Enjoy Ulan-Ude from above: city’s best rooftop restaurants

There’s no escaping it, Ulan-Ude is a Siberian city facing major changes. It has become more than just Lenin’s head and tour packages to Baikal Lake. A new lively party scene is emerging with creative spaces, hip bars, and trendy restaurants run by “outsiders”, who are making this city stand out. Whether to grab a fancy cocktail or sink into the comfy cushions watching how the sun goes down, you can also enjoy Ulan-Ude from above at these city’s best rooftop restaurants. 

Bar 12 at Mergen Bator Hotel 

Bar 12 is a great location within a stone’s throw from Ulan-Ude’s main landmark, Lenin’s Head. Located at the five-star Mergen Bator Hotel, it occupies the 12th floor. Walk through the luxurious hotel’s lobby, and take the lift to the rooftop for the best bird’s-eye view over Ulan-Ude. Order a bottle of champagne from the charming restaurant's staff or smoke a shisha while sitting in the 360-degree panorama, including the Buryat State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Selenga River and the main railway station.

Visitors will be able to view the city from a glass-bottomed moving floor, first of its kind in the entire Siberia! Then, when you’re ready for a dinner, you can go for both local and European cuisine. Although prices are above the average, the picturesque view and gorgeous atmosphere are worth of it. And as this exclusive, chic restaurant is mainly used by hotel guests, there will be no one hassling you eagerly for a table. 

Bar 12, Ulan-Ude

Buryatskiy Delovoy Tsentr, Ulitsa Borsoyeva, 19Б, Ulan-Ude, Respublika Buryatiya, Russia, 670000

Buryat State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Ulan-Ude

Ulitsa Lenina, 51, Ulan-Ude, Respublika Buryatiya, Russia, 670000

Reston at Reston Hotel and Spa 

On the 10th floor of a recently built four-star Reston Hotel & Spa, you can dine, drink, and gaze at two-thirds of Ulan-Ude. Visitors can even see the high bank of the Uda River from the opposite side – a historical landmark that designates the birthplace of Ulan-Ude or Verkhneudinsk back then.

The rooftop restaurant serves a rich selection of chasers and mains from European cuisine and offers its guests unusual cocktails. Every Friday, a Reston barman performs a miracle with those absinth-sambuca-tequila various liquids, the most impressive of which are “crazy drinks” only served at the bar. The menu even says “our barmen will teach you to fly”. Regardless of whether you’re willing to get the feeling of flying or not, you can also just enjoy meals and good chill out lounge beats. Add to this the scenic graffiti-clad walls mixed with an urban feel.

Reston Restaurant, Ulan-Ude

Ulitsa Grazhdanskaya, 20, Ulan-Ude, Respublika Buryatiya, Russia, 670031

Chaikhana at Eurozone

It is not as posh as two other rooftop restaurants, nor as new, but it’s on top of the city’s most recognized building. Whether it was meant as a joke from the architect – no one knows - but the building distinctively reminds of the toilet bowl. Despite the construction nuances, the place is rather friendly and offers its visitors fantastic views over the eastern part of Ulan-Ude. 

Resting on the 10th floor, Chaikhana is located within the shopping and entertainment center Eurozone. On your way upstairs expect to see several offices, stores, and a big cinema with its own food court. Sit on the terrace, enjoy some Uzbek cuisine, and watch the crowd downstairs from this vantage point.

Chaikhana Restaurant, Ulan-Ude

Ulitsa Baltakhinova, 15, оф. 419, КТК Galaxy, Ulan-Ude, Respublika Buryatiya, Russia, 670000

Although Ulan-Ude can’t boast of impressive skyscraper landscape, the city view is still admirable. Don’t miss a chance to enjoy the Buryatia’s capital from above at the best rooftop restaurants.