Restaurant in Moscow, Russia
La Liste-ranked Russian cooking, easy to book.
TS.D.L. (Ц.Д.Л.) is a La Liste-recognised Russian traditional restaurant inside Moscow's historic Central House of Writers on Povarskaya Street. It earns 79 La Liste points in 2026 and a 4.6 Google rating, making it a credible choice for a formal occasion meal. Book easily with a week's notice; compare against White Rabbit if a higher global ranking matters more to you.
TS.D.L. (Ц.Д.Л.) earned 82.5 points on La Liste's 2025 global restaurant rankings before landing at 79 points in 2026 — which means it has slipped slightly in competitive standing but remains a credentialed, serious restaurant for Russian traditional cuisine. The address on Povarskaya Street, historically known as the street of writers and intelligentsia, adds a layer of cultural weight that suits a special occasion booking. If you want traditional Russian cooking in a setting that reads as occasion-worthy rather than tourist-facing, this is a strong candidate. For a more progressive take on Russian ingredients, White Rabbit is the direct comparison — more theatrics, higher global profile.
The name abbreviates Центральный Дом Литераторов , the Central House of Writers , and the building carries that institutional character. This is not a minimalist new-wave dining room. The setting leans formal and historical, which makes it a natural fit for business meals, milestone dinners, or a date where the surroundings are part of the point. Guests looking for a stripped-back, chef's-counter-style experience should look elsewhere; this venue trades in a different register entirely.
Price range data is not confirmed in our records, so budget planning here requires checking current menus directly before booking. What the La Liste recognition does confirm is that TS.D.L. is operating at a tier where serious attention has been paid to both kitchen output and front-of-house execution. At that level in Moscow, you are typically spending meaningfully per head , comparable to the upper bracket of the Moscow dining scene. For context on how that positions against peers, see the comparison section below.
Russian traditional cooking at this level is defined less by nostalgia and more by sourcing discipline. The cuisine type classification points to a kitchen working within established Russian culinary frameworks , dishes built around cold-climate produce, preserved and fermented ingredients, game, freshwater fish, and root vegetables. At a La Liste-ranked venue, those ingredients tend to be sourced with deliberate care: regional provenance matters, and the menu reflects what the Russian larder does leading rather than importing flavour logic from elsewhere. This is different from the modern European direction taken by Twins Garden or Selfie, where international technique is more prominent. TS.D.L. operates closer in spirit to Varvary and Artest in its commitment to the Russian culinary canon.
The sourcing emphasis that defines cooking at this standard is worth understanding before you book. When a Russian traditional menu is executed well, the flavour profiles are driven by fermentation, smoke, preserved acids, and the deep savouriness of slow-cooked meats and fish. These are not subtle flavours. If that register is not your preference, a more international menu at one of Moscow's Modern European addresses will serve you better.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which is a practical advantage for a venue at this recognition level. You are unlikely to need to plan more than a week ahead for most nights, though for Saturday evenings or larger groups at a venue with this kind of institutional reputation, earlier contact is sensible. No online booking portal is confirmed in our records , check current booking channels directly or contact the venue at its Povarskaya Street address. For broader planning context, our full Moscow restaurants guide covers the current dining options across price points and styles.
TS.D.L. is located at Povarskaya St, 50/53, Moscow. The building's heritage and the La Liste positioning both suggest a dress code leaning smart-casual to formal , arriving underdressed at a venue of this standing would be conspicuous. The Google rating sits at 4.6 across 597 reviews, which is a stable, credible signal of consistent quality at this address. Hours and current pricing are not confirmed in our records; verify before arrival. For hotel pairing or wider trip logistics, our Moscow hotels guide and Moscow experiences guide are useful starting points.
If you are building a broader Russia itinerary, comparable fine-dining references include Birch in St. Petersburg, Bourgeois Bohemians in Sankt-Peterburg, and SEASONS in Kaliningrad. For Russian traditional cooking outside Moscow specifically, Onegin Dacha in Rostov and Tsarskaya Okhota in Zhukovka are worth considering as regional comparisons.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ц.Д.Л. - TS.D.L. | — | |
| White Rabbit | — | |
| Selfie | — | |
| Twins Garden | — | |
| Artest | — | |
| САВВА - Savva - Hotel Metropol | — |
A quick look at how Ц.Д.Л. - TS.D.L. measures up.
Bar seating specifics are not confirmed in available venue data. Given the building's institutional character as the former Central House of Writers and its La Liste ranking, the format skews toward seated dining rather than casual bar service. check the venue's official channels before assuming walk-up bar access is available.
The combination of a heritage address on Povarskaya St and La Liste recognition (82.5 points in 2025, 79 in 2026) points toward a dressed-up visit. Think business casual at minimum — the building carries formal institutional weight, and arriving underdressed risks standing out. Moscow's top-tier dining rooms generally hold to a more polished standard than their Western counterparts.
Specific dishes are not documented in the venue record, so no menu items can be recommended here without risk of inaccuracy. The cuisine classification is Russian Traditional, which at La Liste level typically means sourcing-focused takes on classic preparations rather than Soviet-era nostalgia cooking. Ask the front-of-house for current signatures when you arrive.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so a week's notice is likely sufficient for most visits — you are unlikely to face the multi-week lead times common at Moscow's harder-to-book addresses like Twins Garden. That said, La Liste visibility does attract international visitors, so booking a few days out rather than day-of is the sensible call.
The Easy booking rating and institutional dining-room format suggest solo diners are accommodated without difficulty. A La Liste-ranked Russian Traditional venue on Povarskaya St is a credible solo option if you want a serious meal without coordinating a group — though without confirmed counter or bar seating, expect a full table rather than a perch.
The name abbreviates Центральный Дом Литераторов — the Central House of Writers — so the setting carries Soviet-era institutional history, which shapes the atmosphere in a way that differs from Moscow's newer, design-forward restaurants. La Liste scored it 82.5 in 2025 and 79 in 2026, a slight slide but still global-list territory. Booking is easy relative to peers, the cuisine is Russian Traditional, and the address at Povarskaya St, 50/53 is straightforward to reach in central Moscow.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
