Little Odessa, Recs

 

Recommendations 

I have to preface this by saying I am not the biggest fan of Russian food, being Ukrainian, this is the food we mostly eat at home, so when eating out I try to eat anything but. That being said, I have frequented many of the restaurants and food shops in the area because of family celebrations and just sheer proximity. 

I would first direct your attention to the photo above. The restaurant pictured is one of the most famous in Brighton Beach, Tatiana. With live music and performances and a view of the Boardwalk, it is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike. Some popular dishes offered here and many restaurants in the area are Borstch (a beet soup), blinchiki (crepes) with red caviar, shashlik (shish kebab) and much more 

Although many have adapted a menu mixed with non-Russian dishes such as steak and pasta, there are still a bunch of traditional dishes you can try. For example, in the long dish on the right is pickled herring, in Russian 'silodka', with onions. On the plate at the bottom is chicken cutlets, basically hamburgers but out of chicken and shaped a little differently. 

If in the area, a must visit is the Taste of Russia and Tashkent Supermarkets. With a wide variety of produce there are many authentic Russian, Uzbek and Ukrainian foods that are already cooked dishes or raw products. 

                         

 Many operate as a self-serve station with empty boxes of different sizes that you can pile up on your own. In others, the food is behind counters and workers pile it up for you based on the size box you want, you can even pick exactly which pieces of what you want. 

Finally, if you want to see some local theater or Russian musical celebrities, Master Theater is the place to go. Previously called Millennium Theater, it is a great place to catch performances of local dance and talent schools (I have danced on this stage many times with my dance school) and to watch concerts of famous Russian singers such as Alla Pugacheva and Verka Serduchka. Recently, when it was changed to Master Theater, on the first floor a supermarket called Net Cost or Gourmanoff was built, very popular with the Russians.