Best Start to the Day: Breakfast Venues in the City

Not an obvious breakfast place: opens late and has no morning deals but boasts relaxed atmosphere and great location (from here you can easily get to the Russian Museum, Hygiene Museum or Rodina cinema). Let your day begin with cream balls in poppy seed sauce (look for it in the Desserts , which are in fact warm and tender syrniki quark pancakes, and a cup of coffee. If it wasn't enough, go for their bacon and beef burger. Come in the morning – their will be no crowds and waiters will be lighting fast.

The Rubinsteina Street is the first Schastye location so head there for atmosphere – plump cherubs, curves and this princess castle vibe. Breakfast options are plenty – eggs and porridge (the latter is cooked on water, milk or soy milk). They also make pancakes and crepes and other sweet stuff looking so girly and cute but tasting nothing special. Bring your bestie to feel the vibe.

This little coffeeshop opened two years ago in an ancient grotto that hosted an odd joint in the Alexander Garden and has almost immediately become one of the top coffee spots in town. Guys roast and grind their beans themselves and always tell which sort they have today. On the menu you will find classical cappuccino and rare hario and chemex. As for food, you can try their yummy porridge or syrniki pancakes, sandwiches with "kura"(St. Pete word for chicken) and ham, salads and pastry. Seats are few so if the weather is good, take your coffee and go outside to a faux pond with fish – they have some tray tables and chairs. The view is not that amazing but nice for a break before exploring the Peter and Paul Fortress (it is nearby). However not everything is perfect – the opening hours say 10 but it doesn’t mean they really open at this time. And the place has no bathroom, or even if it does the staff denies this.

A decade has passed since its opening, but Zoom’s frequenters are the same old folks standing by the place as their second home. With piles of books and board games, it is always packed and reservations are available to club card holders only, so you will have to wait. And everyone waits. There is always a mini line to enter the venue and people are patiently waiting to finally eat their favorite ratatouille, quiches and pies.

Rumor has it, once bar hoppers saw local staff dancing on the counter in nothing but underwear. Nobody can check but the story is pretty encouraging and invigorating and explains why their breakfasts are served till 9 pm. The menu has scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, pancakes and traditional English breakfast, as well as sandwiches, desserts and smoothies if you eat healthy. Secure a window seat – in summer the windows are opened and you can have a breakfast enjoying the memories of all great parties of the Bank Lane (which is right across the street).