The Idiot

The Dostoevsky-inspired Idiot restaurant is a cult favourite amongst St. Petersburg's artsy and ex-pat community. Its four rooms are decorated with antique furniture, oil paintings and bric-a-brac, whilst the availability of chess and blackgammon sets, an English-language bookshelf and Russian and vegetarian cuisine create a suitably Bohemian vibe. Budding writers should bear in mind that Dostoevsky spent five years suffering in the Siberian gulags before conceiving his best stuff. Reproduce his pain by drinking five of The Idiot's 'Crime and Punishment' cocktails before opening your laptop... Hey presto, one existential novel coming right up!

Stumbled upon the place a cold snowy februari night. Firat time in russia, i did not known what to expect. I was pleastly surprised by the rustik interior and friendly demenor of the staff. Ended spending a pleasant night with good food and drink. Maybe not a connesoiurs first choice, but i definetly recommend it!

Nearly perfect experiment!

The idiot is a fantastic place. It is not however a vegetarian restaurant as advertised, but still does a wide range of veggie dishes. The food is wonderful and the staff very nice. Free vodka shot too, I would highly recommend a visit or two.

I found this place decent. For me the food was not so great as my Indian taste buds require some spices to get aroused. Begin a lacto vegetarian 80%of the menu was not for me. I never felt to great about that place. Probably I'll never like to visit it again in an attempt for great food and ambiance.

The place is clearly overhyped.

They started well, in early 90s it think it was, with vegetarian menu, iced vodkas, unusual interiors, pleasant service and altogether decadence feel. The quickly became one of 'the places to be' in town, drew the expat community with above-average paychecks which raised the prices and quickly led to the inclusion on most guidebooks' lists.

The result? Well, what you've guessed. All tourists now want to go there, the prices are high, the food is mediocre, and the music is awful and the service so-so. Last time I went we first had to fight through a crowd of American students all armed with their doggy-bags, then received warm vodka shots (ok, it's still on the house), then got okeyish, but hardly impressive food at above-western prices. We also learnt that we had to listen to some western pop-music from the eighties 'because it's the only CD they've got' - and this was in 19th century-styled interiors!

The slogan they've come with recently - Dostoevsky loved this place - is complete rubbish, of course, they only opened in the the 1990's.

Don't go there, it's a tourist trap nowadays - which is sad, because it was very nice once.

the idiot really is a fantastic place... we would eat here and then spend quite a while perusing their library. wish i could live in st. pete again...

Excellent place to grab a bite. Unique Russian atmosphere and wonderful food. Highly recommended to anyone visiting the city!

The Idiot Cafe is one of the best places in St. Petersburg. It has great atmosphere, great food and the people are really interesting. I would definitely recommend the Idiot to anyone coming to St. Petersburg.