Being an Eastern European and a vodka lover, my gf thought it would a nice idea to try Pravda - a place I had heard of myself. We decided to go for happy hour on a Friday - cheaper martinis (although the list of reduced price martinis is small - like 3 or 4 to choose from, that's it).
I was not impressed with the decor - a kitschy communist-wannabe type of place, with lots of red and communist symbols. As a former Eastern bloc resident, knowing the stories from my grandparents about those times - found this a bit excessive - but I took it for what it wanted to be - something "different" in the middle of the city.
Given that we went for happy hour only - didn't have to face the bouncer or anything. I did notice that at least 50% of the tables are reserved even from 5PM - so even as a walk-in you could literally be left out when the place is mainly empty. We went relatively early and got in easily, but saw people getting turned away as of 7PM.
Martinis are not bad - but my gf drank those - I went straight to the vodkas. As a vodka bar was hoping for more stuff (75% of the vodkas can be found at the LCBO for MUCH more reasonable prices). Did a taster and had some food - but there was barely any. Shots are decently expensive on their own - and the more you drink, the more you get hungry, the portions are small and you need to order quite a bit to get partially-full.
In the end (half-tipsy) - saw the bill. We have spent over $75 each (so over $150 for my gf and I) on basically 10 shots of vodka, 5 martinis and some food (which was average quality). We were laughing that with that type of money we could have bought a few bottle of vodka, make the food at home and get drunk in a much better looking environment than this communist utopia...
The service was semi-OK, with the waiters acting all douchey and stuff because they are better than the average waiter (because apparently they know good vodka... but no they don't...) The crowd was getting more and more arrogant as we were getting ready to leave, with tables full of annoying yuppies doing bottle service and throwing way too much money around.
Not returning there... I can do so much better with my money...