Russian food

Hi there!
I have always been interested in Russian Tea Time on Adams St. downtown. Does anyone have any opinions on it? Also, where can I get a tasty Russian meal for cheaper? I live in Niles, if that helps. I never had Russian before. Thanks!

Russian Tea Time is across the street from my office and I've been there many times. I think it is excellent and have never had a bad experience there. The menu has quite a wide array, and the vegetarian items are particularly good. I'll bet there are cheaper places out in the neighborhoods, but others will have to chime in on that.

Jonah

There are woefully few Russian restaurants around (especially inexpensive ones). An option for you might be Zhivago. Their entrees tend to be a tad odd sometimes (uncomfortable fusion attempts), but if you stick to the traditional Russian items, especially appetizers, you'll be happy: blini and caviar, vodka, pelmeni, borscht, herring, vodka, and vodka.

Zhivago
9925 Gross Point Rd.
Skokie, IL
847 982-1400

Best,
Michael

Well I'll be damned, I was in Zhivago's once for a take-out turkey club and I never knew it was Russian! I work near there, so maybe I'll offer it as a girls-lunch-out one day.

Pie Lady wrote:Well I'll be damned, I was in Zhivago's once for a take-out turkey club and I never knew it was Russian! I work near there, so maybe I'll offer it as a girls-lunch-out one day.

If you stop by on a weekend evening there's no way of missing out on the fact that it's Russian. It'll be wall-to-wall with Russians dancing to live music, and the caviar and vodka will be flowing.

Best,
Michael

Despite Chicago's burgeoning Russian community, there are not any Russian restaurants around. There are a couple of "night-club" type places (Zhivago and White Nights), but you may feel out of place (especially on weekends), and they tend to serve more Georgian fare (they are also fairly expensive). The problem is that Russians do not generally eat Russian food when they go out. You can get borscht and dumplings at home, why go out for them? Instead, Russians enjoy eating the more complex and exotic Georgian, Armenian, Uzbek and Khazak food, as well as French and Italian when they go out. I think that is also reflected in the menu at Russian Tea Time (which the Russian Yellow Pages lists as Russian-American). If you want to try those cuisines, there is a rather quirky Georgian restaurant in Skokie, and a Uzbek restaurant in Buffalo Grove that has garnered some fans around here. For a taste of Russian culture closer to home, Niles is home to a couple of Russian markets, the Greenwood, which is small, but exclusively Russian, and Farmer's Best, which is Russian owned, but is more International in scope. The deli at Farmer's Best is very authentic Russian, carrying many types of sausages, smoked fish and salted herring.

Chaihanna (Uzbek)
19 E. Dundee Rd.
Buffalo Grove
847.215.5044

Sh. Rustaveli (Georgian)
4902 W. Dempster St.
Skokie
847-677-6710

Farmers Best Produce
8526 W Golf Rd
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 965-0260

Greenwood Market
8716 W Golf Rd
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 803-0013

Don't forget the excellent Russian deli, Eurostyle Deli and their top-notch house-made sausages and prepared foods.

4861 Oakton St
Skokie
(847) 329-1430

Best,
Michael

d4v3 wrote:and a Uzbek restaurant in Buffalo Grove that has garnered some fans around here.
Chaihanna (Uzbek)
19 E. Dundee Rd.
Buffalo Grove
847.215.5044

I thought I was the only fan. (Can you say "Recommended But Ignored?)
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 1fa3eee65a

Wonderful! And hopefully that Greenwood market has lots of bottled pop and beer to add to my growing bottlecap collection. Now I'm going to make my boyfriend take me out for Russian this weekend or next.

I agree, Chaihanna is good -- but the wait for food can be considerable.

As for Russian Tea Time -- really excellent. Offerings range from specialties of the Czar’s court to homey favorites from former Soviet republics. Plump dumplings are drizzled with butter and stuffed with pumpkin, asparagus, potato, or ground beef and onion. The carrot salad and beet “caviar” are must tries. Hearty main courses include beef Stroganoff, wild game sausage served with Russian-style potatoes, Moldavian chicken meatballs, and stuffed cabbage (golubtsi). Fortunately, if you're not sure what you want, there are combination platters that feature several dishes. And, as mentioned above, there are vegetarian options. Everything I've eaten here has been great.

Wheeling and Buffalo Grove have large Russian populations, which shows itself mostly in grocery stores and delis. I don't know the name of it, but in the little strip mall on Dundee just east of Buffalo Grove (same mall as I Am Siam), there is a Russian deli with a small cafe area. Not for date night, but a dining alternative on another occasion.

I don't know the name of it, but in the little strip mall on Dundee just east of Buffalo Grove (same mall as I Am Siam), there is a Russian deli with a small cafe area.

I think it's called Versailles--I was googling Chaihanna's to find any online reviews of it (other than here, no one seems to have heard of it!), and stumbled across a Russian restaurant listing that mentioned Versailles on Dundee reviewed in Metromix. It sounds like a French-Russian fusion place.

2 "firsts" for us last night - first time for a concert at the CSO & first meal at Russian Tea Time. Joshua Redman/Branford Marsalis were excellent as was our dinner at RTT. From start to finish, service to food quality/presentation, I was impressed. We began by sharing the Asparagus Vareniky appetizer. The dumplings were al dente and full of fresh asparagus. They were served with a little grated carrot salad and both sour cream and garlic yogurt. Husband devoured his Beef Stroganoff and I really enjoyed the vegetarian Stuffed Potato Patty. The mashed potato patty was filled with well-seasoned cabbage, onions and mushrooms and came with more of that carrot salad and a lovely fresh mixed greens salad. Husband enjoyed a cocktail of house-infused lime vodka and a Cote du Rhone with his Stroganoff. I had two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. Two cups of very good coffee and total bill (before tip,) was $110. I thought this was very fair for quality/portions/service given the loop location. There were many menu items that caught my eye (not to mention the tempting house-infused Horseradish vodka.) This is the first place I've been to in a while that I've really felt anxious to return to soon. Authentic Russian or not, our experience was very pleasant.

Russian Tea Time
77 E Adams St
http://www.russianteatime.com/

not to mention the tempting house-infused Horseradish vodka

...which is quite good. They also occasionally have homemade pepper vodka and herb "hunter" vodka (okhotnichya)*. I don't think the food is at all inauthentic; it just represents a kind of high Western, urban teahouse style popular in Moscow and Petersburg which has filtered through to America. The U of C Russian Choir ( www.golosa.org ) has long been friends with RTT even though we're in the Siberian Christian tradition and the owners are in the southern Jewish tradition; there is considerable difference in cuisine, language, and music, but the differences are familiar and embraced both there and here.

A very good deal is to walk in right as they open on a weekday or just before or after lunchtime on a weekend and just get a plate of dumplings and tea service - they'll bring you the carrot salad and pickles as well, along with citrus, jam, house-made sour cream, and bread, and you can have a feast fit for a tsar for $11.

*The best flavor of Stolichnaya for me and many others is/was the Okhotnichya with herbs and honey. They sadly don't distribute in the States anymore. If anyone has run across a dusty stash somewhere, please let me know; I'm out of my stockpile from my last Russian trip in 2005.