Yule-log cake. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Also making us feel mellow: the Baltic Beer 7, served in a proper beer glass; if you're really in party mode, there is vodka by the glass or bottle. From an appealing selection of desserts, we chose a lavishly iced chocolate yule-log cake in Russian style, big enough for two to share.

The creamy cod was our priciest choice at 152 yuan ($24), but beef lovers can rack up a hefty bill if ordering Wagyu beef, Australian tenderloin and such.

Bread was served with the meal for an extra 10 yuan－a pair of warm, whole-grain loaves were actually more welcome than the stereotype black bread Russians love to eat while drinking vodka. A concession to Chinese taste, perhaps.

It's tempting to nit-pick in the face of excess, and Moscow Restaurant is so over the top that the Empress Dowager Cixi－no slouch in the excess department－would probably faint with excitement on arrival.

We, however, had no trouble staying upright, enjoying the comfortable chairs and the glitz that somehow stays elegant, not cartoonish. Early most evenings there is a live quartet playing, another reminded that Russians really know how to live it up.

Happy New Year!

If you go

Moscow Restaurant

135 Xizhimenwai Dajie (Avenue), in Beijing Exhibition Center, Xicheng district

Daily 11 am-2 pm, 5-9 pm 010-6835-4454