I know the popularly-misheld preconception about Russia is that it's still this bland Soviet empire, but I was there a few years ago, and I'd have to say we had a ball! The food was great, Moscow was a good place to visit, and American money went a long way (want a bottle of killer vodka? Be prepared to spend about 35 cents, US).

Best experience though ... 2 things stand out; we were in Nizhny Novgorod (known as Gorki in the Soviet era), and we ate like kings no matter where we ate. One night, our hosts took us to a very fine restaurant off the Arbat in Nizhni, and everyone was ordering the top things off the menu (my one dining companion ordered Sterlet, a type of Sturgeon that is highly regarded in Russia ... the fish was cooked whole, with its tail in its mouth, and so my companion had to fillet the fish at the table), but I decided to go simple, so I ordered blinis and caviar. Our Russian guide looked at me with great joy, and boomed out, "NOW you are eating like a REAL Russian!" and from then on, treated me as though I was a long-lost family member.

The other great experience in Nizhni was eating at a private clubhouse owned by the Gorki Automobile Works (GAZ), a major automobile producer in town. It was like a chateau, and inside, we had the main dining room. We were the auto company's guests, and they rolled out the red carpet, giving us a huge feast of many courses, as well as many drinks of excellent Georgian Republic wine, wonderful cognac, and of course, the finest in local vodka. To this day, I can't remember all that we ate, other than it was very fresh, and quite excellent. Other than that, I remember getting blotto on the wine, cognac and vodka.

Great folks, very warm and friendly. And they have a great capacity for good food and drink.