White Rabbit — Restaurant in Arbat District

White Rabbit | Moscow (A Chefs Perspective)

This is an experience that I have waited to enjoy for quite some time, and I was not disappointed but have a very thorough review to match my personal experience (my wife was more than satisfied).

1. Service: (I did read previous reviews online while I was sitting at the table and I am sorry to say that I feel these were left in anger, and not in direct reflection of experience, if I am wrong, please correct me, discrimination is not acceptable, but based on previously reviewed comments, I hope this was a misconception based on a unique outcome or misunderstanding) We came here today for lunch without a reservation, and we're happily met at the door multiple times by very professional people and seated right away upon arrival. I believe we waited for 40 seconds or less, it seemed. Throughout the service, I was given an Englisu menu while we were offered many different chefs compliments. This was an outstanding factor, considering we ordered off the a la cartre menu and not the chefs tasting. The service was fast and precise, professional yet comfortable, and overall, and an extremely uplifting experience that left us both very satisfied.

2. Food: From the Amuse Bushe, to the main course, and then dessert, definitely Michelin Star Quality (perhaps worth a second star, it is shocking that the Michelin Guide took this restaurants star because of political issues in the world). We only ordered a main course and dessert each, but still, the chefs' courses and complimentary dishes kept coming. Fresh baked bread and butter, scallops w/ seasonal morals, unexpected sweet surprises, and the dishes we paid for... WOW, the volume of food, the absolutely brilliant quality, combined with the creativity and journey we were gifted, a memorable food experience that was 100% exceptional and delicious.

3. Atmosphere & Price: This was a comfortable restaurant that offered a romantic (1st time) dining experience for my wife and I. We were able to have a beautiful conversation the whole experience while not being interrupted unexpectedly or disturbed outside of the times that we needed service. When we reviewed the bill from everything we enjoyed, we were happy to pay, along with leaving a comfortable 10% tip for the service. There really was nothing wrong with the atmosphere or price at all.

4. Extras: Extra food, a Michelin Guide Plaque, perfume, vodka... There are too many extras that came with the experience we were expecting. The staff were happy to introduce to us an amazing set of perfumes and extra experiences that White Rabbit offered. They were paid for by both my wife and I yes, but more than worth the value of everything we had the pleasure of expecting (I will not give it away, you have to try, look and experience for yourself).

5. Cons (Very few, but very noticeable for me): I was offered an amercanio (based on the fact I spoke English), and of course, I wanted one. When it arrived, I had a delightful coffee with a spoon, but sadly, with no sugar or milk offered. I felt the spoon was pointless and lonely considering any americano should (and always had been offered with either sugar and/or milk) have had something to accompany it with. Spilling the scallop im my wife's place was tough to witness and loud nonetheless, but honestly, mistakes happen. It has to be mentioned but not taken seriously in the review. As I said, I am thorough, but this was an acceptable few mistakes in general (but reason for not being a perfect 5-star review), that people reading 5his should overlook.

6. Overall Experience: I say, a SOLID 9/10. I watch every aspect of restaurant and service in general, very precisely. This should not let you stray from visiting this restaurant as I know you will LOVE it, probably just as much as I did.

The staff were friendly, respectful and professional, the food was exceptional with the presentation, and the atmosphere / experience i had with my wife was literally, almost perfect, which is not an easy standard to have in the global world of...

Had been looking forward to visiting White Rabbit for months running up to a trip to Moscow, left thoroughly underwhelmed and disappointed.

Given the World Cup is on, we paid 22000RUB/£260 as a buy-in/minimum spend to guarantee a table - this was no issue as we, my partner and I, planned to have the 15-course taster menu (10000RUB per person).

Firstly, we were seated on the terrace with plants hanging over our table that directly obstructed eye line - we had to move these ourselves after being denied a different table, even though other tables remained free for the entire duration of our time at the restaurant. When it started to rain on the terrace, I had to take a blanket from another table for my partner (all other tables had these on their chairs). Additionally, the plastic covers lowered to enclose the sides of the terrace were lowered ON TO our table nearly knocking off drinks - we had to move the table and chairs ourselves so it could be lowered fully to avoid being rained on.

