Mari Vanna — Restaurant in Presnensky District

Eating at this restaurant feels like having a family dinner in somebody's living room. Mari Vanna specializes in Russian food and offers good choices starting from appetizers to desserts. All the food appears to be home cooked.

I liked the beetroot salad and the Borscht soup as appetizers as well as the chopped steak and beef stroganoff for the main course. The steak was cooked well done outside and medium inside, and came with tasty mustard sauce. The beef stroganoff was tasty and very tender and came with rice instead of pasta, which was nice. The best part of the dinner was probably the honey cake for dessert, which was really amazing. Make sure to always have enough space to try their honey cake.

Other than that, service was fast and attentive and the restaurant is nicely located in central Moscow near many shops. The waiters are friendly and speak good English, better than at other restaurants in Moscow I have visited. Menus are also in English. The price is fair, a dinner for two including a drink and appetizers and dessert costs about $50-$60.

As a bonus, there is a cat walking around the restaurant which is pretty cool. Would visit again...

This is a restaurant that is set within a soviet era apartment, complete with a pet cat and bookshelves. We were seated quickly and staff noticed we were hot so they turned on a bit of AC and got us cold water quickly. Service was attentive and the menu is extensive, filled with Russian comfort foods. Kids like pelmeni, and there were other staples like salad Oliver and crepes with red caviar. I had the most amazing Stroganoff with mushrooms and buckwheat - a real treat. Now we are new to Moscow, and I want to mention tipping...we were previously in a different Russian city and tipping wasn’t a thing there...but we did have a misunderstanding on the way out the door because we didn’t tip initially. We were mortified as the service was excellent and if we’d known we would have tipped; we did tip then but the damage was done and everyone was embarrassed which was a shame as it was a five-star experience until then! We will be back in a future visit to Moscow, and I think this is a special and interesting restaurant that any visitor to Moscow...

The decor is that of a home from 1960s. Its cozy and requires reservation. The food is Russian..Borscht was delicious. The Beef Solyanka was generously garnished with delicious mashed potato. A side dish of pickled onions with mushroom complemented the mains. My companions had the lamb shank and beef stroganoff. Both were cooked just right.

We had a wine called 45 degree Latitude from a vineyard near the Black sea. It was decent. The jug of rasberry juice was refreshing. The horse raddish flavored vodka shots were not as palatable as exotic sounding.

Overall the service was pleasant. However the heater was on which made the small restaurant a tad too warm and stuffy.

I'll recommend this place for the authentic Russian food and ambiance.

Pricing is...