B’n’T is rumoured to have opened all the way back in 1965, staking its claim as London’s first Russian restaurant. Its name combines a tongue-in-cheek reference to nostalgia, the process of chopping onions and a beetroot soup that’s far more enjoyable to eat than to pronounce, especially when sour cream is involved. Combine borshcht with some hot starters — pirozhki (buns stuffed with meat or cabbage), pelmeni (Siberian meat dumplings) or chebureki (deep-fried pasties) — and prepare to fight the food coma with karaoke or a shisha session in the secret garden.

Meals at the popular Knightsbridge restaurant are equal parts opulent and homey, with the atmosphere of an intimate townhouse dinner party hosted by a recently widowed Russian heiress. A word of advice to avoid getting lost in the extensive menu: Start with an Olivier salad. This Russian staple created in 1860 has survived over a century of socio-political upheaval and corresponding iterations in ingredients. For those feeling bourgeois — order the ox tongue version; for those who perhaps identify a little further to the Left — try one with doktorskaya kolbasa (“doctor’s sausage,” the Russian poor man’s mortadella).

A “dacha” is a Russian summer country house where friends and family convene for staycations filled with day-long outdoor barbecues. No summer house? No problem. Dacha’s weekend brunch buffet is a steal, serving a smorgasbord of Russian specialties at £8.45 a head. Load up on blinis or grab something from Dacha’s shop, which stocks London’s best selection of Russian delicatessen: fresh, baked, preserved, savoury, sweet and alcoholic. For those wondering, yes, they sell AK-47-shaped bottles of vodka.

The swanky Soho icon, owned by Russian restaurateur Leonid Shutov, is known for its highly Instagrammed “press for champagne” button. The predominantly European menu also boasts Russian-inspired dishes with an upscale twist: lobster, crab and shrimp pelmeni, truffled potato vareniki and house favourite — Oysters Brezhnev. Keep eyes peeled for the opening of Bob Bob Cité, its City-based sister restaurant, where Michelin-star-winning chef Eric Chavot plans to serve snail dumplings and brioche-stuffed chicken Kiev.

Zima is a contemporary take on a “ryumochnaya” — a Soviet-era drinking establishment known for its relaxed atmosphere and affordable food. Sure enough, the laid-back Soho spot serves the cheapest caviar in London (£1 per gram) and accompanies Russian-inspired street food and cocktails with live sports screenings. The homemade “nastoykas” (infused vodkas) come in a rainbow of flavours (from sea buckthorn to strawberry), best sampled in a 10-shot taster set accompanied with hot and cold starters. For bonus points, order the ukha (fish soup) if watching a game played in Rostov-on-Don — it’s the town’s local specialty.

Pasha in Camberwell takes its inspiration from the Silk Road — more specifically, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russian-speaking countries with “-stan” in their name. Aside from South Caucasian and Central Asian classics like manti (spiced meat dumplings), lagman (a rich noodle soup) and plov (an Uzbek specialty of rice, vegetables and meat, slow-cooked in a cauldron with animal fat), Pasha also serves the strangely named Russian appetizer — seld pod shuboy, a.k.a. “herring under a fur coat.” Rest assured: no animals, except for a herring, are harmed in the making of this dish.

Zakuski, the catering company with a stall at Broadway market, is named after Russian appetisers. The word itself roughly translates to “things you bite into” (in practice, often after a vodka shot). Zakuski’s stall serves a rotating selection of colourful and predominantly vegetarian salads and mezzes. Try the “Korean carrot” — a tangy marinated dish invented by ethnic Koreans living in the USSR, who, lacking access to the proper ingredients for making kimchi, created an alternative that became wildly popular throughout the Soviet Union.

East London is home to a number of Eastern European communities, so it’s no surprise that Opera in Leytonstone has Russian, Lithuanian, Bielorussian and Ukrainian dishes on its menu. Try the shashlik (meat grilled on skewers) and layered honey cake, a Russian classic dating back to the 18th century. Legend has it that a young chef created the cake for Empress Elizabeth, oblivious to her hatred for honey-based dishes. Luckily for him, she loved it and the cake remains one of Russia’s most beloved desserts to this day. Those following Chef’s Table on Netflix might recall it from the episode featuring Moscow chef Vladimir Mukhin.