Sudar is one of those oases in Moscow where the customer is treated like a customer, not an annoyance

Pass through Sudar’s white gate and you enter another world. First there is the garden terrace shaded by leafy trees, a pretty place to dine in summer. But the real wonderland begins when you pass through the wooden doors and stand at the foot of an impressive winding staircase. There, a man in a tuxedo and bow tie greets you cheerfully in the language of a forgotten age. He leads you upstairs, eagerly takes your coat, and points you through to the main dining area.

"Sudar" is an obsolete word meaning "sir" that conjures up the old, pre-Soviet, world of noblemen and servants. Tsarist gentility is also reflected in the restaurant/club’s interior. The walls are hung with oil portraits of lords and ladies, tiles painted with French verse, gilt-framed mirrors, old clocks and a bearskin. Waiters wear vests and long aprons and waitresses linen caps, and simple smocks and aprons. There is even a life-sized replica of a horse near the entrance. The only concessions to the modern day are disco lights and sound equipment for the live band singing contemporary hits.

"Service should be service," said the man on cloakroom duty. On our visit, this seemed to be the general motto. Our waiters were consistently prompt, helpful and obliging, successfully interpreting our creaky Russian and making no mistakes with the orders though we changed our minds a couple of times. We ordered fresh pear juice and fresh orange juice (both 150 rubles), and the waiter brought us complimentary fresh bread.

For the first course, my partner chose vareniky (180). These ravioli-like parcels were stuffed with potatoes and white mushrooms. They arrived in a bowl of buttery sauce and with a side bowl of sour cream. I couldn’t resist stealing two and found that they had a smooth texture and went down very easily. For myself, I ordered a fresh vegetable salad with avocado and balsamic vinegar dressing (240). The lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and avocado were all juicy and fresh but, unfortunately, an excess of vinegar overwhelmed their natural flavor.

For the main course my partner chose cabbage soup (123). There is an old Russian saying, "shchy da kasha – pishcha nasha" ("cabbage soup and kasha are our food"), so if Sudar could make good shchi, we’d know they were a good Russian restaurant. Hot rolls accompanied the soup and, as with the vareniky, there was also a side bowl of sour cream. After one spoonful, my partner pronounced it delicious. I had ordered a beef fillet with potatoes and egg yolk (510). Although I’m not usually a fan of meat I ate the fillet greedily, enjoying every bite. Cooked rare, stuffed with a garlicky and peppery filling and accompanied with gravy, it was probably the most delicious beef I have ever had. There was also a generous spoonful of mashed potatoes, roast potato and a few pickled cucumbers.

For dessert we decided to share a "fruit garden" (320). This was the most extravagant order, since the selection of fresh fruit was not worth spending quite so much money on. Nevertheless, we enjoyed skewering the bite-sized slices of kiwi, mango, strawberry, pineapple, citrus and pear and popping them into our mouths. After the rich main courses, the fruit left us with a clean, light taste in our mouths, and we left the restaurant feeling like aristocrats.

Judging by the expensive vehicles outside, Sudar is popular with real-life tsars who don’t snub reasonable prices. So, if you want to watch the rich and eat well at the same time, Sudar is the place to go.