Dacha was my first taste of Russian/Eastern European cuisine in Hong Kong. I was a bit hesitant, as…read morethis place isn't too popular in Hong Kong. But after dining here, I hope this review convinces you well enough to try it out! So having visited St. Petersburg over the summer, I couldn't wait to have a bowl of warm borscht and Beef Stroganoff.
Unless you're familiar with Eastern European cuisine, the dish names on the menu might throw you off a bit. This covers Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Poland, But it's all about learning about a new culture and cuisine, and surprising yourself along the journey. We reviewed the menu backwards, starting with the mains, then appetizers and soup.
For mains, we went for Beef Stroganoff, Chicken "Kiev", and the Pork Kebab Shashlyk. Appetizers, the Siberian Pelmeni (ground pork dumplings), beetroot fries and borscht to share.
As for drinks, we went for the hard hitter first: Sour Cherry Vodka. My first reaction was, this tastes like cherry flavored cough syrup. But it's nicely sweet and the vodka not overwhelming. The taste grew on me and I was the last one to finish it, because I was slowly savoring it! My friends ordered some Eastern European beer: Baltika from Russia, a white beer from Lithuania, and Kozel from Czech Republic. Amazing - I almost forgot I was in Hong Kong!
Beetroot fries (HK$138) were new to me, and I loved them, dipped in sour cream. In fact, they provide sour cream with every dish, with your soup, with your mains, even with your dessert! I'll get to that in a sec. The beetroot fries didn't make me feel as guilty as I do after French fries, and they weren't greasy at all. Win! The dumplings were, well...dumplings! (HK$108) Nothing too special compared to dim sum in Hong Kong, but it's something new! One order of the dumplings came with about 9 pcs, so it's good for sharing.
Then a steaming large bowl of borscht arrived. (HK$90) In HK, "borscht" is red tomato-y. But in Russia, borscht is somewhat purple in color, beet-based. It was perfect at Dacha!
Our mains were outstanding, they exceeded my expectations. The beef stroganoff (HK$258) came with slices of ribeye, wild mushroom sauce and traditional kasha (buckwheat). Needless to say, my beef stroganoff cravings were fulfilled.
The main that surprised me the most was the Chicken Kiev (HK$258). I had never tasted such tender in long time. The Chicken Kiev is a flattened chicken breast that's been coated with herbed butter, wrapped and breaded, and then deep fried. Quite similar to Chicken Cordon Bleu. But one taste and it just blew me away. The plating could be improved for this dish, but the taste, mhmm mhmm mhmm!
The Pork Kebab Shashlyk (HK$268) is not your average kebab. Nope. I would say it's triple the size of your typical kebab. For pork lovers, this is your dish. The barbecued pork is plated with a fresh tomato salad. Something hot paired something cooling.
Needless to say, we were pretty full at this point. But did someone say dessert? We asked for their recommendation and they suggested the Honey Cake Medovik (HK$85), their most popular dessert. We ordered two of these, plus two orders of the Signature Cheese Pancakes "Syrniki" (HK$125). The honey cake was very sweet. It was delicious but I had enough after 2-3 bites. I immediately regretted the cheese pancakes - I thought they'd be fluffy but they are more dense. Perhaps our dessert money could have been better spent elsewhere.
Overall, a great meal, would not hesitate to return if I'm ever craving Eastern European food! I will warn, the price point is quite expensive, and if you're not careful, you could be racking up a pricey bill at the end. For 6 people, it ended up being about HK$670 per person. Ah! So maybe we went too crazy with the desserts... but it was definitely worth it. That's all that matters right?