Blok - Kronshtadt

Blok Restaurant, located on the roof of the Leningrad Center at 4 Potemkinskaya Street, is a meat lover's paradise. The interior combines Art Nouveau and Lening... read more Blok Restaurant, located on the roof of the Leningrad Center at 4 Potemkinskaya Street, is a meat lover's paradise. The interior combines Art Nouveau and Leningrad avant-garde styles, with walls adorned with light panels featuring works by avant-garde artists from the early 20th century. The talented chef, Evgeniy Zubov, prepares dishes using traditional Russian recipes as well as modern techniques, sourcing ingredients from various regions of the country. The service is excellent, with beautifully presented and delicious dishes that truly showcase the flavor of the meat. The wine list is top-notch, and the sommelier is outstanding. I highly recommend Blok Restaurant to anyone who appreciates great meat. Many thanks to the staff for a fantastic dining experience!

BLOK IS HEAVEN AND EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN! We are a Russian and American couple. We have been eating dinner at the Blok restaurant (located in the Leni... read more BLOK IS HEAVEN AND EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN! We are a Russian and American couple. We have been eating dinner at the Blok restaurant (located in the Leningrad Center building, formerly the Leningrad Movie Theatre building for the past 3.5 years. The building itself holds a special meaning for us since when we met in 1991 one of our first dates was at the Leningrad Movie Theatre as an American I had not ever seen such a large movie theatre (1,128 seats , and there were two more movie theatres (200 seats each in the complex, as well as a Soviet disco. Now 29 years later the romance, love, friendship, and family that started in 1991 continues on, with the Blok restaurant doing an excellent job of contributing to this romance. As Elizabeth Barrett Browning so elegantly wrote, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”, and there are plenty of great things to like and love about the Blok restaurant: (1 FRIENDLY PERSONNEL – from the hostesses, to the waiters, to the managers, to the cooks, to the workers who tidy up the restrooms on a methodic basis, they not only know their jobs but also do them attentively with an eye towards meeting their guests’ desires and needs. (2 BEAUTIFUL AND ELEGANT DECOR – there are three halls, with the central hall being our favorite because of its majestic and artistic nature. Blok describes its design style as Northern Art Nouveau and Russian avant garde. (3 EXCELLENT SERVICE – The service is impeccable, and it is clear that the waiters and managers work as a TEAM, which is always important. We are very simple people and therefore do a lot of things for ourselves that the waiters are more than willing to do (and do well – even so, they respect our wishes and in the process make sure that our table is immediately cleared of plates, utensils, etc. and that we have plenty of everything that we need (freshly ground pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ice, lemon slices, etc. . (4 EXCELLENT FOOD – we usually order two salads (for example, a large green salad with various types of fresh salad and with avocado and thin slices of zucchini and also a spinach salad with turkey breast and thin slices of carrot ; two appetizers (for example, beef carpaccio and also beef tartare , and one main course (usually a steak with a side dish (usually small potatoes with herbs and garlic . We love SORBET, and Blok makes its own which is utterly delicious, natural tasting, and of a wide variety – thus far our favorite sorbet is mango maracuja (passion fruit , and we usually order two scoops each of various sorts. (5 EXCELLENT PRICE TO QUALITY RATIO – we usually spend approx. 7,500 Rubles (117 USD plus tip at Blok during approx. 3 hours there (i.e., we take our time and thoroughly enjoy our visit . Other than the two salads, two appetizers, one steak/side, and 4 scoops of sorbet noted above, we order a large bottle of sparkling water and two glasses of wine. At Blok you can find something wonderful to eat that fits your budget – so, if you want to spend less or more Blok definitely has something delicious to offer you. (6 MS. NATALIYA MAKAROVA IS AN EXCELLENT MANAGER AT BLOK it is evident that Ms. Makarova likes the work that she does, is both confident and caring in talking with guests, and takes great pride in her work. Ms. Makarova has been working in the restaurant business for many years, and it is this fact in and of itself that is very important since the restaurant business in any country is a difficult one to stay in for a long period of time. Alexander Rappoport is lucky to have Ms. Makarova as Blok’s manager, and we hope that she is allowed to grow with the company in the mutually beneficial direction that she desires. (7 EXCELLENT EXHIBIT HALL (GALLERY ON THE 2ND FLOOR OF LENINGRAD CENTER Often before eating dinner at Blok, we go to the 2nd floor of the Leningrad Center to see what exhibit is going on in the gallery there (consisting of two rooms with a large space between them which is open from 12 noon until 8 pm (10 pm when shows are going on . The last exhibit that we saw consisted of inspiring art works of Russian artists of the late 19th – early 20th century who were part of the artistic association “Mir Iskusstva”. When you dine at Blok, be sure to visit the Leningrad Center website to find out about the gallery exhibit currently on display, as well as about other activities going on at the Leningrad Center. (8 EXCELLENT LOCATION IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY – Blok is located at the beginning of Tavrichesky Garden, which is a beautiful and tranquil place to walk, jog, relax, sit on park benches and visit with family and friends, have a picnic, play games and sports, walk with your animals, and simply “get lost in the wonders of nature”. So, before or after eating at Blok, it is always a pleasure to visit Tavrichesky Garden. Having stated many of the truly positive things about the Blok restaurant, we would like to mention two things that Blok could potentially improve upon: (1 Allow both males and females to perform any job in the restaurant for which they are qualified – although we could be wrong it appears to us that females are not allowed to serve as waitresses at Blok, i.e., during the 3.5 years that we have been eating at Blok we have not ever seen any waitress serving in the restaurant which is surprising given the number of waitresses working in many other restaurants that we frequent in the city. We very much believe in egalitarian principles since for us such principles best allow any human being to reach his/her full potential and to do so in work that is desirable. (2 Do not allow kalyan “smoking” in the interior of the restaurant tonight 14.12.2019 while eating dinner we could smell kalyan in the restaurant hall to the right of us, and since I am allergic to smoking (including kalyan this was difficult for me. Although we could be wrong it seems to us that in the past kalyan was NOT permitted in the interior of the restaurant but rather was only permitted on the terrace – regardless, we did not ever smell kalyan like we did tonight. There is now legislation pending in the Russian Federal Assembly that should take care of this situation by equating kalyan, vaping, etc. to smoking and therefore banning their use in restaurants. However, before this happens, it would be nice if Blok took the initiative and banned the kalyan “smoking” in the interior of its restaurant. In closing, we want to thank Blok, its owners, and its workers for truly wonderful evenings dining at the restaurant, and we hope to have many more wonderful dining experiences at Blok for many years to come!

