Russian Samovar
“We found herring with vegetables "shouba" salad, "blini with meat" and "Kiev cutlets" to all be completely delicious.”
“The pianist did indeed sometimes play the piano with his left hand while playing a harmonica held in his right hand.”
“The smokey flavor of the salmon goes well with the subtle brininess of the caviar.”
Russian Samovar
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Amazing Infused vodka. Vats & vats lie behind the bar with such amazing flavors like horseradish yes I said horseradish which is my personal favorite, tarragon, lemon, cherry, pepper and many more to sample individually or get a small pitcher.
Some places must be experienced and left to ones own review. This is one of those places. Every time I come back my expectations are always fulfilled. Great Russian fare. Super cool atmosphere. A must if there ever was one.
Bring on the caviar. Live piano playing. A bit too pricey! Nostovia!
Went here for date night. The food is definitely Russian and [from what I can tell] not too Americanized. I had the Beef Stroganoff and it was great. I just wish it would have come with more of the mushroom sauce. That stuff is to die for, I just wanted to ask for mushroom sauce and a straw. Apparently the Stroganoff is their signature dish, as it deserves to be. It is truly great. I liked the fact that this place had a menu that was slightly narrow in scope, thus telling me that they do a few things [15-20] pretty darn well. Instead of places that will do 200-300 different items and they're all kinda crappy. While I'm not a huge fan of Russian food in general this place is really good and I highly recommend going there if you're in NYC.
The live music was ok. When we first walked in I was worried as it was pretty loud. I hate music in places that is so loud that you have to yell at the person across the table from you. But they turned it down to a tolerable level.
As New Yorkers often like to say about the Times Square area, I usually go out of my way to avoid this part of town. Sometimes that's not possible, and that's what makes a place like Russian Samovar such a pleasant find. I've been to the Russian Vodka Room across the street several times over the past decade. and frankly, I've never enjoyed the experience — crowded, touristy, expensive… and I had pretty much expected that Russian Samovar would be a carbon copy of that.
I was wrong.
While the lure of the both joints is essentially the same — a vast selection of sweet and savory freshly infused vodkas — there are a few distinct differences that make Russian Samovar a place I would go out of my way to return to. For one, it's a better layout, and as such it doesn't feel as crowded, even when there's a lot of people packed inside. And as much as I hate karaoke, the electric violinist and his singing, piano-playing sidekick put on an amazing show. (I was there on a Thursday night.) The place also seems to attract more locals than tourists. That, or the tourists do a good job of blending in. But what makes Russian Samovar a really nice place to hang out is that there is no pretentiousness to be found. Customers are friendly. Service is friendly. And the vodkas are great. I'm not a big fan of sipping vodka, but I could sip the vodka all day here. I really like this place.
Feeling savory? Try the tarragon-infused.
Feeling sweet? Try the pear-infused.
Found this place on a Saturday night after dinner, had a good crowd but we were able to walk in and get a table in the bar area immediately. They had a good selection of drinks and vodka. Tried several martinis and infused house made vodkas, and all were good. They had a Russian wait staff and singers, piano player and people walking in wearing fur coats making a very authentic Russian bar. I'd definitely return, next time I'll try some food too!
The only down fall was that we had to get up and go to the bar to get a couple of our drinks.
For my last birthday, before being taken to a great surprise concert, we went to this fun bar (located where Jilly's Saloon used to be). I'm not a big vodka drinker and definitely ordered wrong. Next time I will try one of their homemade flavored vodkas. From what I understand, the food is very good. The live music was great.
Best beef stroganoff in the world! They have great vodka, the place can get a little pricey once you start ordering shots of vodka, but it is well worth it. Ask for your vodka on the rocks, I think you get more :o)
Staff here is always friendly and help make the place great. I would sit in the bar area and eat and drink and avoid the dining room if you want a better experience.
For my recent trip to NYC, my boyfriend and I were hungry and we wanted to go to Totto Ramen. Unfortunately, the wait was ridiculously, considering it was a Monday Night, and the hostess was an idiot. Luckily, we left that place and walked down to find this little gem.
My boyfriend is Russian and heard good things about this place. When we walked in, we noticed the dinning room was a bit lonely, with only 3 other parties there. Our meal started off a bit shaky. It took us a while to get serviced. The waiters were walking around and talking among each other and ignoring us. This highly annoyed me and that is why I took off 2 stars.
The reason this place doesn't get a terrible review, is because the food we ordered was delicious. We got the Russian Trio Platter (22$), and it's well worth it. They give you the most popular russian items, olivier, vinegret, shuba. It's a lot of food and very delicious. We also ordered Salmon Kulebyaka, which is a iconic salmon pie. It was pretty good, my boyfriend loved it.
Overall, food is very good. Service is poor.
I ventured around Midtown on a singular bar crawl while waiting for my friend to get off of work. Thinking this was the Russian vodka house, I walked in totally ready to enjoy myself. I've read great reviews about the Russian Vodka house. Silly me, the Russian vodka house is across the street. I'm not sure what this place was, but I am sure that it was creepy inside. I was one of three patrons. The decor was weird — maybe I just wasn't lubed up enough to enjoy it.
I decided to suck it up and have a drink. I tried the cherry-infused vodka on the rocks. I'm not sure if it was infused with cherry or vodka for that matter, but am definitely sure of one thing — it was infused with mounds of sugar and simple syrup. I quickly downed my shot and high-tailed it out of there.