Ukrainian East Village
“It's hearty and filling, not simple and clear like the borscht you might be used to.”
“The quiet, wood-paneled dining room is spacious and much mellower than the bright lights and crowds at Veselka next door.”
“Try the "croquette", pierogi (fried with onion), combo plate, barley soup, cabbage rolls, or chicken kiev.”
Ukrainian East Village
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I'm half Ukrainian, so I'm sorry to say this, but what is it with rude Ukrainian ladies? It's always like I'm doing them a favor by eating at these Ukrainian restaurants. Here, I walked in and looked at the menu. I asked the waitress how many pieces come in a serving for the vareniky/pierogies (7 pieces) and the holopsie/stuffed cabbage (2 pieces). She curtly answered, and then said "So, are you buying anything or not?" I wanted to leave, but I was really craving vareniky so I placed an order for the spinach vareniky.
I think $9.50 is steep for 7 vareniky (doesn't include the extra 50 cents for sour cream), but surprisingly, it was very filling. It wasn't the healthiest meal I've ever had, but the vareniky were fried just the right amount (you can opt for boiled too), the spinach filling was moist but not soggy, and the fried onions accompanying the dish were perfectly caramelized. Don't tell my baba (grandma), but these vareniky are better than hers!
I still think that given the high prices, the service should be better (and the restaurant's ambience is dreary too), but I'll take what I can get for authentic Ukrainian food.
After trying Russian & Ukranian restaurants in my neighborhood, I decided to venture out to the east Village to check this spot out. I'll start by saying would have been nicer to actually have a name for this place, but I suppose being called Ukranian East Village blends in with the no-frills vibe of the establishment. The place isnt very decorated and has little personality, unlike Onegin and Our waitress reminded me of what I'd picture a server in a former Soviet Village, very terse and showing little emotion, but she did answer my questions (semi begrudingly) about the menu. I started with the Ukranian borscht , and for only $3.50 for a cup it was some of the best I've had in manhattan. Adding the sour cream really did the trick. For my main course I split with my friend the $14 dollar Ukranian Combination platter. Portions were def a plus of this spot, as the "small salad" was easily splittable for 2 people. On the plate for the combination was some tasty stuffed cabbage, varenyky with meat and potatoes, the potatoe one tasting better. Also some descent sausage and quite tasty sauerkraut.
Bottom line here is the food tastes good, the service is iffy (took a while to get water) but for the price compared to some of the other spots, you def. do get bang for your buck. I think i'd return and try some of their other items on a future visit.
I have a certain fondness for this place because my Ukrainian friends have brought me here for some home-style cooking. This isn't the place to go if you don't want heavy food. In the winter, it's great to go in here and get a goulash and some varenyky, but in the summer you might not want that much.
We had gone to the Bird festival in Tompkins Square, and since it was Ukrainian Independence day, we decided to head over to the East Village Restaurant in the Ukrainian National Home for some authentic food. the 5 of use ate like kings and had wine & beer for just over $100. In NYC, that's a deal. I had a plate of varenyky (pierogi), a blintz and a potato pancake; my husband had Kasha and a plate of varenyky, and everyone else ordered a bunch of other stuff. It's good, it's fun, the place was not full but had a crowd. I think there was a meetup going on in the back room.
I was remembering my first time there a bunch of years ago, probably in the late 90s, and there was a big old tabby cat walking around. She came up to our table and joined us, just sitting very ladylike on a chair. I loved that. I haven't seen once since but it sure was memorable.
I've been here a few times with my most recent visit being last night. I had a bottle of obolon with beef stroganoff and split a apple strudel with my husband for desert. My husband had the schnitzel. Both our entrees were solid, decent fare. Our only real concern was that our service was quite lacking. Our waitress was quite slow and never checked on us. We waited about fifteen minutes between when we finished and when we got the check, and even to get the check we had to flag down a different server. There was also another good fifteen minute wait from when we finished our entrees to when our meals were cleared away and asked about dessert.
So overall it's okay, but the slow service really brings the overall experience for me. I'm not in much of a rush to come back unless I am craving Ukrainian food. But even then, I may start to look elsewhere.
I do not get up to NYC very often, so I do need to rate restaurants in that city on the basis of a single visit there even though I prefer not to do so, and I'm reluctant to give a 5-star rating to any place I've only been to once. So this place deserves 4 1/2 stars — perhaps if I'd been here more than once I might even give it 5.
I had remarked to the friend I was visiting that in my area, it is uncommon to find any restaurants with food of the eastern part of Europe (other than Greece, which is not really what I'd call East European food) so he suggested that we go to this place. I had a combination plate that included stuffed cabbage (not done anything like the way my Mom made it, but certainly good), sauerkraut (not as sour as German style, and not as good I think), kovbasa sausage (very close to Polish kielbasa) which I liked, and some nice pierogies. The variety gave me a taste of a lot of different things, which is good. And except for the sauerkraut being somewhat bland to my taste, I have no complaints on the food. This should explain my rating.
I haven't had much Ukranian food so I don't have anything to compare this to, but all I can say is that the food tasted good so I'll give it 4 stars.
I had potato and cheese peirogis and the Ukranian stuffed egg, both which i enjoyed very much.
Service was prompt and the place was clean.
Very typical Ukranian restaurant recommended by my Ukranian neighbor.
Love the Letcho's
The place is very cosy don't hesitate to ask recommendation to the nice waitress.
Don't take the vegetable dinner.
Here I'm thinking that my Hungarian Jewish Bubby created blintzes, Goulash and borscht.
Walking in here I was expecting different food that I probably never heard of, instead I see an all familiar menu with food I remember eating as a child.
Reminiscent of the past it was an awesome experience.
I enjoyed the atmosphere food was yummy and staff very attentive.