Most restaurants in Russia's capital are, let's be honest, quite expensive. Yet a few addresses remain accessible to travelers on the tightest budgets, so don't worry. Here are some places where you can enjoy delicious affordable meals during your stay in Moscow:

Market Place

This establishment serves as both a restaurant and a market. Located on Myasnitskaya Street, it welcomes tourists and locals daily, and you'll find almost every culinary specialty from around the world. Plus, the prices displayed are perfectly affordable. For an Uzbek plov, for example, expect to pay 239 rubles (around €3.30). For a coffee, you won't spend more than €2.

When you order at Market Place, the dish is prepared right before your eyes, as the kitchen is open here. This brings quite a unique and welcoming atmosphere to the place.

Jonjoli

This small restaurant chain has locations near Moscow's most important tourist sites, such as Tverskaya Street and Pushkin Square. Jonjoli has a cozy, simple setting and offers a well-stocked menu. The menus feature photos, which is very helpful when you don't understand Russian. Don't forget to try the delicious Georgian wines as well.

Jonjoli's dishes cost between €3 and €5. Here's a small list of delicious recipes you'll find on the menu:

-        Fig and goat cheese salad

-        Smoked turkey with avocado salad

-        Gaiski salad

-        Ripe tomato salad with red onions

-        Avocado and quinoa salad

-        Imereti cheese salad with poached egg

-        Turkey meatballs with vegetables

-        Chicken breast with vegetables in cream sauce

-        Beef Stroganoff with mashed potatoes and mushrooms

-        Veal fillet with vegetables

-        Grilled mackerel

-        Pork skewers

-        Meringue roll with pistachios and raspberries

-        Chia yogurt

-        Napoleon

Bez zabot

In this café located right in the city center, on Myasnitskaya Street, you can eat generously-filled pasta with chicken and mushrooms for just 100 rubles, or about €1.40. The dishes offered in this traditional Russian canteen are perfectly affordable and varied.

Vaï Mè

This brasserie chain focuses primarily on Georgian dishes. The owners took on the challenge of offering Muscovites Georgian dishes in a fast-food format. At this establishment, you'll find the famous Khachapuri, a cheese and egg pie shaped like a boat. This dish is among the must-tries, absolutely delicious! It costs only 220 rubles at Vaï Mè, around €3. Also try the odjakhouri, which costs just 190 rubles, or about €2.60. It's a pork roast served with potatoes, tomatoes, and various spices. For soups, there's the famous khartcho (150 rubles or about €2.10). It contains beef, rice, walnuts, plums, and spices.

Stolovaya 57 or Canteen No. 57

This is one of the most renowned cafés in the GUM gallery, on Red Square. Yet the dishes on the menu are very affordable. The atmosphere here is quite particular, as Stolovaya 57 emphasizes the Soviet era. The tables are covered with lace tablecloths and decorated with fresh flowers. Even the servers wear period uniforms. Traditional dishes like kefir borscht or tefteli cost just 95 rubles (around €1.30) and 180 rubles (around €2.50) respectively.

Be prepared to queue during peak hours, especially at lunch, as many office workers come here to eat.

Mou Mou (MU-MU)

This restaurant chain will be easy to spot, as you'll always find a cow as its mascot on the storefront. Hence the name of the establishment. For less than 1,000 rubles, two people will leave satisfied from Mou Mou, which offers both European and Russian dishes, and especially good meat.

Teremok

A real favorite, Teremok is a typical Russian fast-food chain, and unlike others. Teremok serves only crêpes, to the delight of those with a sweet tooth. You'll find both savory crêpes filled with cheese, meat, vegetables, and sweet crêpes. A true delight that's very affordable (expect €1 or €2 per crêpe) and quick. It's not really a fast food in the traditional sense, since everything is fresh and cooked right in front of you.