With its many black and white photographs and old furniture against dated wallpaper, you might be forgiven for thinking this basement café resembles a babushka’s living room if it wasn’t for the – actually bubbling – collection of test tubes on one window ledge, presumably pointing to Grigory Rasputin’s somewhat shady activities as a healer in the late 19th century. The café’s strong points are certainly its location, only round the corner from the Hermitage on the bank of the Moika canal, and the negligible impact on your wallet, but its traditional Russian menu is really not much more than a quick bite to eat, rather than some of the city’s finer cuisine.