Eating out can be a daunting experience if you can’t decipher Cyrillic. And it will be even more daunting (disappointing in fact), if you’re expecting to find European fare or full Western service. This is Russia. So just sit back, relax, stop stressing about the lack of salt and pepper on the table, and just try to savour the Russian dining experience instead.
A Russian menu is typically divided into pervye (‘firsts’, i.e. soups), ftorye (‘seconds’ or entrees), and sladkiye (‘sweets’), with zakuski (appetizers), salaty (salads) and napitki (beverages) listed separately. Don’t bother to save room for dessert; you’re not likely to find anything more tempting than ice cream (morozhenoye) or juice thickened with corn-starch (kisel’. Be sure to start with a soup - often the tastiest, most satisfying part of a meal.
A couple of pointers wherever you end up. Expect to pay extra for bread, don’t order wine with your meal unless you want to pay an arm and a leg for it, and finally, if the sleeping waiter stubbornly refuses to acknowledge any language other than his mother tongue, try (MOZH nuh zuh kah ZAT/May we order, please?) or (SHYOT puh ZHOW stuh/The check, please).