relaxing view up along the river. Coffee is available from 14 rubles, and there's an enormous display of cakes from around 30 rubles.
Unfortunately, the view from the restaurant isn't as good, and you have to sit up very straight to see the water. But sitting there in the evening as the night darkens, you can watch the restaurant's reflection slowly unfold in the mirror of the window. It's not the Northern Lights, but it made me happy enough.
For starters, we skipped the special menu, which included a not very special okroshka, or cold cucumber soup, (40 rubles, or $6.70) and mozzarella with tomatoes (75 rubles), and instead went for the Greek salad (60 rubles) and the strudel with cabbage and sour cream (35 rubles).
The strudel was great -- although I think it would have been better to try the spinach and feta cheese version -- but the salad was rather unimaginative. Everything was there, and all was fresh, but it looked as if I'd made it, and that's not a compliment. But there's ample choice in the menu -- from the ubiquitous Caesar salad (45 rubles) to a traditional German salad with potatoes (43 rubles). And if you just fancy a snack, there's a host of sandwiches, from wiener schnitzel (75 rubles) to shrimp on toast (60 rubles).
We skipped soup, although we really wanted to try the Viennese-style goulash soup (47 rubles), and fell upon the filet of salmon with buttered zucchini (140 rubles) and the fried duck in orange sauce (165 rubles). My friend scoffed the salmon within a few minutes. The zucchini was also good, but my duck was lukewarm, and the accompanying celery chips were a chew too far for me.
Desert was a soft and gentle cheesecake (30 rubles).Rather unimaginatively, I was hoping for a bit of the tune from the Third Man or a spot of Mozart but instead got a selection of uninspired pop tunes.
The service was good. They didn't even blink when we smashed a wine glass in a minor scuffle over the salt. Bottles of wine start from 150 rubles, and glasses are only 25 rubles. The total price for two was 570 rubles.
Wienerhof, Mall Pedestrian Bridge, 16 Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya, 255-8101, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Metro: Kievskaya or Ulitsa 1905 Goda.
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