Fabulous location, service and great food experience worth a Michelin star. Highly recommended, very wide selection of dishes for the entire family which includ... read more Fabulous location, service and great food experience worth a Michelin star. Highly recommended, very wide selection of dishes for the entire family which included a carnivorous person, a vegetarian and a child with dietary restrictions (gluten-free, no nuts, fish etc)

Very glamourised environment, shiny floors, boxlit artwork, glamorous women to welcome you, sweet boy waiters in white shirts and tartan waistcoats. You might e... read more Very glamourised environment, shiny floors, boxlit artwork, glamorous women to welcome you, sweet boy waiters in white shirts and tartan waistcoats. You might even call it ‘flash’. However they tried, the service was always a kind of afterthought, a bit slow and, certainly functional, but not attentive, and certainly not to match their pretensions. The food was passable but again, not quite good enough. Oxtail soup was good, otherwise food was very average. Definitely could do better with more effort and attention to detail. For some reason they think it’s acceptable for people to smoke shisha in a restaurant while other people are eating. This is unbelievably crass! Seventy percent of taste is smell. I don’t want my tastebuds contaminated with trendy nonsense. I suggest people who want shisha are politely guided outside where they belong, alongside the smokers.

It 's really hard to give a score to this place. If you balance out the positives and negatives you might end up with a 3/5. However, that indicates 'average ',... read more It 's really hard to give a score to this place. If you balance out the positives and negatives you might end up with a 3/5. However, that indicates 'average ', and there is no way that this place is average. You enter through an airport style scanner. A beautiful woman at reception takes your name, leads you to an elevator. You enter, no need to repeat your name. It 's a bit James Bond. A high wall of revolving garish art greets you. It 's a bit kitch. They have a lovely smoking terrace outside, but we only found that later. Service is terrible. Several waiters and waitresses ran around the room ignoring us there were only four tables in the whole place. They kept on topping up our wine glasses when they were already half full, and then neglected to top them up completely. Service was terrible, unless you are a Russian Oligarch and his family. They sat down at the table next to us, and within seconds had everything they needed. At the end several fawning waiters came to the table with a cake to sing happy birthday to a little girl. I 've never been to a specialised steak restaurant before, so most of the cuts were unfamiliar to us. No explanation on the menu as to how big the steaks were, how many they could serve, and no justification to the price differences between them £10 £100). However, it was my son 's 21st birthday, and I could deny him nothing, so he ordered a Muromets steak for 2 people, costing £68. The starters were okay, but overpriced, and not a patch on those at Duo and Birch down the road. My wife 's crab linguine was not great, and came in just under £20. Wine was very expensive, the cheapest bottles here start at £30 for some fairly ordinary Russian plonk. But all was nearly) forgiven when the steak arrived. Oh my days, I have never had such a good steak in all my 55 years of life, and I do like my meat. Seared rare/medium rare on coals, rubbed in I do not know what but it 's delicious, the mignon side of the cut melted in the mouth, it was astonishingly good. Desserts weren 't bad either, but the entire meal cost me £250 for three people. In the UK maybe that 's fine, but this is Russia and good restaurants are cheap. Really this is just a place for Oligarchs and businessmen. Don 't worry about the money, order a huge steak and some claret, somebody else can pick up the bill.