Eat Like Ushi

After eating several different cuisines, the favourites were Georgian and Uzbek. There were a few different Georgian options to try - Khochu Kharcho which I so enjoyed in 2013 and vowed to go back but was further in a different direction, and Aragvi, Tarkhun and Adzhabsandal all in the same area near Bolshoi. In the end, I picked Tarkhun, not for any great reason over the others but just did.

Manezhnaya square had some live stand up comedy (in Russian of course) going on that evening. But our entertainment was a live Russian singer performing karaoke style in the restaurant. The English speaking staff were generally friendly and polite.

- Kharchapuri Megrelian style 550g 500rub - I dreamt of this moment, sharing kharchapuri since my Khochu Kharcho visit. Megrelian style means cooked with cheese and then extra cheese added on top. The bread was crisp, with lots of flavoursome soft cheese. Delicious;
- Kharcho - slightly spicy beef soup, warming, with a nice flavour but could be more spiced/seasoned;
- Georgian dish of vegetables like ratatouille without thyme. Just warm oil with lots of roast/vege flavour. Really nice;
- Mini-khinkali - mushroom mini dumplings were only ok. Not that much filling and no liquid. Definitely nothing compared to those as Khachapuri in Moscow;
- Chashushuli 300g 690rub - beef very soft in a minimally spicy tomato sauce. Nice vegetables;
- Odzhakhuri with lamb 400g 640rub - ultra soft lamb, seasoned potatoes which could have been a bit more crisp, but nice balance from the herbs, pomegranate. A single clove of raw garlic just for measure.

The samsas looked really good (although on the expensive side) but I would live to regret not ordering them.

It was a great meal and probably my favourite of the trip. Service 10% was included into the bill, and that seemed fair.

After my previous visit (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/restaurant-idiot-st-petersburg-06-2013) and with a renewed recommendation from our free walking tour guide, I was keen to come back. I remember sitting on the couch surrounded by books. This time I asked for the same, and the waitress said a firm "no". It was only for people waiting for the toilet. To be fair when I walked through it later on, it did have the toilet smell pervading. The rest of the restaurant is much less interestingly decorated. 

Complimentary shots of vodka arrived for morning vigour. I couldn't stomach it.

I wish I had read my previous entry as I ended up ordering the same things...

- Borsch with sour cream 300g 210rub - all vegetables and a strong vegetable/beetroot flavour. Quite nice although I probably prefer the beef-based options;
- Potato gratin with caviar 200g 620rub - nice vibrant caviar with a bouncy texture and very saline. Good potatoes too;
- Beef stroganoff (beef with white mushrooms & onion, stewed in cream sauce, served with mashed potatoes, pickled cucumber & herbs) 400g 790rub - quite small surprisingly with little meat. The beef was too overcooked cooked and chewy (an occasional softer piece). It was served on a cold plate so it chilled/congealed quickly. Nice mushroom sauce. Smooth potato mash;
- Mussels were ok but a very small serving. Creamy sauce was alright.

The service wasn't very friendly (not just the seating bit) and the food was relatively expensive and generally average. My second and final time in Idiot.

After the remarkable samsas in Moscow (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/depo-moscow-and-batman-and-uzbeks-moscow-06-2019) I was keen to get another fix of Uzbek food. Chaihona #1 in St. Petersburg is at the Moscow train station and further than I wanted to travel. I found Uchkuduk on Google somehow and this little place had no reviews and the other branch had them all in Russian.

Indeed upon walking inside, the hostess looked surprised - what did we want her face (and maybe Russian words) said? It was an odd time for lunch at 1500pm but eventually sat us down with a smile. With no spoken English and no English menu, it was back to pictures and a decently functioning Google translate. Definitely worked well enough.

Unfortunately they don't have samsas... oh my disappointment.

- Beef soup 300g 200rub with slight spice, although looking at the menu and pictures now, I think they brought us the wrong one as I wanted the macmaba 300g 180rub (I also sampled the lamb soup 400g 220rub which was strong in salt and lamb fat);
- Pilaf 320g 200rub - very nice. Good rice a little chew, some flavour of fat and cumin.
- Lagman 400g 200rub - the classic spiced noodle dish I had been reading about. It had medium level spices, chewy noodles and soft beef pieces. It could have used a bit stronger flavour;
- Dumplings had a good skin, nice lamb mince, no liquid;
- Lamb chops spiced with a bit of cumin. Nice flavour and char but very very cooked.

Look at those prices. The flavours were good (could have been a bit more spiced and seasoned) but I'm not complaining. Great.

To continue the culinary journey around the central Asian region, we found an Azerbaijan (or Azeri) restaurant. The remarkably high ceilings and colourful windows were quite unique.

- Kutabs with cheese 100g 145rub or lamb 100g 210rub - thin savoury crepes with cheese or lamb. Quite good;
- Eggplant rollls (eggplant slices stuffed with spicy filling made of nuts with aromatic herbs with garlic) 200g 390rub;
- Kufta (meatballs from veal, potatoes, chickepeas, broth, spices) 350g 560rub - a big mother meatball in a very savoury soup and soft potatoes. Really nice;
- Pulp of veal, eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes 300g 680rub - essentially a stirfry. Nothing special.

