Veladora
Bar
Pokrovka, 2/1
Opens at 18:00
Opening hours:
Opens at 18:00
Monday18:00-02:00
Tuesday18:00-02:00
Wednesday18:00-02:00
Thursday18:00-05:00
Friday18:00-05:00
Saturday18:00-05:00
Sunday18:00-02:00
Veladora is a Mexican cocktail bar in a basement on Pokrovka, by the team behind the bar Voda (Bgantsov and Rubanenko). Mezcal and Oaxacan cooking in the spirit of a genuine cantina.
The entrance to Veladora is through an archway off Starosadsky Lane, down into the basement. Nothing formal here: an open kitchen, dim lighting, a no-frills interior that feels more like a working Mexican bar than a capital-city venue. Further in is a mezcaleria and a small thirty-seat restaurant, where food with a distinct character is served to quiet music.
Our guide's team considers Veladora a spot for those who know their mezcal and value an unconventional atmosphere over a glossy interior.
The bar's name itself nods to the faceted glass candle-holders used across Latin America not just for candles — mezcal was traditionally drunk from them too. That spirit sets the tone: the main drink here is mezcal, with tequila alongside it, an original Negroni made with a chipotle distillate, and a michelada — beer with lime juice, hot sauces and spices. The cocktail list is short, but every item is made with intention.
The kitchen is treated just as seriously: Bgantsov and Rubanenko trained under cooks in Oaxaca, one of Mexico's main culinary regions. The menu runs on authentic techniques and imported ingredients. Barbacoa tacos — meat slow-cooked in banana or agave leaves — are served with salsa; there are steak tacos with charred onion; aguachile in two versions — with sweet shrimp, avocado and cucumber in green chili, or with seared beef, daikon and pasilla pepper. Charred eggplant with goat cheese, tomatoes and chaya is one of the few vegetable-forward items on the menu. For dessert: a brownie where smoked caramel meets a tamarind sour-cream cream.
A few times a year, guest chefs from Mexico take over the kitchen, bringing seasonal tasting sets that go beyond the regular menu. On weekends, a DJ takes the booth with live sound, and the basement turns into a full-fledged cantina with a dance floor.
Veladora on Pokrovka isn't about a concept on paper — it's about a concrete feeling of place: a dark basement, mezcal in a glass, tacos with real salsa. A Mexican bar in Moscow that doesn't pretend to be anything else.
