Find gastronomic paradise

This city is called the gastronomic capital of the Russian south for a reason. The local culinary tradition has absorbed all the best from the Cossack cuisine and the extensive menu of the North Caucasus. It is no coincidence that the Central Market is considered a place of attraction for both Rostovites and tourists hunting for local specialties.

Be sure to come hungry to try as many things as you can!

Checklist for a gastronomic tourist in Rostov-on-Don:

🍲 Visit the Central Market

Do you want to stock up on gifts? Then head to the Central Market: there you can buy both local delicacies and those brought from the Crimea, Kuban and the North Caucasus, as well as Central Asia, Iran and Turkey. Come by 9 am and find the freshest suluguni cheese, fresh pomegranate juice, dried fish and watermelon honey nardek; the main thing is not to eat it all on the way!

🍝 Plan your itinerary and make reservations

Rostov has something to please even the most demanding gourmet: restaurants and coffee shops with good ratings and prices for any budget can be found on every street and even St. Petersburg would envy the choice of drinking establishments.

Don’t go overboard with lists of places, just come back in a couple of weeks and try something new.

🥡 Have a picnic

The mild southern climate allows you to enjoy a meal outdoors longer than usual: ask for tea or coffee in a thermos, stock up on fresh pastries and go to the Don embankment or the Park of October Revolution to ride the Ferris wheel and look at the city from the bird’s eye view.

Don cuisine

Local simple and hearty food is a real comfort food with a special gastronomic tradition. Fragrant crayfish with dill and garlic, dumplings with pike, southern borsch - listing Rostov specialties can take as long as trying them.

Don cuisine largely owes its existence to the fishing industry: here they fry herring, cook fish soup, bake carp and bake pies with minced fish.

Fresh crayfish stand out: you can eat them in season at almost any restaurant or order delivery from the crayfish factory. If you want to experiment, buy a couple of kilos at the Central Market and be sure to check with the all-knowing salesman how best to cook crayfish. We are sure he will share with you more than one amazing recipe! 

Meat lovers won’t be offended either: the menu always includes fragrant borsch or shchi cabbage soup with lamb, as well as a rich lunch of meat and potatoes, as an example. 

Model — @chu.yulika

Thank you @centralmarkenrnd  and @schneider_weisse_rnd for being with us on this adventure!