Warm bread came at a small extra cost. It was great similar to Turkish, and mopped up the soup very well.

Not my favourite of the new cuisines, but still good and squarely in there.

We had one experience in a Soviet cafe, when arriving into St. Petersburg at 0755am and needing to bide time with luggage until check-in at 1400pm. Other than a (very very) long cafe break for coffee and smoothies, this restaurant just before the embankment Moika had a genial atmosphere in an underground cavern.

- Pelmeni - chicken dumplings were ok. Sour cream added;
- Buckwheat was very nice. Onions, slightly sweet. Bit of texture remaining. Not mushy. Much better than that I made at home...;
- Mutton fillet braised with eggplants & celery 590rub - mutton, peppers, eggplant, all stirfried and nice and tender. The sauce had a slight sweetness I couldn't place.

Before the midnight train Red Arrow to St. Petersburg, we had pletny of hours to kill. Plenty. Considering the forecast was for a 30C humid and rainy day, it made sense to pay £21 for a room even though we didn't use it for the night. The station is Krasnye Vorota, and I can't imagine they see a whole lot of tourist traffic.

Nearby there was an Uzbek place (Uryuk) that interested me, but also a Buryat one which seemed a bit more unique and harder to find elsewhere. The Buryat region of Russia bordered Mongolia and it seemed like the head staff and a lot of customers were Buryat or Mongolian.

None of the staff spoke English. None of the menu was in English. My Google auto-translate struggled. We chose food based upon pictures. Even though we may not have chosen that well in the end, I wouldn't have the experience any other way.

A simple beef soup started us off. Meaty and delicious. Chewy soft pieces of beef and bits of noodles.

The meat platter comprised of some fried small dumplings which were nice, and some big ones which tasted of Australian dim sims (odd, but I'm sure the quality of ingredients was better...) with some liquid. Fish shaped fried parcels had mutton pieces with a boiling hot very fatty delicious liquid inside that congealed when it spilled on plates underneath. Lamb cutlets were boiled/braised with a slightly sweet flavour, cooked throughout (rather than the Western medium-rare) but still remained soft. A sweet tomato sauce accompanied the lot. It was all nice but a bit too similar in flavour - meat and meat.

Our Airbnb was just off Tverskaya street and only a few minutes walk from Pushkin. After my last reasonable experience there in 2013 (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/cafe-pushkin-moscow-06-2013) I was quite keen for my fellow travellers to see the place. Unfortunately the experience was not to be.

The setting is nice but only really unique in the library. They are selective about who to let in there and when they denied us the library because of my friend's shoes, instead of explaining what the issue was so he could walk back to the flat in 3mins and change, they said "it's our rules, you can stay if you want" (in the downstairs standard area). Waiter paid us minimal attention. When going up the library to look around (as they said we were allowed), staff eyes followed us as we didn't belong.

- Dessert Elene 500rub - I liked this white chocolate cup of pieces of cold cubed mango;
- Lemon pie 540rub - quite tart and bitter like there was a lot of rind. I actually liked it although my fellows less so;
- Dessert Cafe Pushkin 960rub - a chocolate covered layer dessert with pistachios down the bottom.

Dessert expensive and average overall. It was fine but not worth paying and going for given the attitudes of the staff.

Such a haughty place considering the staff aren't high class themselves (even if they were, that wouldn't excuse it).

Service not included he said. Service definitely not warranted.

After a Moscow free walking tour, we were looking for somewhere to eat before going to the Armoury of the Kremlin (which I don't think is worth it to be honest). Nonetheless my offline maps directed me to a closeby central Georgian restaurant which was a little tucked away and in an underground cavern. Interestingly for such a central place, the prices were remarkably reasonable.

- Kharcho 300g 350rub - beef soup, slightly spicy, warming tomato;
- Chanakhi mutton (lamb baked with vegetables in a pot) 300g 500rub - tender mutton in a hot little pot;
- Khinkali 55rub each - smaller, quite average and not nearly having the depth of flavour of those from Khachapuri (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/khachapuri-moscow-06-2019).

Overall it was ok and convenient, but I wouldn't seek it out.

Along Tverskaya street there's a tiny hole in the wall that serves decent coffee. It was a little sweet (without sugar) which was unusual but seemed a feature of good Russian coffee places we found.

 ДАБЛБИ in Russian.

This little dumplings place was nice for a cheap and fast meal.

- White bull black ear (black-white dough with cuttelfish ink, black angus marble beef) 340rub for 10 - strong flavour of beef;
- Of course, Uasya! (yellow dough with turmeric, lamb, cilantro) 290rub for 10 - strong flavour of lamb;
- Famous shrimp (black dough with cuttlefish ink, prawns, chicken) 390rub for 10 - strong flavour of prawn and chicken.

The dumplings had soft coatings and essentially they tasted of the base ingredient. The Sour cream with pepper sauce 50rub was a very mild chilli sauce with a good garlic touch. Probably should have gone for the Flame sauce instead.

Not the best, definitely not the worst, but one of the cheapest.