This place can get pretty busy during lunch rush on Saturday! Because it's more family owned, they…read moredon't rush you. Feels very home-y Loved the Borscht, will always get this every time we come back Tried their Ukrainian combo and it was delicious, stuffed cabbage, pierogis (1 meat, 1 potato, 1 mushroom, 1 spinach), sausage and sauerkraut. The east village combo was good too! The potato is really good. The portion size is decent! We were stuffed and didn't finish everything since it's a little on the heavier side. Pierogi ranking top fav to least favorite: Meat Mushroom Cheese Spinach Potato Also, tried the cheese Blintzes, which reminds me of a bit of a crème haha so it's more of a dessert Next time, we want to try the wiener schnitzel and the stuffed cabbage with cream mushroom sauce?

Food is great. Service was slow at 9 pm. Cozy feel of the restaurant. There was a party with loud…read moremusic going on in the banquet room. For appetizer we tried salo (pork fat) - one piece was enough to try with bread lol. We also got a pickle soup - so dilly and pickly! Delicious if you like pickles. For entrees We got the special - pork stuffed mushroom and goulash. Pork was made really well and very tender, but the mushroom or the sauce was super salty. The goulash was the best -- potato pancakes they do really well - it was the highlight! Overall delicious meal.

I stopped by Streecha for lunch last Sunday after wanting to try it for ages. It's a basement, no…read morefrills Ukrainian restaurant with a classic menu and comfortable, casual cafeteria vibes. I had a cup of borscht and an order of dumplings, which were both great. The borscht was something I will crave for a while. The broth just had an incredible, balanced flavor. I thought since my food was pretty warm up and serve, that it would be a quick meal, but the service was pretty slow. I sat and waited a while. It was Mother's Day, so I think they were busier than usual with catering orders and moms and grandmas stopping by for desserts for brunch at home. So the pace of service may have been affected/out of ordinary for that reason. For those visiting for the first time: Take a look at the menu upstairs on the sidewalk before going down to the restaurant, because there was only menu downstairs at the counter where you order, so anyone coming for the first time will have to flip through the menu while holding up the line to order unless they know what they want already. When you go downstairs, the restaurant is behind the first door to your left; it's not well-marked. A lot of reviews say it's cash-only, but that may have been under the prior owners/management, because they definitely took credit cards/Apple Pay when I was there last weekend. If you love Ukrainian food, Streecha is well worth a visit. I love its no frills, classic approach to dining. It's a great option for a casual lunch if you're in the area and are craving some Eastern European fare.

Streecha offers great comfort food for all of us who are either familiar or unfamiliar with…read moreUkrainian cuisine. I dragged my partner to the basement kitchen that is Streecha and he was unprepared to face three nuns in the hallway leading to the kitchen with his tattoos uncovered. The fear in his voice when he asked if we were in the right place was already a great sign. Tucked in a room to the left were several long tables and a lady in the front taking orders. We wanted to try a little bit of everything so we settled for half a dozen of meat verenyky, a half dozen of potato and cheese verenyky, borscht, and stuffed cabbage. Our favorites of the bunch were the stuffed cabbage and the half dozen potato and cheese verenyky. We only wished everything was hotter because it seemed only the potato verenyky was hot. But as a self-service kitchen that relies on the help of volunteers, it wasn't surprising. So if you're looking for Ukrainian food without spending a fortune at Veselka, Streecha is a great alternative. I also think they do affordable lunch specials so that's something else I need to try.

The people who work at Varenyk House are nice and not chatty. There isn't seating available. I was…read morejust in the other day and it looks like they got a bunch of new freezers and offer hot food to go now, too, not just fresh frozen! I bought a bag of frozen potato and cheese varenyk (pirogies), and they were delicious. Attaching a photo of what they looked like after I cooked them at home (boiled and then sautéed in butter with diced onion and spices).

Came on a Thursday night a few minutes before closing and they had such a large selection of…read moreUkrainian goodies! the staff were still hard away making dumplings in the back. Once stepping into the store, you are met with large freezers and fridges stuffed to the brim with all things Ukrainian. Many of their dumpling items are in large packages (2-3lbs a pack) and range from $8-$15 per lb depending on the filling. $15 a pound for their lamb and short rib Pierogis. Price-wise, it's very fair! And you can taste to quality and heart they put into these Pierogis. Can't go wrong with any flavor. I got the lamb and it was stuffed with tender lamb pieces, no filler. And they make for great quick meals! I also snagged a box of cabbage rolls stuffed with a pork and rice filling. Simple home-y flavor and better than rolls I've gotten from restaurants. Just reheat and it's ready to go! $15 for 5 large cabbage rolls was a great deal as well! Would get again. The only thing I wouldn't get again is their soup dumplings, as it was a bit difficult to cook and was a little too doughy near the top of the dumpling. Flavor wise, it was delicious and had a nice broth (assuming you didn't pop them. Only 1 didn't pop). But it was a difficult item to cook right in boiling water, like the instructions mention. Perhaps, user error. Every item is sold by weight and labeled after selecting your items. But they're happy to check the weight/explain price before purchasing.