After a long wait for service, a clear consequence of understaffing, we were told the taster menu takes 4hrs and was unavailable (8:30pm booking) - there is no mention of this online - we were firstly told this was available, then when we complained at the end, the waiter persisted to argue it was unavailable in the first place. More so, the drinks created by White Rabbit were also unavailable. Hence, we ordered a selection of starters and mains: platter royal for 2, chef's special caviar (we later found out this was 6000RUB for 50g - the most expensive item we ordered, not on the menu and clearly upsold; this would not have been a problem if it was worth it), Rabbit pate, Beef tartare, Burrata (waiter had to check they had this), and Filet Mignon*2. 10 minutes after bringing everything out together (this was not our prerogative), the waiter offered to "help" with the seafood platter. The platter and caviar were both nice but not worth the premium relative to what else you can find in Moscow, and the rabbit pate was the outstanding dish for me (780RUB...). Otherwise, the beef tartare was bland. Filet mignon and Burrata both good but nothing outstanding. For the duration of the meal, waiters kept bumping into my chair - when we complained about this the waiter did not apologise but rather acknowledged it and said "ok," before sniggering out of my eyeline to a colleague about the complaint (my partner spotted this). In between starters and mains, we were brought complimentary appetisers - crab shell was found in one - when we brought this up, the patronising waiter asked if we were aware that some parts of the crab are harder than others...... insulting. The cleansing sorbet was served in a disposable espresso cup with a wooden pop stick as 'cutlery'.

When we complained at the end of the meal, the solution the manager offered us was the moose milk ice cream pop with salted caramel (a 400RUB dessert.....); we refused this as we were not hungry yet he persisted to bring it out with a crimean muskat, the cheapest sweet wine available. For all our aforementioned troubles, we were not offered a Ruble off the bill but rather forcibly given 1800RUB worth of dessert and wine.

Currently, this restaurant is supposedly the 15th best in the world (23rd last year), but it is not even close to the 15th best in Moscow. Absolutely abysmal service and average, overpriced food. Of course Russia is not included in the Michelin guide, but White Rabbit/Vladimir Mukhin is undeserving. Although this was a waste of ~26000RUB, this is not what angers us - the biggest disappointment was that the restaurant was simply below par for its ranking; perhaps the tasting set would have proved us wrong if it was available, but the staff and food we ordered...

This place is lovely and I would give 10 stars out of 5 stars for just the amazing view. However, counting with their food and service, I think it is very reasonable to give 1 star for this place.

I made the reservation over their website three weeks before our arrival, but I never got a email confirmation. Therefore, I email them again a week before our trip but still no luck in getting any reply. So on the day I made the reservation, I called them, and started speaking in English asking if they have received my booking request, the waiter however doesn't seem to know English so he put me on hold for at least 10 mins, they he said yes they did get the busy poking request. So i asked if it's possible to reserve a table by the window side by 8 pm as I mentioned in my early email booking, he said he cannot grantee anything as it's first come first serve. I'm like , fine, make sense.

Then we showed up on time at 8 pm feeling excited about our first dinning experience in Moscow. We went up the floor and we were quickly greet by a staff at the reception, she asked us for our booking conformation and then after grabbing the menus, she asked us and some other guests to follow her and she will bring us to the tables. However, on our way to the table, (we were the last few people following the lady who is bringing us to the table) we were stoped by another female staff, questioning us in a very rude manner if we have a reservation. Then we said yes, and we tried to catch up the lady in front of us, that female thou, insisted we need to stay back in the reception area until she can confirm about our booking. Excuse me ? Like, how confusing can your system be in working as a team? Like this place cannot even bring their customers probably to their seats. Or should I take it as because we are Chinese and they are just being racism ? This was our first very unpleasant moment at the restaurant.

Then after we are seated, we were seated at the table in the middle instead of window side. At that time, there was a empty table by the window side. So we tried to ask someone if we can exchange our seats to enjoy the lovely view. First time, one guy said someone made a reservation at that table, ok? I was told it's only first come first starve even I made the reservation 3 weeks ago. Then quickly another group of guests left who were seating by the window side, so we asked again. Then this time, another guy said, oh let me check and I will "get back" to you. And he never did. And about an hour after it's taken by some other traveler. How do I know? Because they were speaking in English and holding huge cameras.

And you know what, that table which suppose to have "reservation", was empty for our whole dinning time form 8-10 pm. I'm very disappointed at their poor service.

Our server can barely speak English, I had to repeat three times for our orders before he understood how many grams we want for our scallops.(don't judge my English, I spend half of my life working and studying in North America) I guess this place isn't very friendly place for Asian. And to be honesty we were the only Asian guests for the night.

Food is very good if this is at a normal fine dinning standard, but I think if you told me this is the top 50 best restaurant in the world. I don't think this place deserve the title at all. I think the food is just very average for the title of best 50 in the world. Average plating, average tasting, but with overrated comments and overly expensive pricing. I don't know how this place is ranked at the top 50.

Overall, I still think this place is nice for a visit for the vie only. It still got a beautiful view of Moscow, just don't expect much for the food because it's not matching its title and...