food on SPB tours

We toured with I Love Travel last year. Not as big as Alla or TJ, but there were several groups from our ship. They have a similar group tour called Premium, two meals included. On the first day we had lunch in a tiny local sort of coffee-shop close to Peterhof. 3 changes, dessert - the meal was excellent. Plus - no other tourists, even the menu is not translated into English. On our second day we had not a coffee-break in that pie-shop mentioned above - Stolle - tea/coffee plus 3-4 slices of pies with different fillings. It was more like a pie sample-tasting.

Just out of curiosity I went to Trip Advisor to see what the pie place (Stolle) was all about since we will be touring with SPB next month. Trip Advisor says it is closed! Very disappointed.

really? that is too bad!!!! I find that hard to imagine cause it is so popular. we had 2 restaurant lunches with SPB a few weeks ago. one was awful and the other passable. I complained to Viktoria so hopefully they won't go back to the icky place. in all fairness though, a few people in my group liked the food so it's probably not as bad for everyone as it was for me.

Just out of curiosity I went to Trip Advisor to see what the pie place (Stolle) was all about since we will be touring with SPB next month. Trip Advisor says it is closed! Very disappointed.

I was just on Tripadvisor looking at this, and there is no mention of it being closed. The official website for Stolle is also up and running, and it looks like there are multiple locations in and around St. Petersburg. Hoping I am right!

Oh, that's good news. I guess there are two Stolle's. The one I was looking at was

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298507-d1129677-Reviews-Stolle_Pie_Shop-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_District.html

We used SPB 4 years ago, and ate where there were quite a few food vendors/tables before entry to the Peterhof and on Day 2 ate at Stolle's. We were very rushed at both places and I wished we'd done what others had and selected a meal with a Russian family, one of the options at that time.

After several more cruises with private tour experience, I've come to the conclusion that it is very important to spell out your meal preferences from the get-go, both for the provider and the participants. So if you don't want to eat where it seems that your tour company is taking its tours, specify your wishes prior to committing/booking with that company. Do some research to see where you might want to eat to experience regional cuisine at its best. Also, if you are organizing members of your roll call, be sure they agree to the meal plan- on our most recent cruise, a private tour organizer arranged for a special lunch, placed an advance order at the restaurant, and then people backed out so those that did participate were stuck with the bill for all!

St. Petersburg is an amazing city, but you will need sustenance to keep you going full speed ahead!

We just got back from a 3-day tour with SPB Tours. The tour was fabulous, exceeded my expectations! St Petersburg is worth every minute spent there. And SPB Tours did an outstanding job making the sights meaningful!

You do need a sit down lunch to sustain you thru the 8-9 hr tour day. SPB used large restaurant facilities to provide lunch for all their guests on this 3-day tour. Estimated they had about 5 vans full or about 80 when we went June 24-26. Each lunch was a set 3-course meal: soup, main course, and dessert. For the main course, we had dumplings, rice and chicken, and beef stroganoff and potatoes, respectively, for days 1, 2, and 3. Would describe the lunches as good Russian comfort food.

An additional plus was that we had WiFi at each of the large restaurant facilities. We had enough time to take care of our internet business.

When we did the private tour for 3 of us, we were given the option of what kind of food etc. We used TJ travel & followed the relaxed tour. They will customize it any way you want too.

We were very happy with their services.

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We did a small group Alla tour. Once we were in the Hermitage second day, it was hard to leave...group vote....those that wanted nourishment (combined with restroom break) grabbed a quick bite from an informal cafe in the museum. Doing that probably added an extra 30 minutes to our time in the Hermitage. Our group actually ended up ahead of schedule, so if a group did that they might be able to add even more time to the Hermitage.

Last June we did a two day private tour with the Best Guides. The first lunch was in the park café in Peterhoff. It was very nice but rather expensive. Any way we paid for the pleasure to sit in a park and for the marvelous view. I had borsch and it was good. On the second day we had that famous pie place. It was a real fun! Just great!!!:) The restaurant was not too crowded but most of the visitors were locals and pies were great! I had a pie with salmon and another one with lemon. It was a perfect authentic Russian lunch:p. I bet it was much better than McDonald’s :):):)

Jess:)

We did a private tour with TJ last month. Our lunches were not included or preplanned.

