Kafe Stolle, Yaroslav 06-2013

I'd actually heard of Stolle from the St. Petersburg part of my Rough Guide. The specialty pies of salmon and seasonal berries sounded excellent. Unfortunately there was already a host of other places there that I wanted to eat. A lot of my preparations for solo travelling in the Golden Ring came from the In Your Pocket guide and I was really excited to see Stolle was listed there too. Other than Sobraniye and Imedi cafe, there weren't any other places that interested me for the brief 24 hours I was there, so this was a good snack to go for during the mid-afternoon whilst wandering around the sites.

- Rybnik fish pie;
- Season berry pie;
- Kulyebaka with meat.

The first two were the recommended choices for the St. Petersburg part of the Rough Guide. The last was to round out the meal. The crusts were firm and the breads soft and the fillings nice too. The fish was more pleasurable than the meat and the sweet berries rounded off the mini meal. 

Sobranie, Yaroslavl 06-2013

Quite possibly my favourite meal along the Golden Ring was in Yaroslavl. After staying in a small hostel and having a good chat with the gorgeous model who was the receptionist there, the stage was set for a nice walk about town. There is an impressive cathedral in the middle of town, with a close walk to a waterside area where the sun shines down. People wander about pleasantly, some playing ball, others more non-specific.

In the evening I found my research choice in Sobranie. The specialty of the house is food stewed in cast-iron pots in Russian oven. Who doesn't like a great stew?

- Borsch (seasoned soup with veal, cabbage, beetroot together with a beef rasstegai pastry);
- Stew of traditional roast pork with potatoes & mushrooms served in a cast-iron pot.

The atmosphere is lovely and the food is great. I was lucky enough to have the whole oven room to myself (other than the staff coming in and out occasionally to move the pots in and out).

Trapeznaya Palata, Sergiev Posad 06-2013

After exploring the lovely complex of Holy Trinity St. Sergius, it was only a short walk down the street to my food preference. It was a little difficult to find, in the end discovering I had to enter some gates into a big courtyard then figure out which corner of it had the restaurant.

In the end it looked like a church dining hall, with religious paintings and wooden furniture filling it seemingly for mass worshipers.

I wasn't overly hungry so settled for a small salmon and vegetable salad and a lovely warm bowl of borsch.

Losos i Kofe, Suzdal 06-2013

Just off the main road of Suzdal facing an open courtyard area lies Losos i kofe - translated into salmon and coffee. The menu is completely in Russian, and as could be expected there was minimal English spoken (not that I would have it any other way). Luckily my saturation with the Russian alphabet allowed me to identify the necessary item on the menu. Reading the most recent TA reviews suggests an English menu has since become available and the tourists have thus started coming.

On my afternoon there was only myself a couple of other Russians. Naturally due to the cafe name I ordered grilled salmon which was nice and served with some pretty basic vegetables.

The interior is very cutely decorated with an basic homely elegance.

Traktir, Vladimir 06-2013

The first stop along the route of the Golden Ring is Vladimir for the very impressive Assumption Cathedral. For reasons unknown to me, it was actually closed but the outside veneer stunning nonetheless.

Walking away from here toward the bus stop to continue onwards, I had one food stop listed and that was Traktir. If my memory serves me correctly, there were two places identically named across the road from each other. After going into one, my lack of Russian skills meant they wouldn't seat nor serve me. A tour guide nearby spoke French and she was useless and refused to help me too. In the end I went across the road to the other one where I was seated and served by a really excellent young man. Even though my food took a while to come, he explained (as best he could), apologised and was well deserving of the tip I gave him.

- Vladimir entree (chicken fillet on skewers with a sauce made of sour cream, mayonnaise, white wine and saffron with fresh cucumber, tomatoes, onions)
- Salad At The Golden Gates (lettuce, fried salmon, caviar, cherry tomatoes, black olives, bell pepper, fresh cucumber, onion)

The food was ok but the service was great. I'm not sure what other choices there are in town but this seems a decent option.