Padron

On Strastnoy Boulevard, Dmitry Romanov and Veniamin Ivanov of Folk Team have opened a small Iberian Peninsula. Padron is a restaurant that transports you to Madrid, Lisbon and Barcelona all at once, no passport required. Two worlds live side by side here: the restaurant's dining room, with Iberian cuisine reimagined through contemporary technique, and an intimate speakeasy bar hidden behind a separate entrance. The atmosphere reads instantly — rough brickwork, cast iron, ceramics on the balcony and street lamps all revive the spirit of southern European side streets. In the bar, the vaults are painted with azulejo tile, and the counter echoes the famous yellow tram that runs through the hills of Lisbon.

Padron has become our team's go-to address for meat in Moscow. When the question is where to go for a steak, the answer is almost always the same.

The culinary direction is set by concept chef Adrian Quetglas, a Spaniard recognized with a Michelin star for his own restaurant in Mallorca. Albina Rodygina leads the sweet side of the menu. The menu is built around fire and meat: the restaurant runs its own dry-aging chamber, and the main dishes come out of massive asador ovens. Chateaubriand, Portuguese-style octopus, arroz a la llauna — each of these has long earned status as a permanent bestseller. Beyond the classic steaks, the menu surprises with unexpected combinations: rabbit paired with chocolate and pumpkin, aged tuna with leche de tigre sauce, and among the desserts, the house's own take on pastel de nata and a Basque-style cheesecake with gorgonzola.

In the evening, Padron transforms. The restaurant fills with a distinctly southern hum, the kind familiar to anyone who's had dinner in Barcelona or Porto. Our guide's team considers this an ideal choice for both a business dinner and a date — the right steak here always comes paired with a glass or two of red. The list runs to more than three hundred labels, a large share of them Spanish and Portuguese wines, including collector's bottles and Wine Advocate top scorers. The cocktail menu speaks Iberian too: built on distillates and port- and wine-based infusions, each drink named after a city or a historical figure.

According to our guide's team, Padron earns 8 out of 10 for dinner and an impressive 9 out of 10 for cocktails. This is a mature Folk Team project that keeps evolving — the menu is refreshed regularly, but the restaurant's character stays the same.