Prices in the Soviet restaurant in the far 1974

Almost 30 years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but people still remember that time with warmth. Today, let’s go on 45 years back and remember how we were fed in a typical restaurant.

The average salary at that time was about 150 rubles. Of course, someone received 500 rubles, and 1000 rubles in the north, but there were also salaries of 80-100 rubles.

This is the menu of one of the restaurants in Dnepropetrovsk:

Specials and drinks:

Chickens in pot 125/250g. 1 rub. 96 kop.
Dnepropetrovsk meatballs 125g. 1 rub. 39 kop.
Fillet in pot 100/250g. 1 rub. 48 kop.
Lemon drink 200g. 0 rub. 12 kop.

Cold Appetizers:

Salad with fresh tomatoes 200g. 0 rub 44 kop.
Salad with sauerkraut 150g. 0 rub 15 kop.
Pickled cucumber 100g. 0 rub 13 kop.
Pickled mushrooms 150g. 0 rub. 32 kop.
Coleslaw 100g. 0 rub. 08 kop.
Herring with dressing 50/125g 0 rub 38 kop.
Fried hake in thу marinade 75/75g. 0 rub. 24 kop.
Pickled saury with cucumber 50/50g. 0 rub. 40 kop.
Sprats in tomato sauce 50/50g. 0 rub. 47 kop.
Fish in aspic 75/75g. 1 rub. 18 kop.
Beef liver pate 100g. 0 rub 34 kop.
Meat salad 150g. 0 rub 37 kop.
Egg under mayonnaise with cucumber 1/1/2 0 rub. 40 kop.
Beef pouring 75/75g. 0 rub. 76 kop.
Roast pork 100g. 0 rub. 75 kop.
Moscow sausage 50g. 0 rub. 31 kop.
Belly trimmings with garlic 50/10g. 0 rub. 20 kop.
Salo with garlic 50/10g. 0 rub. 20 kop.
Dutch cheese 50g. 0 rub. 25 kop.
Sour cream 100g. 0 rub. 20 kop.
Butter 20g. 0 rub. 11 kop.
Ham 50g. 0 rub. 30 kop.

Starters:

Homemade Solyanka 400g. 0 rub. 70 kop.
Ukrainian borsch with meat 500/35g. 0 rub. 47 kop.
Soup with meatballs 400/100g. 0 rub. 67 kop.
Fish soup of Rostov 400/100g. 0 rub. 69 kop.

Main Course:

Polish pike perch 100/75g. 0 rub. 96 kop.
Grilled fillet of mackerel 100g. 0 rub. 30 kop.
Hake fillet with green oil 100g. 0 rub. 34 kop.
Poltava cutlets 100g. 0 rub. 52 kop.
Ukrainian cutlets 150g. 0 rub. 98 kop.
Beef Stroganoff with cucumber 100/100g. 0 rub. 94 kop.
Escalope with mushroom sauce 100/100 g. 1 rub. 08 kop.
Fillet steak with mushroom sauce 100/100 g. 1 rub. 17 kop.
Roasted duck 125g. 0 rub. 98 kop.
Roasted chicken wings 125g. 0 rub. 67 kop.
Beefsteak with egg 100/40g. 0 rub. 78 kop.
Pork chop 100g. 0 rub. 76 kop.
Scrambled eggs with salo 150g. 0 rub. 65 kop.
Omelette with ham 115g. 0 rub. 61 kop.
Lula-Kebab with cucumber 170g. 1 rub. 03 kop.
Saukerkraut with salo 250g. 0 rub. 17 kop.
Carrot cutlets with sour cream 150/20g 0 rub. 20 kop.
Schnitzel with cabbage 200/20g. 0 rub. 20 kop.

Drinks:

Coffee with brandy 200ml. 61 kop.
Coffee with liqueur 200ml. 33 kop.
Black coffee 200ml. 0 rub. 11 kop.
Coffee with jam «Rosa» 200 ml. 19 kop.
Tea with sugar 200ml. 0 rub. 04 kop.

That’s an interesting menu. As you can see, there are almost no prices above 1 ruble. That is, a good lunch at the restaurant could be within 1-2 rubles.

Borscht with meat for 47 kopecks is not even expensive. Or fillet of mackerel for 30 kopecks. Tea and coffee are also cheap.

Who can remember the taste of carrot cutlets or schnitzel with cabbage?

A mystery remains for me, why is there no mashed potatoes on the menu?

Let’s take the current average salary, which is about 30 thousand rubles and the average salary in the Soviet Union — 150 rubles, and count how many times you can go to a restaurant on this salary.

Nowadays, to have lunch in an usual restaurant one needs about 600 rubles. It turns out that you can go to a restaurant 50 times for 30 thousand rubles.

And in the Soviet Union with the salary of 150 rubles, you can have lunch 100 times.

Here is such simple arithmetic.