Another visit on our Yelp Int'l Supper Club journey and very yummy!
When yelpers speak of "hidden gems" this is truly what they're talking about--meaning I had no idea this place even existed, let alone where the hell it was before my visit.
Tucked away in a shopping plaza in Pepper Pike, Restaurant Europa is easy to pass by from the outside, but quite interesting on the inside. It's dark, dated to the early 90's with pink and teal splattered black plates. It was packed with lots of rich-looking old people. I mean, it was mid-week and at least 2-3 tables had a bottle of vodka sitting in a champagne bucket next to them. There is a "live" violinist, if you count a cassette tape playing the background music while a guy plays his violin over it. I found it kitschy and cute. There was also a tango class that began about 15 minutes into our meal which made getting to the restrooms rather difficult without getting waltzed over. But, again, it was kind of cute!
Service started out rather slow and then sped up a little as our meal progressed. I ordered a Moscow Mule (when in Rome) and it was pretty tasty. I could tell they actually used real ginger beer and lime juice--but it certainly packed a punch. Let's just say they know their vodkas and just booze in general. Speaking of, they have an ice room that's normally -10ยบ, where they give you a fur coat and you can take shots of vodka. Our waiter explained it was temporarily out of order (just that day), but the owners are Siberian and the ice room was their tribute to their heritage! Pretty cool--I'd come back for that, alone!
Back to the food, I ordered some apps for the table, including potato latkes with smoked salmon and the pickle platter--all delicious. I'm Jewish (half) and I'm used to homemade potato latkes, trust me, these were good. I skipped the salmon, so I can't comment on that aspect. The pickle platter came with cucumbers, tomatoes and shredded carrots. Honestly, they were all good and you could tell the difference in pickling technique as you tasted each one. I think the carrots were actually my favorite! Our table also ordered some soups to start and I, of course, had to try the matzo ball. It was flavorful with light, fluffy matzo dumplings, tender chunks of white meat chicken, celery, onion and carrot. Definitely a fan. One of the yelpers ordered the borscht, and although he mentioned it was a different preparation than he was used to, he said it was still tasty.
For our main entrees three of us ordered the stuffed cabbage and one the pork schnitzle (spelling?). I can say that my cabbage rolls were tender and very tasty, although a little sweeter in the sauce than I'm used to. Don't get me wrong, the sauce isn't sweet, just sweeter than my Mom's preparation, which is my favorite. But these were very good! The mashed potatoes were OK, nothing super special, and a little over-mashed/thin for my taste. I was so full after all the apps and soups that I could only finish half of one of the rolls--and the plate had three!
I'd definitely come back again, but I doubt I'd be a regular. Great Eastern European comfort foods, for sure. Definitely give it a try!