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| - Russian food! Love to try new things and the food here is pretty good.
1. The strip mall- located in the former Liberace Museum place, this mall is dilapidated and almost a deserted blighted area. Of course it has plenty of parking, but it does nothing for the overall experience and ambiance.
2. The restaurant- I have only had Russian food in Moscow and when I first went in the late 80's, there was a certain lack of service and attention to detail. Of course things have changed dramatically, however Cafe Mayakovsky has a certain focus on getting things done vs creating a great experience.
3. Service- overall good and friendly.
4. The party- they were having a huge party setting up while we were here so the whole dining area was a mess. Tables were piled with stuff and most tables were positioned for the party. Our reservation had a table off to the side, we felt completely disjointed based on how everyone was more focused on the party set up.
5. The food-
We started to order a bottle of wine but then when we decided on the Herring appetizer, we all know vodka and herring mix well. So we got a bottle of Russian Standard Vodka! Great stuff for sure and recommended by our waiter.
The appetizers of herring, pickled platter, blinchiki and Vareniki were great. The blinchiki was a crepe filled with ground beef and we enjoyed this very much. Toasted and fried on outside, juicy and tender on inside.
The Vareniki is a dumpling and ours was filled with potatoes. Loved it and would order this again.
For main courses our table had Borsch soup! Not bad, had better. We had a Chicken Kiev, wow was it huge. Beef stroganoff, a full platter and a Rack of lamb which was a special- a great choice. All of this was just right and we finished everything. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Dessert- we shared a Praga cake, chocolate and perfect. We also had the honey cake. Both were wonderful and absolutely a great find. Turkish coffee was outstanding. Not too bitter and not too muddy. I enjoyed it.
Very good food, friendly service. Why the three star, a really odd ambiance, location and party set up that leaves you a feeling of either being rushed or not fitting in. This greatly affected an otherwise excellent 4 star place.
Will try this again in future. To see if the ambiance is different.
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