They Eat... Tyumen (Russia)
Tyumen doesn’t show up on any blogs about the trans-siberian. We decided to make a stop solely because it didn’t seem as much fun to spend Ian’s birthday on the train. We not only do not regret it, we highly recommend this beautiful city. Here is how we spent our time:
Late Morning
The bed at our AirBnB was very comfortable, so we got up a bit later than usual to head out for brunch at M2 Coffee. I had delicious fruit tea and Ian enjoyed a craft beer. What was particularly delicious were their savory waffles. Our meal was finished with a slice of early birthday cake.
After Brunch
The weather was gorgeous that day and we decided to wander around the neighborhood. Ian was keen to get a haircut and there was a barbershop nearby - Chop Chop. The place is massive with comfy sofas and the receptionist served me a hot cup of tea while I waited. Ian ended up getting a cut and shave - we highly recommend.
Early Afternoon
We continued to wander around and upon looking at google maps, saw that there is a beautiful pedestrian walkway along the Tura River. People make a stop in Krasnoyarsk, but the natural beauty of Tyumen is a strong rival. In fact, we learned that Tyumen is the oil and gas capital of Russia. There is A LOT of money here and hence the beautiful residential areas and the embankment we spent well over an hour at.
Late Afternoon
We became peckish after our walk and happened upon Uzbechka which serves Uzbekistan cuisine. The pickled mackerel was one of the best we had in Russia and the lamb kebab was fantastic. It tasted of the charcoals it was grilled on. Of course, I had another fruit tea and Ian had a beer. We made sure to not have more than this as we needed to be hungry for the Ian’s birthday dinner.
Evening
I had booked dinner at the most famous and popular restaurant in Tyumen: Chum. Chum is famous for being both a restaurant and a museum that served Northern Siberian food. We felt this place deserves its own blog post, so check that out here: Link.
Late Evening
As we finished our very filling meal, we checked for nearby pubs and found Granny’s Bar. We read that this place is famous for having grannys serving drinks - so we were all for it. Early in our travels, we kept forgetting what day of the week it was since we didn’t have to work anymore (I know - poor us!). So we went to Granny’s Bar on a Sunday night at 10:30PM. How full was the place? We were the only customers. Ian ordered a drink off a special section of the menu and the waiter said, “are you sure you want this drink?” We soon found out why. Ian was asked to sit in the middle of the restaurant and a helmet was put on his head. The drink was then smashed over his head and he was ordered to finish the entire drink. Happy Birthday, Ian!
