Why Pay for Cafes — Cook Your Own Meals
A shared hostel kitchen isn't just "a hotplate in the hallway" — it's a fully equipped workspace: a 4-burner gas stove with oven, a full-size fridge with shelves labeled per guest, a 20-litre microwave, a 1.7 L electric kettle, frying pans in three sizes, pots from 1.5 to 5 litres, separate cutting boards for meat, fish and vegetables, knives, spatulas, grater, colander, bottle openers. It's all already here — you just bring groceries and spices, no need to buy anything else.
The kitchen runs 24/7 and comfortably fits 3–4 guests cooking at the same time without queues. We have one house rule: one dish — one burner, so nobody takes over the whole stove. Plus a shared kitchen chat in a messenger: agree who cooks dinner when, so you can grill a steak without colliding with your neighbour's borscht. That makes cooking in a shared kitchen as smooth as at home, minus the utility bills and monthly oven scrubbing.
Save 500-800₽ per Day on Food
Lunch at a canteen costs 300-400₽, dinner at a cafe about the same. Over a week, that adds up to 3,000-5,000₽ just on food. In our kitchen, cook your own meals from groceries: Pyaterochka and Magnit stores are a 3-minute walk away.
Like a Home Kitchen — Only Better
Stove with oven, microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster. All dishes and cutlery. Dining area with tables — no need to eat on your bed. The kitchen is cleaned every day — you cook, we mop the floors.
Perfect for Business Trips and Long-Term Stays
Spending a week on a business trip? A month at a work site? Don't depend on canteen schedules or cafe menus. Cook your usual food whenever it suits you. Fridge space for every guest — store your groceries.
Shared Kitchen Inventory: What's Here and How Much
Below is the full list of what's stocked in the "Softly & Period" kitchen for 2026. If something on your personal list is missing — the "Where to get your own" column tells you where to walk 5 minutes for it.
| Item |
Available? |
Qty |
Condition |
Where to get your own |
| Gas stove with oven | Yes | 1, 4 burners | Gorenje, working | — |
| Microwave | Yes | 1, 20 L | Samsung, with grill | — |
| Fridge with freezer | Yes | 1, 250 L | Labeled shelf per guest, marker provided | — |
| Electric kettle | Yes | 1, 1.7 L | Bosch, boils in 3 minutes | — |
| Pots | Yes | 4, 1.5–5 L | Stainless steel, chip-free | Magnit supermarket, "Home goods" aisle |
| Frying pans | Yes | 3, 22–28 cm | Non-stick, pancakes/steak | Magnit |
| Plates and mugs | Yes | 20 each | Ceramic, dishwasher-safe | Magnit |
| Knives + cutting boards | Yes | 3 knives + 3 boards | Separate for meat/fish/vegetables | Magnit |
| Cutlery (spoons, forks, spatulas, grater, colander) | Yes | Set for 8 people | Stainless steel | Magnit |
| Dish soap + sponges | Yes | Restocked daily | Fairy + 2 sponges/day | Magnit (if you prefer your own brand) |
| Spices, salt, oil | Salt only | 1 salt shaker | — | Magnit: bring your own spices, oil, sugar and label them |
| Toaster, blender, mixer | No | — | — | Magnit (if needed for a long stay) |
Everything is free and no equipment deposit. If something breaks by accident — bring a replacement from the nearest Magnit, we don't charge fines.
Shared Kitchen Rules: Cleanliness, Groceries, Quiet at Night
The shared kitchen runs without a supervisor — only three rules that guests themselves ask everyone to follow. Just three, but they make the kitchen a place you want to come back to at 10 p.m. after a long walk around the Kremlin.
1. Clean up right away, not "later"
Washed the pan right after frying — didn't leave it for morning. Spilled sauce on the stove — wiped with the cloth (kept to the left of the sink). Cleared your dishes from the sink before leaving. This protects everyone from ants, smells and a queue of dirty pots. The cleaner does the kitchen mornings and evenings, but between rounds — clean up after yourself.
2. Your groceries: label and store
There's a marker and stickers on the fridge shelf. Write your name and the date — store up to 3 days. Unlabeled food after 24 hours goes to the shared "help yourself" shelf or the bin if spoiled. Meat and fish — closed containers only, so nothing smells up the whole fridge. Freezing is fine — each guest gets a labeled freezer shelf.
3. Quiet at night — cooking OK, but no blender
From 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. the stove and microwave are OK to use (we often host guests coming off night shifts). But no blender, mixer, coffee grinder or loud conversations — the neighbouring twin room is right through the wall. If you want coffee at 6 a.m. before your train — use a stovetop pot, don't wake the whole hallway with a coffee machine.
5 Habits of Someone Cooking in a Shared Kitchen
Small household hacks from long-term guests — the ones who stay for weeks and know how to cook in a shared kitchen without it turning into a competitive sport.
- Cook in batches for 2–3 days. One stove session — a pot of soup for 3 days plus a side for 2 lunches. Saves time in the 6–8 p.m. peak and the fridge (opened less often).
- Keep a basic spice pack in one small box. Salt, pepper, paprika, bay leaf, dried garlic — 200 ₽ at Magnit, lasts 2 weeks. Don't drag them from your room every time — a lunch-box with a lid on your labeled shelf works better.
- Plan defrosting the night before. Meat from the freezer to the fridge — overnight. In the morning you don't tie up the microwave for 15 minutes of defrosting while neighbours are trying to heat breakfast.
- Wash dishes in gloves — free in the cabinet under the sink. A week of dishwashing without gloves ages your hands by a month.
- Buy the consumables (foil, parchment, ziplock bags) once for the whole stay. A small foil roll 20 ₽, parchment 30 ₽, 10 ziplock bags 50 ₽ — Magnit across the road. Keeps food fresh, saves fridge containers.
What to Buy Nearby in 5 Minutes: Groceries and "After Something Spicy"
Meals are not included in the room rate — we provide the kitchen, you buy the groceries. Luckily, everything a cook needs is a 3-minute walk from the entrance.
Magnit — basic grocery basket and spices
Magnit supermarket, 3 minutes from the hostel (Karl Marx Street, open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.), covers 90% of shared-kitchen needs: fresh vegetables, chicken and beef, grains, pasta, dairy, bread and — importantly for cooking — a full aisle of spices, oils, sauces and seasonings. A jar of pepper, olive oil, soy sauce, dried garlic — a "whole stay" set fits into 300–500 ₽. Ready meals and semi-finished dishes are there too, for the day you don't feel like standing at the stove.
Rigla — for heartburn, heaviness and "ate too much spicy food"
Rigla pharmacy, 5 minutes from the hostel (Krasnoarmeysky Prospect, 24/7), saves the day after shared-kitchen experiments: antacids (Rennie, Gaviscon), digestive aids after fatty meals (Mezim, Festal), sorbents if something was off (Polysorb, Enterosgel). Plus the usual pharmacy small stuff: hydrogen peroxide if you nicked a finger butchering chicken; plasters and burn spray if you touched a hot pan. All under 200 ₽ a pack.
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