Food & Drink - Belarusian

• Elita Cafe

  Not decorated since Stalin was a boy, and serving up local dishes for next-to-nothing in a grim atmosphere that may be construed as rather charming after the vast pretences of many of its neighbours. Monstrously scruffy this place. Quite wonderful. Cheap eats of good quality, washed down with a face-full of coffee grounds.

  Skoriny 22
  Tel: (+375-17) 268 78 70
  

• Pan Khmeliu

  The badly lit 1980s interior, the black light lamps, the bored-stiff staff and the live music were surprisingly all compensated for by the excellent food served in lavish portions. The Slav cuisine on offer has everything from pierogies to delicious fish dishes like trout with mushrooms. So shut your eyes, plug your ears and switch on your taste buds.

  Internatsionalnaya 11
  Tel: (+375-17) 226 78 74
  

• Staroje Ruslo

  This horrid little green and white monstrosity in the middle of a patch of wasteland won`t be winning any design awards in the near future, although once you`re inside things are considerably better. You can come to rearrange your brains on the deadly home brew (currently retailing at a respectable 1,654br), or to eat some of the best food in town. Notable are a range of traditional Belarusian soups made from all manner of seemingly incompatible ingredients, and a selection of mouth-watering pork dishes, garnished with lashings of cheese and fresh mushrooms. The spicy rice is excellent. Note the lady with the jugs on the wall.

  Ulyanovskaya 7
  Tel: (+375-17) 217 84 70
  

• Syem Pyatnits

  Translated as Seven Fridays, a Russian idiom implying indecisiveness, any hesitation is usually resolved by the welcoming stink on the staircase. Strangely, there`s a minor dress code here, although it`s usually too dark to see anybody anyway. Alongside the local dishes sits a menu of Polish cuisine, and to their credit they do serve up some exceedingly fresh mushrooms. Grown on the stairs perhaps?

  Skoriny 19
  Tel: (+375-17) 227 69 01
  

By night - Clubs

• 28 Bar

  At last, a club with a sense of humour, and an interior that`s actually had some thought put into it. A quite splendidly hip, `post-floppy experimental techno jazz funk television screens in the floor (with a big screen on the dance floor) toys on turntables` type of thing, also specialising in Japanese food and pineapple sandwiches. Note the nice touch, updating the traditional red velvet of Soviet times to a more modern and garish application. As well as the dance floor and main bar/restaurant area, the place also has two small chill-out rooms, and to find the toilets go through the door marked ` Very Important Places`, and be confronted by two more, one marked `Stars`, the other `Superstars`. Not to be missed.

  Chkalova 12
  Tel: (+375-17) 222 99 29
  

• Alkatraz

  So, you pay, and then get frisked by ersatz prison guards on the way in. The tiny dance floor is heaving with young ladies trying to get a good place in front of the large mirror, and the waitresses dress in prison-issue hot pants. The major novelty, which can be good fun if you`re with a group of people, is found in the private drinking rooms, which have iron bars and can be locked. The music is always funky, and generally of the grin-inducing variety. A rare treat, where people really have fun.

  Skoriny 25 (beneath the Trade Unions Culture Palace)
  Tel: (+375-17) 227 59 82
  

• Blindage

  It`s so damn loud in this so-called industrial club that it`s tempting to write this review in capital letters so you can hear it. Quite good fun, although it can fill up with single males drinking champagne solitaire, and generally enjoying their leather waistcoats. This is the hardest techno venue in town, featuring the double-edged curiosity that is friendly and appalling service. Note, a ticket bought at the Madison club next door (see below) gets you into this place for free.

  Timiryazeva 9
  22:00-06:00
  

• Madison

  After dishing out the steep admission fee (also valid for the Blindage club next door - see above), cross the bridge over the psychedelic pond to enter the bar and dancing area. Late Saturday night, we found a rather upscale and meek audience, not really into partying to the mainstream music. More than just a club, Madison also entertains with 10 bowling lanes, computer games and of course a florist.

  Timiryazeva 9
  Tel: (+375-17) 219 00 10
  

• Magna Club

  It`s a shame that this club/music venue is so diabolically awful, as the internal structural effect is quite superb. Although whether that fact in itself justifies a visit, it`s hard to say. All experience and no indulgence.

  Kulman 14
  Tel: (+375-17) 232 48 75
  

• Reactor

  Famed for actually having its own reactor, Minsk`s legendary discotheque and pulling parlour can be found inside a Belarusian bruiser`s boxing club. The atmosphere and the staff fight continually for nobody`s affection, and the beer (if it ever comes) is un petit chaud.

  Very Khoruzhey 29
  Tel: (+375-17) 268 62 32
  

• West-World Club

  Minsk`s most popular nightclub is a veritable monster of a semicircular affair with a bar at either end and podiums for semi-erotic dancing. At about 24:00 the place goes ballistic and fills nightly to capacity with a whole range of characters, from the elegant prostitutes at the bar to the 40-something divorcees hell-bent on having a good time until the sun comes up. If you run out of money, just nip downstairs to the casino where a 24-hour currency exchange will happily provide you with more roubles to waste. Ghastly, fun, and yet ever-so essential.

  Storozhevskaya 15
  Tel: (+375-17) 239 17 98
  

• Yula

  The three principal reasons for any self-respecting idiot to visit are (in no particular order) 1: to pick up a bit of totty. 2: to play pool on one of two tables in the lobby. 3: to marvel at the little cakes and biscuits dancing in an erotic manner around their little silver poles on the stage.

  Surganova 26
  Tel: (+375-17) 232 80 71