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| - Right across the street from Métro Snowdon, Ella's Deli is a delight. If you ever have a hankering for Russian food, this is the place to go. If you have any Eastern European ancestry, as soon as you walk in the door it will smell comforting and familiar. Like grandma's house when she's cooking.
With imports of not just dry/canned goods and chocolate, but also cheese and milk products from Russia and the Ukraine this is a serious place. Russian music on the stereo, calendars on the wall and all of the staff tri-lingual (at least).
To top it off, they have home made Russian style cakes - my favorite is the Napoleon cake - classic thin layers of wafer with a tangy sweet cream cheese filling (some enrobed in chocolate). I had not had it in years and when I discovered it there I almost had tears in my eyes. It's damn good.
They also have frozen food - with what seems to be over a dozen types of dumplings in all styles (Georgian, Ukranian, etc.) filled with everything from potato and onion to a delicious mix of lamb and beef. If you get them, pick up Russian sour cream to go with them. They insisted I try some - so I brought it home and tried it alongside supermarket sour cream. I'm NEVER buying supermarket sour cream again, there's just no point when this is here.
Besides that there are all sorts of cured fish and meats that you simply cannot find anywhere else and an entire aisle dedicated to bins of colorfully wrapped Russian chocolates; grab a bag and start selecting. It's all in Russian (which I don't speak) so I go by the pictures. It's a complete crapshoot as the pictures are of princesses, castles, et cetera - but I like chocolate so it's been a fun adventure.
Anyway, if you're a foodie, not coming here is unthinkable. it's so close to the Métro stop - you can probably tell I've been here more than a few times. ;)
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