Portofino, a luxurious restaurant with haute cuisine, is hidden in the heart of the old brick building on Birzhevoi Pereulok. Despite its large size, Portofino retains a comfortable and cosy feel. The interior is graced by sea themes, including model ships that hang from the ceiling.

Portofino’s menu is headlined by seafood, but also includes duck. The fish basket is this season’s hit, and is a real show for guests. Instead of table clothes, the waiters put newspaper on the table, and then serve a basket full of various fish --- sea bass, dorado, and sparacalaci --- that have been smoked in the restaurant. There are also some really unusual dishes, such as strawberry-watermelon gazpacho.

The ice buffet is full of seafood delights, and you are welcome to pick out whichever fish strikes your fancy. The chef promises that everything is the freshest: oysters arrive twice weekly from Normandy by plane, and the fish is brought directly from Finland.

Portofino’s head chef, Kenneth Lindberg, used to work in the kitchen of the General Consulate of Finland in St. Petersburg, and was director of the restaurant, Salt and Pepper. His deputy chef, Emil Makhmudov, used to work at Novotel.