Patriarshiye Prudy

The Patriarch's Ponds area is where Moscow goes when it wants to feel like a small city: one quiet pond, a grid of low streets, and more good kitchens per block than anywhere else in town. It's the setting of the opening scene of The Master and Margarita, and it still has a knack for evenings that start as one drink and end well after midnight.

For internationals it's the easiest neighborhood to love — walkable, safe, English-friendly menus — and the hardest to leave. Most MEE dinner formats start here for a reason.