Mapuche

«Mapuche» on Nekrasova Street, 34 greets guests with carpets on the walls and crystal shot glasses on the tables — as if you've dropped in on your grandfather, who has suddenly become the trendiest man in town. The place sits near Chernyshevskaya metro station, Nevsky Prospect, and Gostiny Dvor, just steps from Rubinstein Street, and is already giving the neighboring drinking street some competition. They pour house-made infused vodkas here: cherry, raspberry, plum, and an unusual version made with salted yogurt and lemon. These come with sandwiches on black bread — with sprats, with salo, with eggplant caviar. It's all served on plates from old Soviet dinner sets, now called vintage, though everyone's known them since childhood. The cuisine is billed as Latin American, and the average check runs between 1,000 and 3,000 rubles. The place operates from 4 PM to 2 AM — better not to show up earlier, and later, judging by the look of things, the staff is simply recovering from the previous shift.