I got the meat plate combo which comes with one stuffed cabbage (rice & minced beef), 4 pierogis (2…read morepotato and 2 beef), drenched in mushroom gravy and topped with pickled onion. You also get to pick a small soup on the side. I got the Ukrainian beef borscht soup. I've never had borscht soup before - it was made with beets, potato, cabbage, but tasted strongly of the beets. I'm a huge fan of beet so was happy to learn this dish existed. It's perfect on a cold rainy day. This is conveniently located in the food court within Grand Central station. Would highly suggest anyone to give this place a try!

I'm a fan of Veselka, so when I was at Grand Central last weekend looking for a breakfast before my…read moretrain, I thought, "Veselka!" They have a stand in the dining concourse, so I went downstairs, ordered BEC (bacon egg and cheese) pierogi and a coffee, waited just a few minutes, and then ate it at one of the tables in the dining concourse. They have other breakfast options (BEC on a roll, breakfast burrito with kielbasa and potato pancake, eggs, omelettes), but I enjoyed their BEC piergoi with spicy ketchup. Of course, they also have lunch/dinner - pierogi and soup combo, stuffed cabbage, chicken schnitzel sandwich, chicken paprikash, beef stroganoff - so I'd go for any meal. Veselka opened in the West Village in 1954. It's a NYC institution. Eating from their stand in Grand Central isn't quite the same, but I'm glad it's there. It's a great option for a quick meal before a train!

My husband and I had a wonderful experience at this restaurant! We started with the mini Umka…read morePerfect Puff pies with a small piece of steak inside, which were juicy and delicious. For our main dishes, we had the traditional Uzbek plov with lamb and the Farida ground beef roll with tomato. Everything was flavorful and cooked to perfection, but the traditional Uzbek plov was definitely our favorite. The lamb was incredibly tender, and the plov had amazing flavors. We really enjoyed our meal and our time here. Highly recommend!

Farida had a nice atmosphere with live karaoke, and the staff were friendly, but unfortunately the…read morefood was extremely disappointing, especially for the price. We ordered the mini umka puffs (three beef and two cheese), and they were very oily and soggy on the bottom. The beef filling was mostly salt and pepper with no real depth of flavor, plus lots of fat and gristle. The cheburek was almost the exact same experience -- same filling, same sauce, and again not very tasty. The Uzbek plov was also very, very oily. The meat in that dish was better than the others, but overall it still lacked flavor. The steak manti was honestly close to inedible. It tasted bad, very fatty, and what initially seemed like juicy filling inside turned out to just be condensation water. The Kazan kebab was especially disappointing because the picture on their website looks incredible. In reality, it looked nothing like the photos -- the meat was basically boiled, extremely fatty, and pretty unpleasant. Thankfully, the tender beef short ribs were the best thing we ordered. The meat actually had flavor, and the potatoes were good. The lemonade was also very good. I went in expecting Uzbek food to be less heavily spiced than other cuisines, which is completely fine, but this was beyond that -- the food just felt low quality and poorly executed. For four people, with only one lemonade and no alcoholic drinks, the bill came to about $260, which felt insanely expensive for the quality we received. The atmosphere was nice, but the basement dining area was also extremely hot and uncomfortable. Overall, this place did not live up to the hype. Check the pictures for the dishes we ordered.

Absolutely loved it here…read more I love coming here. I love their lattes, pierogies, omelettes, potato pancakes, kielbasa and everything else I've tried. Everything was so fresh. The employees were very friendly and helpful. I can't wait to come back.

Coming here for a work lunch with my boss, who was the one who recommended we dine here, with some…read moreother colleagues, I wasn't sure what to expect from this place that I've passed multiple times on the BQE while on my commute to work. Apparently there is more than one location in Manhattan. The inside reminded me of a classic diner. Comfy and with a pretty cool vibe. We all slid into a booth and looked over the seasonal offerings along with their standard menu. I was lured by the chicken Kyiv based on the picture of having two rolled up chicken cutlets stuffed with dill and other yumminess, but was a bit disappointment when it arrived with a single small cutlet on my plate with two heaping mounds of potatoes mash and broccoli. I instantly had regret when I should have gotten the borscht soup with pierogies, but wanted to try something I wouldn't usually. I should've stuck to what was safe. My work mom got the stuffed cabbage and that was a clear homerun- really loved the mushroom gravy that it came with. My other colleague got the potato pancake and wasn't too thrilled with it, while my boss got the two Swedish meatballs that he described to be Ikea worthy. Although this was my first time here, I can't say that anyone really loved the food nor would come out of their way to come back. I really was hoping this would have wow-ed me in some way, but I guess I'll stick to what's familiar.

Fresh made east European dumplings I will be back again…read more Beautiful corner store and pretty interior design

Absolutely amazing dining experience at this charming and chic Eastern European restaurant in SOHO…read moreserving delicious homemade traditional dishes. Great service and wonderful atmosphere . Place is open from breakfast to dinner.