Russian Samovar Restaurant and Piano Bar — Restaurant in New York

I’d like to start off by saying the food tasted great until the next day when I was stomach sick from the ‘pelmeni with potatoes’ that I had. In addition to that, I’d like to say we had the worst restaurant experiences of our lives due to very poor service. Let’s start off by the fact that my husband, our 2 kids and myself walked in at exactly 5 pm on a Saturday night. We were NOT greeted at the door. Being unsure what the procedure was, we walked past the bar towards the seating area standing watching servers chit-chating with each other. My husband proceeded towards one of them and asked if we should seat ourselves or will we be directed to a table. Only then did one of the personnel directed us to sit down at an empty table, however, instead of ‘our apologies’ we heard ‘just to let you know we close at 8.’ Not sure why this was mentioned with the harsh tone as we were not even thinking of spending 3 hours at dinner with the family. As we sat for quite a while, a server came by without asking began pouring from a pitcher what I later found out was tap water. I expressed politely ‘no thank you but would rather like a large bottled sparkling water such as Pellegrino.’ A good while passed before anyone came by and asked if we were ready to order I said yes ‘borscht’ but the server than jumped away before I had a chance to ask/say anything else. My children were asking for juice at this point my husband getting more aggravated has called over the waitress virtually screaming ‘excuse me’ over the piano playing was useless as NONE came by. When they finally came by with the ‘borscht’ quite some time later my husband asked ‘what kind of juices do you have?’ to which the server replied ‘I don’t know let me ask.’ Just to sum up with EVERY question we have asked i.e. do you carry Malbec, do you have specials, what are your available sides, etc. the same server replied ‘I don’t know let me ask.’ Needless to say we finally placed our order which took OVER 1.5 HOURS before receiving it. While we were waiting another server came by quickly and proceeded to pour tap water from his pitcher into my glass half-full with Pellegrino with the actual bottle pretty full still standing in front of me. Of course I stopped it at the point when the waters were mixed. At $7 a bottle I was pretty disgusted and upset as how that was handled. At no point did anyone come by from management or service to apologize or check in if everything was ok considering the prices were absolutely unjustifiably too high and to walk away this disappointed this place receives less than 1 star if yelp allowed it. VERY POOR experience - we will NEVER...

This was my first time to this restaurant and they did not disappoint! The look and side from the exterior is very deceiving! The place is rather large! Let’s put it this way, the restroom is normal size stalls and not just 1 stall but 3! I know! Unheard of in NYC! Very clean I might add!

We opted for the prix fix meal which included, an appetizer, soup, entree, dessert and coffee or tea. Our appetizer was the Vinegret which is roasted beets, potato, onion (not mentioned on menu) and pickle salad in sunflower oil. I’m not a fan of beets and the onions were rather strong with this. I would go with another choice. Soup was the borscht which was delicious. Served with sour cream on the side. Yes, this is beet soup but this kind of beet, I enjoy! In addition to the prix fix meal I also ordered the Deruny which is pan fried potato pancakes. The serving is 2 large potato pancakes with sour cream on the side. They are rather large and dense with potato. Very tasty! The entree was beef stroganoff which is strips of tenderloin in a mushroom cream sauce served with buttered egg noodles. The sauce is rich and very good. It is nicely presented in a cast iron pan with the noodles on the side. The portion looks small, but believe me it isn’t! We actually had left overs. For dessert we had the Smetannik Cake which is traditional layered cake with sour cream! Absolutely amazing! There was flavor of vanilla, chocolate, spice, orange zest, raisins and more that we couldn’t figure out! One of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten! Similar texture of a carrot cake but better! Tea is served with cherry preserves! Put that in the tea and it makes a world of a difference! I’m not sure if I will ever drink tea without preserves in it again! After you drink all the tea, don’t waste those cherries, they are delicious! Just watch for the pits! All this for $45 with the exception of the potato pancakes!

Service was perfect! Julia was our server and she was attentive, friendly, helpful and totally deserving of a 25% tip, which I left!

Atmosphere was so enjoyable. Several samovars were on display in the restaurant. Staff spoke Russian and English very well! Made the restaurant more authentic hearing the language being spoken. The music was modern set to a jazz beat which was so enjoyable. I never heard Ariana Grande so jazzy! I truly enjoyed it. Around 6:30pm a piano player began to play.

Very enjoyable dining experience! Right next to the Neil Simon Theatre! Parking garages right across the street.

I will definitely return and recommend to others!

Covid-19 protocols: Vaccination proof and ID. Masks not required...

From the time I first learned of this restaurant I wanted to go. Yesterday, I was in the city and my feet brought me here. The ambiance was perfect for a pre theater dinner or just a peaceful moment away from the grind of the city. Prices for me, a non-city dweller, were higher than normal but I saw a menu for a pre fixe meal and went for it. I had what I thought was a traditional Russian meal which consisted of an appetizer of: Vinegret; Entrée of Beef Stroganoff, Dessert of Smetannik Cake and a Hot Russian Tea with whole cherry 🍒 preserves with lemon & honey 🍯 😋. It was a very tasty meal but for me i thought the portions were a tad small on the Entrée and dessert though at my age it was probably just right. The meal was extremely tasty with flavors I never imagined to be able to taste. The live piano music was just perfect for any reason that brought you here. My rating is low only because I expect more on my plate. Service was great and I love that it is a family run business that has its roots and traditions set in the Ukraine 🇺🇦 as well as Russian heritage. I highly recommend this restaurant for all the flavors and heritage they have brought to the United States...