Best Restaurants in Sochi 2026

In Sochi, a restaurant is almost always competing with the sea view. The winner is the one where the kitchen doesn't get lost behind a pretty backdrop.

The best restaurants in Sochi for 2026 aren't just about dinner by the water. The city has an Italian villa with its own pasta workshop, a forest mansion inside a national park, a restaurant-bakery in Khosta, Black Sea cuisine with its own greenhouse, and White Rabbit Family projects where fire, fish, and southern produce matter more than resort decor. Sochi seduces easily with its view, but at good places the table holds its own against the sea. This selection covers eight restaurants people don't just visit to “sit prettily”: at some you should book the veranda, at others order seafood, at others start with breakfast, and at others come with a big group for fire-cooked dishes.

Loona Sochi is AVA Team's Sochi villa, where an Italian theme meets the sea. The ground floor has an open kitchen, a wine room, and a pasta workshop: fresh pasta is made in front of guests. Upstairs is a semicircular bar with an ice display and a view of the water, which genuinely makes the restaurant feel like the deck of a cruise ship. The menu features Mediterranean cuisine, Italian produce, arborio rice for risotto, and daily-made pasta. The desserts are a reason to stay after dinner on their own: from almond tortellini to poppy-seed tiramisu.

Mamai-Calé stands in the forest, inside a national park, which immediately sets it apart from the seaside restaurants. Elena Mikshis's project occupies a large colonial mansion with panoramic windows, a garden of thousands of plants, terraces, gazebos, and a stream. It's easy to spend not just one dinner here but nearly a whole day: a pool, seafood, a glass of wine, music, outdoor cinema. The kitchen is run by Andrey Koshkodan and Maxim Mikshis. The menu combines European classics with Central Asian family recipes, without trying to compete with the surrounding nature.

REMY Kitchen Bakery in Khosta operates on the grounds of the Kristall sanatorium complex and immediately sets a calm resort pace. The space is designed like a treehouse: wood, stone, ceramics, soft light, checked tablecloths, light curtains, and a bakery display right in the dining room. The kitchen is run by Ruslan Polyakov. Here a restaurant and a bakery come together: croissants, choux pastry, sourdough bread, and coffee in the morning; a Josper grill, pasta, pizza, fish, meat, and vegetables in the evening. A good address for a breakfast you don't want to rush.

Baran-Rapan has held to a Black Sea cuisine theme since 2015, but after a 2021 renovation it became noticeably more ambitious. The ground floor offers local produce, a relaxed setting, and straightforward dishes; the second floor suits a special evening and more experimental cooking. In summer a veranda opens among the palm trees. Chef Andrey Gryazev works with seasonal produce, some of it from the restaurant's own organic greenhouse. The menu includes a raw bar, meat, seafood, hosper-grilled dishes, caviar, and fresh fish. The wine list is curated by Maxim Kochnev, recognized by Wine Spectator and WHERETOEAT South.

Gorynych in Sochi is a White Rabbit Family project built around fire, ovens, and a big southern appetite. Inside there are plenty of fairy-tale details: wooden tables, sofas with firebird motifs and ornamental patterns, panels inspired by Ivan Bilibin, and a huge oven at the center. The second floor has a terrace with a view of the sea and passing ships. Chef Evgeny Kochetkov cooks on the grill, in hospers, and in smokers: steaks, ribs, fish, seafood, vegetables with Asian sauces, avocado with chimichurri, potatoes with chanterelles. The restaurant is loud, generous, and an easy call for dinner with a group.

Plakuchaya Iva (“Weeping Willow”) is a White Rabbit Family restaurant on Voykova Street, in the center of Sochi's old town. The space resembles an elegant yacht: light tones, panoramic windows, lacquered wood, wide armchairs, white tablecloths, fish bas-reliefs, and hundreds of glasses above the bar counter. The green veranda looks out on the city and the port. The menu, overseen by Vladimir Mukhin, rests on fish and seafood: oysters, shrimp, sea urchin, sushi, sashimi, red mullet, turbot, pasta, risotto. The wine list here isn't an add-on — it's part of the dinner.

Morskoy (“Seaside”) carries on the restaurant that first opened in this building back in the 1950s. The history is preserved in more than just the name: the fountain with a girl and a fish has been restored, and the interior has been made almost theatrical. The main hall evokes an underwater world, with seaweed-shaped chandeliers, flowing furniture, jellyfish art objects, and a view of the marina; the second room feels more like a ship's wardroom. Chef Ilya Zakharov steers the menu between Europe and Asia: sushi, sashimi, rolls, tartares, vitello tonnato, octopus, and a raw bar with oysters, caviar, and crab. The veranda works best on a warm evening.

Chyo? Kharcho! (“What? Kharcho!”) on the central promenade is a laid-back White Rabbit Family restaurant devoted to southern cuisine and a Caucasian feast without excess ceremony. Inside there are wicker chairs, fresh flowers, high ceilings, greenery at the entrance, and music; the veranda sits among the palm trees. Vladimir Mukhin runs the kitchen. Produce comes from local farms: lamb from Dagestan, trout from Caucasus streams. Shashlik and lula kebab are grilled over open fire, vegetables are roasted; the menu also includes a giant chebureki, red mullet, khinkali, and Adjarian khachapuri. A good stop after a walk along the promenade.