Back to basics: Booze and Buterbrods

Moscow is the land of thriving fast food and coffee chains. Choose a random place, walk 5 minutes in any direction and you’re sure to hit one of these infinitely duplicated restaurants. They hide whatever makes Moscow specific, and soon enough you’re walking home, looking at your feet, voluntarily oblivious of the city around you that seems to be only a tiring collage of similar scenes.
I was at this low point when I stumbled on a рюмочная. Oddly, I had never heard of this kind of place before. Inherited from the Soviet era, these small usually run-down joints were meant to serve vodka shots (рюмки) to whoever felt like a little liquid joy. As selling only vodka was forbidden, these were always served with a side dish, traditionally bread with either cheese, marinated fish or salami. There were no chairs, only tables or a high counter: these places weren't for lengthy, cozy stops, but just for a quick, blood-warming gulp.
Today, the concept has evolved. Some рюмочки have stuck close to the original Soviet heritage, while other have adapted to modern taste while keeping the details that put them apart from usual coffee places. They are in general much more present outside of Moscow.
To start with, the food selection has widened even though it has stayed basic and limited. Think stolovaya. No sushis or pizzas (very good sign). Chairs have also appeared sometimes. Decoration stayed pretty Soviet, in a plastic flowery kind of way. However, what really got me was the fact that this might be the only place were coming in alone to drink and grab a bite is considered normal and actually has a homey feeling to it. Most clients (95 % older men) get in, hang their coat, order a soup and a vodka shot and sit down to read a newspaper. Don't get me wrong, no one comes here just to drink. Alcoholics stay outside and buy a full bottle of vodka which is much cheaper, even if the prices in a рюмочная are low (50 roubles a vodka shot).
Sitting with my tea and my liver stuffed belyash served on a white plate with a collar of green fruity designs (a rare luxury as рюмочные rather resort to discardable tableware), I felt I was touching again what made the Russians Russian, a feeling I hadn't had in a long time.
This may not sound like a breakthrough experience at all, but after you've been in Moscow a while, or if you're just sick of trudging around in the snow/mud, the nice, no BS glow of this kind of place makes you understand again why the hell you chose to live Russia and not some sunny place in Latin America. Try drinking tequila with borsch…

Photo credits: article from Bolchoï Gorod on рюмочных (http://www.bg.ru/article/7344/)