Where to eat with children
in Kaliningrad?
"Balkon" (Balcony)

In the centre of Kaliningrad, not far from Upper Lake, there is a remarkable family restaurant. Located on the 2nd floor of the “Istoriya” shopping centre, it takes up most of the floor and, of course, the balcony :) That is where we sat this time. Notably, despite a hookah lounge next door (in another part of the building), smoking is not allowed on the balcony of “Balkon”.

It was a weekday, so there were few visitors.
We studied the menu carefully. A wide choice of European dishes, mostly classics: cold and hot starters, soups and salads, pizza, pasta, hot fish, meat and poultry dishes… But there are also dishes cooked on the grill — pork, chicken, lamb and beef. So if you are looking for where to eat shashlik in the centre of Kaliningrad — this is the place!
The menu prices are quite pleasant: for example, at the time of writing, bonito stroganina costs 620 ₽ and chicken shashlik 460 ₽.
We are not shashlik fans, so, as usual, we ordered salmon and tuna tartare, wheat beer and freshly squeezed apple-carrot juice.

While the tartare was being prepared, we enjoyed the view from the balcony. Luckily the weather was good and nothing stopped us from looking at the roofs of the neighbouring houses ;)
The starters came fairly quickly. The tartares were not classic but with capers. Unusual, but not bad overall. What we did not like: in our opinion there was too much oil in the dressing, and the fish was literally floating on the plate.
Given that we have been here many times before and tried other dishes, we conclude that the cooks at Balkon are stronger with meat and hot dishes than with raw fish.
It is also worth noting that “Balkon” has a children’s room, and live music is provided in the evenings. One of the few places where you can eat and dance.