Eat Like Ushi

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. 

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).