I hadn’t visited Moscow for around eight to nine years, when I distinctly remember my marked disappointment with the restaurant scene there in general. After several meals there, I had found that the general fare was usually very average, menus, choice and availability of items and other such basics was poor, service was often abysmal and prices were astronomical.

I am not implying that there weren’t any decent restaurants at the time, but when abroad I always gauge the overall restaurant scene not by conducting endless research to find that one rare perfect gem, but by dining out in a variety of easily located restaurants, using a mix of recommendation and random, to form a more logical, down-to-earth opinion.

It was therefore with some apprehension that we approached our first and perhaps even our second restaurant there, before fully realising that things had visibly improved and by quite an impressive extent, since our last visit.

This goes hand in hand with the overall gradual transformation of this city, from what was still evidently in post-communist recovery stage during our last visit, to what basically feels like any other European city today. The changes could be seen and felt everywhere. An abundance of new business establishments and shops of all sorts, the upgrading of the previous existing ones, so many new cars on the road, previously absent signage and advertising everywhere, a new, modernised, refreshed feel and look to the place, at least when compared to so many years ago.

Last but definitely not least, in terms of improvement, was the much softer and less stern demeanour of the people, whom I had found shocking during my last visit, due to their totally inhospitable nature, which often had verged on the hostile. And although I would still not put up Moscow for any hospitality or customer care award, and not by a long shot, I did feel a real progression insofar as most people were usually acceptable in their approach towards us.

Luckily all these improvements have also greatly influenced the restaurant sector in a number of remarkable ways. The choice of restaurants is now rather extensive and infinitely more varied with entire new areas full of new establishments that have sprouted up in recent years and months. Whereas before eating out at a restaurant was more of a reserved activity for the elite, like everywhere else, it is fast become more of the norm for many other classes and at the reach of many. This on its own has ensured not only that a plethora of establishments of all types have been created, but also that the dining experience there is a much more relaxed affair with no false airs or pretentious expectations from either side. Like all other large multicultural cities, Moscow now offers literally any type of cuisine, starting form your ubiquitous pizza and pasta, to French, tapas, the full range of oriental, all the way back to the more local tastes and neighbouring satellite cuisines such as Georgian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek & co.

This also automatically denotes the availability and even the abundance of so many more food and beverage products, which were previously noticeable only by their absence. From a wines and spirits point of view, although a few last steps would still not go amiss, the choice offered in most establishments can now be considered close to adequate. Asking for say a gin and tonic, or a new world fruity shiraz, no longer raises KGB alerting alarm bells, due to the rare, peculiar and absurd nature of such a request and is usually doable in most circumstances.

Admittedly like in so many countries, there is a certain drawn-out process that has to be undergone with the finer tastes requiring a greater sense of acquisition, if you see what I mean. Many people there are still at the wine discovery stage and as is often the case, they start off at the dubious and rather unfortunate sweet phase, then slightly improve their palate to semi-sweet, before ultimately developing enough taste and knowledge to realise that dessert wines are thus called for a valid reason. I chuckled many a time reminiscing of my youth in Malta when amongst the most popular local wines were sacrilegiously labelled ‘Sauternes” and “Semi-Sweet”…

The service we encountered in our Moscow restaurants was on the whole acceptable, although sometimes rather devoid of that additional warmth and attention to detail that has become the expected norm everywhere else. The general feel of things is that people have started to make a good effort, however at the same time you still can’t push it too far without getting the look, reminiscent of previous times.

As for pricing I was very pleasantly surprised to see that overall both food and drink items were much more reasonable priced and no longer placed at astronomical levels. There is no way that eating out in Moscow may be considered inexpensive, however it is just about entering into the affordable bracket. Definitely all foreign wines and spirits are still very much overpriced and most wine lists feature very inexpensive wines at expensive prices, but with a lot of care and attention and smart selecting, you can just about manage to find something without entirely breaking the bank.

And all this is mainly compliments of Putin, who through his Crimean and Ukrainian antics has triggered off the considerable devaluation of the Ruble, which currently offers a very advantageous rate against the Euro. So I must say that all pricing was effectively brought down mainly due to this rate of exchange phenomenon.

It will be interesting to see how all this evolves in the forthcoming years and hopefully, if things continue to develop in the way they have been, Moscow might one day become a world class dining destination. They certainly have the size, the potential, the human resources and the cultural mix to achieve that. Now all that is required is the real political will.