Beluga

On the second floor of the five-star Hotel National on Mokhovaya Street sits one of the most famous Russian restaurants in central Moscow. In 2021, at Russia's first-ever Michelin Guide ceremony, the restaurant received a star, a rare mark of quality among Moscow addresses that still holds today. The menu features Russian delicacies spanning the geography from the Far East to the Caspian: scallop, sea urchin from Murmansk, Arctic halibut, rare cuts of meat. Caviar holds a special place — about fifteen varieties, priced among the most accessible in the country for this level of restaurant.

Our guide's team calls this a place with a view of Red Square worth seeing at least once.

The kitchen is led by chef Roman Chistov, shaped within the contemporary Russian culinary school. His approach blends old Russian recipe roots with current ingredient-handling technology, with seasonality serving as the main guide when building the menu. The dishes are built on unconventional flavor and texture combinations, while the ingredient stays front and center, with no unnecessary layering. Nikita Gavrilenko leads the pastry direction.

The wine list is built around champagne and Russian wine. Head sommelier Alexey Zavertkin builds it not by volume but by precision — matching the menu and the caviar exactly — and the list is updated regularly. Alexandra Vodnitskaya leads the bar direction.

The rooms' interior nods to Russian aesthetics, without museum-like heaviness. The bar counter is shaped like a huge crystal caviar dish, a design by Anastasia Panibratova. Bohemian crystal chandeliers hang above the tables. On the walls are panels by the art group Recycle: girls in kokoshniks photographing themselves on their phones, blending a folk image with today's irony. The panoramic windows look out onto the Kremlin — a view people come here for on its own.