TO EAT
FREKEN BOK
КАФЕ "ФРЕКЕН БОК"
About
A quirky café with somewhat childish decorations opened more than 6 years ago but it's still hard to find a table there without booking in advance. Locals love this place for excellent coffee and tasty food and bring their kids along who love exploring antique wardrobes and drawers, and play with stuffed toys scattered around the café. The café is inspired by the Soviet cartoon about Karlsson (a character of Astrid Lindgren's children's book). Faina Ranevskaya, a renowned Soviet actress, provided a voice for one of the main character of this cartoon, called Freken Bok. Coincidentally, Faina lived in a house one block from the café, and today you can see a statue of her in front of her house. Freken Bok's barista's have won many regional prizes and they roast coffee on site every 5 days, so you can be sure that it's fresh and delicious. The menu is large and also a bit childish. Think of a dessert you'd make for yourself as a child, adding everything you can find. But here it's made by professional chefs and it's all tasty and well-balanced.
Info
24 Turgenevsky Lane. (пер. Тургеневский, д. 24)
+7 8634 31 04 40
Mon-Sun 8am-11pm
Menu in English, German, French, Spanish
English-, French-, and Spanish-speaking staff
Best for breakfast/lunch/dinner/coffee
Best to book in advance
Order this: Award-winning mohito coffee (double espresso frappé with mint and lime), and espresso with blackcurrant and condensed milk. There's also a special Chekhov Jubilee Menu which includes, for example, pork baked with leek and apple horseradish.
KRASNY MAK
КОНДИТЕРСКАЯ "КРАСНЫЙ МАК"
About
This Soviet patisserie is the oldest in town, it opened over 50 years ago and hasn't changed a bit since then. Indeed, it feels like travelling back in time. People queue in front of the stall where a lady in a funny Soviet-style cap and apron tosses cardboard boxes with red poppies ('red poppies' is the name of the café in Russian), and brings new cakes and pastry from the fridge. The menu hasn't changed much for decades, and old ladies who queue there with their grandchildren buy them the same cakes they ate here when they were kids. Most of the places like this disappeared in the 1990s but this one miracuously survived and flourishes even today. So go here to get an idea of what Soviet café looked like and what Soviet cakes tasted like. And like a proper Soviet café, they close for an hour during the day for a lunch break. Apart from desserts, you can also have a proper Soviet-style lunch or dinner in a small cafeteria adjacent to the pattiserie.
Info
68a Petrovskaya St. (Петровская ул, д. 68а)
+7 8634 39 43 62
Mon-Sun 9am-3pm, 4pm-9pm
Best for dessert/lunch/dinner
Order this: 'Napoleon' (millefeuille) cake, choux pastry, butter cream cakes
Try to arrive before lunch to get the best cakes. They quickly get sold out for the ridiculously cheap price they cost (18-25RUB per piece).
TRI ORESHKA PATISSERIE & BAKERY
БУЛОЧНАЯ И КОНДИТЕРСКАЯ "ТРИ ОРЕШКА"
About
A small and cozy bakery on the quiet Grecheskaya St. boasts the best bread in town, and a great variety of delicious and unusual desserts. It is also a great place to relax between your museum tour to the multitude of Chekhov museums in town. There's a couple of tables outside where you can sit and watch the world go by during the summer, and a second floor with several tables. There's no food, only various kinds of bread, desserts, and tea and coffee to go with them. Tri Oreshka means 'three nuts' in Russian, and apart from the name of the café, it's also the name of their delicious house special cake. Bread get sold out really quick. It's best to arrive in the morning if you want to see all the varieties they have.
Info
92, bld. 2 Grecheskaya St. (ул. Греческая, д. 92, корп. 2)
Mon-Sun 9am-10ЗЬ
Best for dessert
Order this: Tri Oreshka cake with cottage cheese biscuit, blancmange, and caramelised nuts; homemade biscuits, chocolate and bread