Where to eat low-budget in Moscow?

For many travelers the main question when visitιng the Russian capital is, where to eat low-budget in Moscow? Of course, there are plenty of fast-food restaurants like KFC or McDonalds, but you will realize that they are not actually cheap, compared to other options in Russia. You can also go shopping in the supermarket and cook on your own in your apartment, but, still, there are ways to enjoy Russian cuisine and not to spend a fortune.

Where to eat in Moscow low-budget

• Self-service chains like Mu-Mu (Му-Му), that can be found almost in  every neighborhood. They offer traditional Russian cuisine at very affordable price in a clean and quite pleasant environment.
• For the same or even cheaper level of prices, you can look for so called Stolovaya (Столовая), that basically means eating joint. There you can find very few dishes to choose from, but usually good portions, normal quality of food and cheap prices. Don’t expect fancy design, sometimes it can be really poor, and do not have hope for English-speaking stuff.

• Check out business lunch or breakfast offers in the big restaurants or cafeterias. But keep in mind, that often the portions are small, so when you see 3-course lunch + drink for 300 rubles (4.5 euro) in a popular restaurant chain, do not be fooled by the beautiful pictures. It will not be probably something special and maybe you will not feel as full as after a proper lunch.
• Buy cooked food in the supermarkets. It is not so much common in Europe, but in Russia there is huge variety of salads, main dishes and grilled food offered in the supermarkets (big ones). After a tiring day of sightseeing, pass by any big supermarket and have some tasty russian food to enjoy in your hotel, hostel or AirBnB.

Some more tips

In Mu Mu restaurants there is often an evening special offer. You can buy any ready meal 30 minutes before the restaurant closure with 50 per cent discount (take-away only). Many other food chains and even ready meals in the supermarkets may have similar discounts at the end of the day.

The majority of restaurants have online-menus available, so check it out on their website before choosing a place to eat.

Try chebureki (чебуреки), pirogki (пирожки) or belyashi (беляши) something like Russian fastfood from small kiosks in the city, wherever you see them. If the place have a lot of locals around (like at the picture above), then go for it, it shall be really cheap and tasty!

Soon I will share my favorite places to eat in Moscow, interested?