We did

Day 1 - pie shop - I think Stolle - our guide just kind of took us there

Day 2 - blini stand near the hydrofoil stop at Peterhof

Day 3 - we wanted something quick and we had loved the blinis - so our guide took us to a place on Nevsky Prospekt - local blini chain called 'teaspoon' in English - kind of Russian equivalent of McDonalds. Just looked it up - Chainaya Lozhka

The food was all filling, tasty and cheap, and we all enjoyed not spending a whole lot of time sitting in a mediocre restaurant

We did the deluxe tour with SPB Tours (had a private group of 8). Even though our tour was private, we went to the standard SPB restaurant on day one and the pie place on day two. The restaurant on day one was pretty awful and there was no choice what to order. It was cabbage soup and something described as chicken. The quality of that chicken seemed somewhat below McNugget. The Russian pie place was very good. If I had a do over, since our group was private, I would have asked for a quick sandwich place for day one and gotten on with the busy day. I would say that the lunch on day one was the only slip by SPB Tours.

Yeah, that was our reasoning too... but frankly, the SPB restaurant meal near Peterhof was lousy. I would have preferred the boxed lunch! It was a good opportunity to chat with our tour mates, but not a good culinary experience.

Agree completely about the meal near Peterhoff - it was like a school lunch, in a plush cafeteria, nothing good to say about it at all. All tour groups, loud, crowded and rushed.

Perhaps this IS what the local cuisine is like. :eek:

The pie place was better; we enjoyed people watching.

As for our expereince with SPB, it was good but not any more special than private tours we've had in other countries.

We just completed the day tour with SPB tours. The food was

was okay. Quality was good. But food is not what we went

to St Petersburg to see. Wonderful tour, great guide, and

a very reasonable price.

trying to decide between Alla, TJ, and SPB Tours. they all have rave reviews, have nearly identical itineraries and prices. SO, I was wondering if there is a difference in the food served for lunches. Alla gives one packed lunch (to allow extra time in the park) but the other two have two lunches in restaurants. SPB lunches are pre-determined and I suspect TJ's are also. Can anyone comment on what they were served and if it was good? I need something to differentiate these companies! thank you for your help.

SPB was wonderful, we ate at a local restaurant, had a semi private room, it was quick service an really interesting. The food was great? SPB kept us safe, it was a great 2 day adventure, you will love them.

We did TJ. One lunch was included and one was optional. The first day we went to a nice local restaurant and had a three course hot lunch. When we started the tour out guide told us what the lunch would be (Borscht, Beef Stoganoff, and dessert) and then asked if anyone had any dietary limitations. She called the restaurant and adjusted their menus. The second day the lunch was not included and she polled our group and asked what we'd like to do. We agreed that we wanted to go to a local restaurant that served pirogi. We went there for lunch and had a very tasty and reasonable lunch. That restaurant wouldn't take credit cards so our guide paid for everything in Rubles and then we just reimbursed her with dollars.

We have been on a tour with SPB and had the two day Deluxe tour.

One day we had lunch at the restaurant EMIL - our group was asked in the morning if there are guests with special dietary requirements.

We were seated in this separate room.

When we arrived, lunch was served immediatly. We ´ve got

Borschtsch (beetrootsoup)

Then we had a potato-casserole with minced meat

And the dessert was "Napoleon".

At the tables there were carafes with apple juice and waterbottles.

At the end of the meal coffee and tea was served.

This was included.

All other drinks are available on request (and for cash).

The lunch was absolutely OK - no gourmet food, but well cooked and I liked it. It was tasty.

Toilets were clean and the service at the restaurant was fast and friendly.

The next day (Peterhof) we had lunch at this hotel: Hotel Grand Peterhof SPA. We were seated at a separate room on the upper floor.

I think, we had some kind of soup, chicken with mashed potatoes and some icecream. Water and coffee was included.

The food was nice decorated - but a little bit of bland. More fancy but not so tasty like the day before. But it was absolute OK.

The restrooms were fine and if I am correct they had free W-Lan.

Maybe that helps.

Wendy

oooh the pie place looks fun!

It was a fun place the eat and the food was very good. I love mushrooms and I had the mushroom pie and also a fruit pie. It was interesting to be at, the atmosphere was so different from what we have in the US. We loved SPB.