A nice place downtown Kostroma next to the main Department Store called Univermag from the Soviet times now famous for hosting the only McDonalds in town. The cafe is on the second floor of a house facing its American rival. Most probably it is owned by people from Moscow or those locals who know what the service should really be: the staff are polite, warm and pleasant, the prices are not very cheap for Kostroma but quite moderate in general and really good for a person from Moscow, the food is normally of high quality. Try their rice kasha and chicken sald - yammi yammi! And make sure you are not sitting in the smoking area if you dont smoke or move if you see a sheesha (yes, they smoke it in the non-smoking zone, suprise suprise) - ventilation is not their stengh, alas.