Minsk Market — Local services in Eagan

I was so thankful to find this store, because it has all my favorite treats from back home in Russia, including really hard to find ones.

There's just one problem. Before I went to the store myself, I sent my husband, who only speaks English, and he could not find half the items we needed, even though he asked the employees for help and even though I literally gave him a list that said the product names, in Russian, which he showed to the employees! For instance, the list said "black bread" ("черный члеб") which is all but a staple in Russian food, and he was told by the employees that they didn't have black bread. "What the heck kind of Russian store doesn't have black bread?" I thought to myself, and almost decided to never go there and never send my husband there again. Thankfully, I ultimately decided to give the store another chance and found everything on my list without a problem, and found it again every time I went. It doesn't seem the inventory changes that much and my husband's experience continues to baffle me - I mean, he's not that dumb, despite the language barrier. ;)

The point I'm trying to make is, maybe the store needs to offer more assistance to the non-Russian-speaking customers to navigate their merchandise. Russian speakers are not the only ones visiting your store. They have family and friends who may not speak Russian, and there may be people who have nothing to do with Russia or Russian people, but just want to find Russian food.

Also, I found a centipede (a well-marinated and thoroughly dead one, granted), in one of the canned mushrooms. Left a bad taste in my mouth, literally.

I'm still going back, though. The zefir and sukhariki collection...

I just needed 2 oz of prosciutto from the deli. I asked for 2 oz. I got a lot of huff back. The girl kept asking how much do I need?? 2 oz. 1/8 of a pound. We kept going in this weird loop and the main girl kept raising her voice. 2 oz is 1/8 lb. It even came up on the scale. She was annoyed. It was evident in her voice and body Ianguage. She asked if a 1/4 lb would be the same. I said no, but that would be just fine. Seriously, I just needed it for a recipe. As she handed me the meat I noticed her eyeroll before she said thank you. I keep remembering that eyeroll. I really wanted to drop the chocolates and meat right there, but i just kept telling myself that this was convenient. I waited in line and watched Nemo on the TV at the register while the clerk was trying to figure out how to ring up a big bag of miscellaneous chocolates for someone else. It was painful. When i finally did make the recipe, the prosciutto ended up being hard on the edges. I was hoping to find a good German deli to stock up on leberkaiser, mettwurst, and liverwurst . . . . not this...

Minsk is by far my favorite Eastern European deli/grocery store in the Twin Cities area. Well stocked, clean and conveniently located, it offers a unique shopping experience of Belorussian, Ukrainian, Polish and German delicacies. There is almost always freshly baked hearty bread. The staff is professional, friendly and pleasant, their leader and the store owner is always seeking a way to improve the service to his loyal customers. There is a deli section with a wide selection of hams, cooked and smoked kielbasa, hard salami and cheeses, and smoked fish too. Many canned goods such as pickles, jams, juices, kvas - fermented beverage. Dry section features kasha (roasted buckwheat), flour, I also like to get loose black tea there. Dairy fridge has a variety of European butters, kefir and cottage cheeses. There is candy and cookies and waffles and sushki (dry mini bagel-like children's favorite). If you haven't been there, be...