CULTURE

Lost World

Jurassic Park // 20 Izmailovsky Prospekt Tel: 251 0047 // Open daily: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. // Menu in Russian only // Dinner for two 750 rubles, $21

By Matt Brown

Special to The St. Petersburg Times

In times of turmoil it is comforting to know that there are some things that never change. Jurassic Park, a quirky cafe on Izmailovsky Propekt, is one of them — for at least a decade its decor, menu and service have remained reassuringly unchanged, as if trapped in amber.

This is perhaps because it is difficult to find, located in a basement and announcing its presence with only a modest sign (which mimics the logo of the Steven Spielberg movie of the same name). The doorway is anonymous and a little shabby and it isn’t obvious that Jurassic Park is a restaurant. From the street it could be a video store or a dry cleaners.

Once inside, clues to an obsession with the prehistoric world begin to appear. There are a few fronds of ferns sprouting from a wall hewn from rock, and the first of a series of large, striking oil paintings depicting dinosaurs. It is all fake, but kids and fans of The Flintstones will love it.

An old man is seated at a desk in an alcove that has bars on it. Is it Hannibal Lecter? Not really, he’s simply a relic from a more courtly age and leaps to his feet to take diners’ coats and hang them up in his alcove. If he leaves his post, he can lock the cage behind him to ensure the coats are safe.

The cafe comprises three dim, cave-like rooms and a bar. The far room is the largest and most comfortable, but it can be difficult to catch the attention of the waitress at this remove. On the other hand, this also means you will not be stared at or fussed over. And there’s time to admire more dinosaur scenes hanging on the rock walls: a stealthy Stegosaurus in one, a roaring T-Rex in another.

As you might expect in this carnivorous atmosphere, the Russian cuisine on offer at Jurassic Park is based on meat served in dinosaur-sized portions. Pork, beef and lamb dishes dominate but there’s also ostrich and shark on offer. Starters are mostly huge bowls of startlingly bland salads, all smothered in mayonnaise and heaps of grated cheese, but few food options are as authentically Russian as these, and offer excellent value at 120-150 rubles ($3.30-$4).

Main courses follow a similarly gratifying format of meat-plus-sauce-plus-garnish-plus-side salad (corn, peas, sauerkraut, olives, cucumber, tomato, parsley and dill accompany every dish). It is difficult not to warm to a dish like Svinina po Russky (180 rubles, $5), in which a large amount of fried pork is fossilized in cheese and chopped mushrooms. Served with potato wedges (60 rubles, $1.70), the dish is not subtle, but the ingredients are fresh and cooked with the care of a chef that knows his audience.

There’s nothing fancy about the paper tablecloths and rudimentary furniture at Jurassic Park, and the Russian chanson music pumping out of a seriously loud sound system might be considered distracting. But the working class middle-aged men and their flouncy wives that flock here for long evenings of feasting are a loyal herd who will greet new diners as one of the family. Jurassic Park is a vodka sort of place, and the only beer on offer is non-filtered Vasileostrovskaya (80 rubles, $2.20) but its muddy hue is of a piece with the primordial atmosphere of the place.

With no windows to let in natural light, time has stood still at Jurassic Park. It offers excellent value for money and refuge from the complicated modern age. There is even something touching in its naive celebration of the Jurassic era and its semi-mythic monsters. If this is the land that time forgot, may its charm remain immortal.

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