SOCHI, February 13 (Kevin O'Flynn, RIA Novosti) – The Winter Olympics host city, Sochi, has all the ingredients to be a gastronomic paradise: proximity to Georgia, home to the best cuisine in the former Soviet Union; a sea for fresh fish on its doorstep; and lush vegetation. Paradise it ain’t, but there is still plenty on offer in a city long practiced in filling tourists’ stomachs.
Here is an unscientific selection of the city's most interesting eateries.
One of the better upmarket places is Lighthouse – an airy, stylish, single-story restaurant with a wall of windows to show off the sea view. One of the few places with a bilingual menu, it focuses on Uzbek cuisine (plov costs 350 rubles, or about $10), but also has more expensive fish dishes, like roasted tuna with vodka jelly and lime (990 rubles). There is Wi-Fi and a small terrace to stand and stare at the sea.
Brigantina, a pricey Italian restaurant nearby, has a photo on the wall of its French chef together with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. It offers pastas from 520 to 620 rubles and a decent summer terrace.
Take a walk along the seaside promenade and you will find a number of fancy spots, such as San Remo, where you can buy a bottle of Hennessy cognac for 215,000 rubles. A shot comes in at 15,000 rubles (yes, more than $400).
If that’s liable to wipe out your credit card, then head into the old seaport building. Once the hub of a busy port, it has now been Bosco-fied by the ubiquitous Olympic sponsor Bosco di Ciliegi, which provided the colorful Olympic costumes now filling Sochi's streets.
The port's ticket office was moved long ago and the first floor of the grand Stalin-era building is now full of high-end fashion stores like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. On the second floor, the Chaika restaurant has a great gallery and view onto the sea, but they come at a price: Pasta dishes cost 500-950 rubles.
Outside, despite the three cruise ships currently berthed in Sochi’s harbor, no passenger boats are departing – possibly because of the Olympics and related security concerns. Normally, ships leave once a week to Batumi in Georgia and to the Turkish port of Trabzon.
The nearby Stary Bazaar – as the name, Old Bazaar, implies – tries to imitate ye olde Sochi. It has an interior heavy on wood and serves reasonably priced grilled meat, including shashlyk (shish kebab), and fish. A recent trip saw emergency workers wolfing down hot khachapuri, the Georgian cheese-bread comfort food. Soups are good, especially the khashlama, at 260 rubles, a soup of the Caucasus Mountains region with mutton or beef on the bone.
Beware! There is a dance floor and loud music most evenings, which come with a compulsory fee of 70 rubles per customer. Tunes are of the Russian pop variety. One song's lyrics drilled their way into our heads: “O bozhe, kakoi muzhchina! Ya khochu ot tebe syna, i dochku, i dochku, i dochku” (“Oh God, what a man! I want a son from you, and a daughter, a daughter, a daughter.”)
The central Live Site, where the Games are shown on a big screen, is located next to the port and it’s there that you can find Ris, or Rice, a chain that specializes in sushi but also has a nice selection of standard European fare. Prices are good, and it’s open 24 hours, with Wi-Fi. Add 25 percent to the prices and you could be in Moscow.
One thing to watch out for in Sochi’s restaurants is that prices for many dishes, especially shashlyk, are often listed for 100 grams. So best to say how many grams you want when you order.
Sochi's main street is Kurortny Prospekt. You don’t have to go far up it from the port to get to Turkish Cuisine, a cheap cafe that is a favorite with locals. Don't expect any menus, you just go up to the counter and choose what you want. Offerings include lentil soup, meatballs in sauce, beef stew and a selection of shashlyk and shawarma (the Arabic term used in Russia to describe Turkish doner). Freshly made baklava is also usually available. Mains cost 250 rubles, but you can order half portions. Desserts are 100 rubles.
Beliye Nochi, or White Nights, is further up on Kurortny Prospekt and is one of the best-known restaurants in Sochi, famous for its khinkali – delicious Georgian soup dumplings. If you want to order some, get there before 10 p.m. as they are pretty strict about not accepting orders after that. Presumably, the khinkali chef turns into a pumpkin at exactly that time.
Staff at Beliye Nochi can be either of the my-home-is-your-home variety or, more likely, of the you-should-be-grateful-that-I-am-listening-to-you-rather-than-sneering-at-every-breath-you-take school of waiting. The place looks like it has remained unchanged since the 1990s, but nobody comes for the décor.
If you want to go al fresco, Sochi’s market is home to a huge number of traders who bring fresh fruit and vegetables up from Abkhazia, the lush Georgian breakaway republic south of Sochi on the Black Sea coast. February isn't the greatest month for produce, but you can still buy fresh pomegranates, and some vendors sell fresh-squeezed juice.
Traders also sell churchkhela, the sausage-shaped Georgian sweet made by dipping walnuts in grape juice, and home-made jams from local berries, fruits and even fir cones – which are much softer than you might think and are said to be good for chest problems.
Some traders may even offer chacha, a powerful grape vodka – for sale, or for free if they take a shine to you.
