Great lunch -- with a great crowd, we got to try a lot more items. I was blown away by the pickled watermelon. Ronnie_Suburban has spoken of it a number of times, so I expected it to be good, but it was better than i imagined. Pickled vegetables also great. Loved the veggie and tongue salad and the cheburek and the meat blintzes and the two eggplant dishes. The soup with a variety of sausages was as great as one might expect of anything made with good sausages. Even the bread is remarkable. There were a few other dishes ordered, but the aforementioned were the ones that were new for me. Of the dishes I've had before, the pumpkin manti stood out. The sour spinach soup, almost always my favorite, seemed a little thinner than usual-- and maybe it's because I was so full of food with giant flavors by the time I got to it that it paled in comparison. Still mighty tasty, however.
Pretty much just filled up on appetizers and soup. Didn't even make it to the wonderful main courses.
And we were too full for dessert -- but should someone else crave sweets there, I can, from previous experience, recommend the sour cream cake (house made).
Such an outstanding place. Hard to believe it's so often empty.
There are enough good food shopping options nearby that it never needs to be a trip just for this restaurant, should that be what's holding folks back.