VIBE
I've been here a few times. We went very early on a Saturday night (at around 8 p.m.) and the vibe is good. Not crowded at all! At around 9, a line up started to form. This might be a nice place for a small group birthday dinner or a date on a weeknight.
I'm not partial to going here later on a weekend because it just gets so packed.
Service ...well, it's not great. Sorry. It's not. We shouldn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for someone to take care of us and we did. To the point, where we had to go to the bar and the bartender said that someone would be with us in 2 seconds and it clearly did not happen (yet the waitress expected a tip!).
The bar is pretty proficient though.
There's lots of live music here including piano, trumpet and bongo drums.
The decor is absolutely gorgeous. It's why I come. It's all Russian themed, red and definitely sexy.
WE DRANK
Lychee Martini, White Chocolate martini, straight-up vodka martini and the Pirovskovska (totally spelling that wrong). It was a berry-vodka drink. We all enjoyed our drinks. I liked that you could taste the vodka but it didn't take away from the overall flavour of the whole drink. It's something to sip and savour.
OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK
Stop "stalin." Not my favourite bar in the city but a great place if you're around the King/Front area early on a weekend or a weeknight.