http://events.nytimes.com/2006/05/10/di ... 0unde.html
I've added vareniki and pelmeni to the list after a few trips to Cafe Glechik, a Russian-Ukrainian restaurant a block from the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Brighton Beach.
Vareniki are half-moon-shaped dumplings that are less bulky than pirogi. They are the real draw at Cafe Glechik, though the pelmeni — almost shu mai-like in their crinkled delicacy — aren't to be ignored.
The dumplings bear that immediately tangible if not always quantifiable stamp of a conscientious team of cooks tending to the affairs of the kitchen. The occasional over- or understuffed specimen is a reassuring irregularity.
Vareniki are served 25 to an order in a bath of drawn butter, generously sprinkled with long strands of onions cooked until tawny and sweet. A sauceboat of sour cream is served on the side. The dumpling dough is consistently and remarkably thin, without being unsubstantial, and every one of the varieties I tried — the restaurant offers nine different stuffings, including sweet farmer cheese, salted farmer cheese and sour cherry — was seasoned with a sure hand.
The potato vareniki ($5), scented with white pepper, are as light as carbs stuffed into carbs drenched in melted fat can be. Better still is the cabbage version ($5.50), stuffed with a mix of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage cooked down to a state of sweet mushiness.
If meat-stuffed dumplings are what the evening calls for, switch gears and order pelmeni. Three varieties are on offer for $4.50 an order: chicken, veal or a hearty mix of pork and veal called "Siberia." Season your butter-drenched pelmeni with a goodly amount of white vinegar from the bottle on the table and dig in.
The pelmeni Moscow ($6) opened my eyes to a way of cookery I'd never considered: boiled meat-stuffed dumplings, smothered with gooey cheese and eggs and gratinéed.
There are a few worthwhile options with which to flank your dumplings. The plate of assorted pickles ($6), which includes the usual suspects like crisp Kirbys as well as oddball entries like wedges of watermelon, is an excellent, vinegary foil to the richness of just about everything else on the menu. Dill, which is used to season those watermelon slices, also flavors the boiled potatoes that accompany slices of pickled herring ($6.50).
Refreshing cold compote, a fruit juice drink in which whole cherries (with pits), apple chunks and other fruits have been macerated for what tasted like days, is available by the glass for $2 or by the pitcher for $10.
The green borscht is my pick among the restaurant's soups, which include a more traditional beet borscht and a chicken soup with mini-pelmeni, both $5. The green one is made with rice, egg and sorrel, cooked in a fashion that tames its characteristic lemony sourness.
The more substantial fare is less uniformly reliable, though largely worthwhile, with a few highlights: "Sausages Ukrainian style" ($12.50), a mix of pork sausage, kasha and mushrooms baked in a crock sealed with dough, is like a bread-covered bigos from back in the U.S.S.R. Missing out on Cafe Glechik's stuffed cabbage, ($9.50), three rolls to an order, is inadvisable. They are stuffed with a mix of meats and served in a shallow bowl of butter stained red with paprika.
The stew Glechik ($13.50) features a hefty braised chunk of beef short ribs, better cooked than similar offerings at many fancier but less satisfying restaurants, with vareniki, which, unusually, are deep-fried.
Dishes like a deep fried dumpling and beef stew, or the gratinéed goodness that is pelmeni Moscow, might not immediately register as optimal warm-weather eating. Though, really, why not just plow through a lunch at Cafe Glechik, waddle down to the beach just a block away, and be done with it for rest of the day?
Cafe Glechik
3159 Coney Island Avenue (Brighton Beach Avenue), Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; (718) 616-0494.
BEST DISHES Pickles; all vareniki and pelmeni; green borscht; stuffed cabbage; stew Glechik.
PRICE RANGE Appetizers, soups and dumplings, $1 to $9.50 (bags of frozen dumplings to go are $4.50 to $6.50); main courses, $7.50 to $20; side orders, $3. The restaurant is B.Y.O.B.
CREDIT CARDS Cash only.
HOURS 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
- спасибо за наводку.