Roman was extremely friendly and helpful when I bought black caviar here. He offers samples and the product is good and the price is dirt cheap, almost literally unbelievable. How can he offer such a low price?
1. Instead of being a "specialty foods" shop, this is just a shop for the local post-Soviet community. They eat lots of caviar and fish products, so he has higher volume compared to a high end grocery in a fashionable area. It's more of a normal product than a rare specialty.
2. Because he has high volume, he can buy a wholesale tub of black caviar and sell it before it spoils. By comparison, most places sell small vacuum packed portions in metal tins. This approach spares the cost of laying an intermediary for tinning and apportioning.
3. The caviar is unbranded, so there is less marketing cost baked in and no prestige premium. Instead, his reputation among his local customers serves to give comfort that his product is good.
So it is no-frills but a fantastic deal. In my case, hackleback (American sturgeon) caviar was sold at $220 a pound. Note that at a specialty shop in Manhattan you can find hackleback for up to $70 an OUNCE.
The product was delicious and all my guests were extremely pleased. Even picky eaters who had never tried caviar kept coming back for more.
I will say, though the product was fresh and very flavorful, it did not have a perfect "pop." There were pops on many eggs (not all), but the popping was a little lackluster if still present. Small price to pay in my opinion.
Roman's shop is an hour away from me by subway, but after my experience, I can't imagine buying caviar anywhere else in the city! read more