Ideal Coffeeshop

My favourite coffee shop in St. Petersburg is The Ideal Cup. It’s a chain of cafes, not a very “long” one, but you can find them in the city’s center.

I cannot say in detail what I like here. Maybe atmosphere? It’s very democratic here. You buy yourself a cup of tea or coffee at a bar desk and then try to find a free table. Simple, but that’s ot a buffet or a bistro. Anyway, you can sit for hours reading a book or a newspaper or talking with a friend. It’s very cosy.

Maybe it’s the interior that matters? Or music? Or menu? The menu is very simple. All main kinds of coffees, from espresso (69 roubles) to americano (89) to de olla (80) to cappuccino (110). These prices are for small portions, while there are also standard ones. Hot chocolate costs 110 roubles, cacao is 90. A wide range of toppings is available.

There are smoothies, and they are great! Cowberry on juice, for example, cowberry on milk, raspberry on milk, strawberry on juice, and so on, all for 100 roubles. For eating you can take a sandwich, of dessert there is a few interesting items.

Many come here to take a cup of tea and to use their laptops, others like me prefer reading newspapers — on Tuesdays and Fridays you can pick up here a fresh issue of the St. Petersburg Times (in English). Even small-scaled businessmen sometimes drop in to discuss their deals.

I meet at the “ideal cups” a lot of foreigners, which means that the personnel speaks English.

The addresses of the Ideal Cup outlets in the center:

• Sadovaya street, 25
• Ligovsky prospect, 89
• Nevsky prospect, 32 (pictured)
• Vladimirsky prospect, 1
• Kamennoostrovsky prospect, 2 (near the Peter and Paul fortress)
• Kirochnaya street, 19
• Sredny prospect of the Vasilievsky island, 46

Open from 07.00 till 23.00

Photo credit: www.covexxx.mopoto.com