Russia House Restaurant

Reviews 3

CH

Chyngyz Sherniiazov

DO NOT GO !!!! TOTAL RIPOFF I cant fully express how bad is this place, but I will try to break it down for you: 1. Do not get blind by the design, yes its somewhat reminds russian restaurant in good traditions, with all these paintings and samovars all around, but dont get too excited. 2. Very nice stuff, they will say hi to you and be very polite, but again dont get too excited. 3. The menu: if you ever been in a true russian restaurant, this menu is a joke !!! Right from the menu you can tell that this place is soooo FAKE. 4. The prices is waaaaaay too expensive, you pay almost $10 for a pair of "PIROJKI", when in Russia it actually cost maybe 20 cents + they are much tastier. 5. I ordered a plate of mix russian appetizers for like $12, and what I get: Some sort of "russian jam", several cold salads, and a piece of cucumber with a black spot in it, OHHHH I AM SORRY, its a CAVIER... Here is what I suggest you to do with an extra $12, go to Chipottle and get you self a nice burrito with extra meat. 6. They bring you the dish on the table and warn you that its very hot, that you dont wanna touch the plate. Now think about it for a moment, they really think that we as a customers are stupid, that we dont know what hot plate means...Just by looking at the meal, you can see the products they use are very very very low quality. It seems like they buy vegetables frozen, and most likely from walmart. And guess what, the average dish in this place cost around $25. 7. They present each dish like its something you will never try. They will explain all the ingredients and make you feel like you have no idea what youre eating. Guys, here is the truth : The frozen pizza from a gas station taste better. These people not only dont know how to cook russian food, they dont really know how to cook. 8. When I tried my dish i told the administrator that its a bit over-salted, and here is what he answered me: "Its a special spices that we put into the dish, thats why it taste a bit salty..." Really??? Really??? Here is what a lot of people dont know, the russian cuisine has only two spices: Black Pepper and Red Pepper, thats it. And when the dish is over-salted, its freaking over-salted. What I realized, these guys they will use every chance to rip you off. I didnt even argue with them, he is an old guy, whats the point. 9. WHERE IS THE MUSIC !!!! THERE IS NO MUSIC !!! At least put some soviet songs from WWII, but no, there is nothing. Which makes the atmosphere quiet uncomfortable. 10. Conclusion: THIS IS THE TRUE REVIEW ON THE PLACE, YOU CAN TRUST ME GUYS AND SAVE YOUR MONEY. DONT MAKE SAME MISTAKE AS I DID BY GOING TO THIS PLACE. PS For the owners: Guys, you should be ashamed to call this place Russia House. I am from China, but I am more russian than you are, at least you guys could fake russian accent. Its the same as if a person who would leave all his life in Zimbabwe, opens a chinese restaurant and calls it " The Old Chinese Traditions"... Be real guys, and stop ripping off people...BAD KARMA

A

A Private User

I recently moved to Alexandria after living overseas for many years. Its been a while since my family and I had a proper Russian meal, so we did our research, read the reviews and headed to the Russia House in Herndon, VA. As a Russian I was insulted by the food served. It couldnt have been father from Russian cuisine, not even close. The first thing that threw me off was the seasoning of their Zakuski (appetizer platter). Small dollops of Olivie and beet salad were bland and tasteless, and the eggplant spread to my surprise was sugary sweet with a vinegary aftertaste. The little pinch of "caviar" on a cucumber slice, which the waiter so proudly pointed out, was a crunchy cheap grocery store variety (lumpfish, perhaps) so dont get too excited. Then came the Borsch. It had plenty of chunks of celery (not normally used in making borsch) and other chunky veggies. It looked and tasted like Campbells Vegetable soup out of a can, with a scoop of sour cream on top. There was no sign of beets or any kind of meat in the soup which are key ingredients of real borsch, (even though there are numerous varieties of borsch throughout Russia). There was a little old lady at a table next to mine who said to her friend "Oh, I think Ill order Borsch, Ive always wanted to try it!" My heart sank at the thought of people coming to this place to experience russian food for the first time and leaving with the impression that this is what real Russian food tastes like. I personally had better Russian food in Japan and Thailand. Their "Pelmeni" were disguised as thin square ravioli, filled with little meat and some ricotta cheese, drowning in a big bowl of alfredo-like sauce. No Russian, or anyone whos ever tried Pelmeni for that matter, in their right mind would associate this creation with the Russian dish. Chicken Kiev was served on a bed of pilaf and grilled vegetables, middle-eastern kebob-like style. Beef Stroganoff was authentic enough, but still way too salty and again served with sides not typical for its Russian counterpart. Authenticity aside, the food wasnt worth the money my husband and I spent on that dinner ($123). It was a disappointing experience for me considering how much I was looking forward to a good Russian meal. Its great that some Russia Houses customers like the restaurant and the food, but I just wish they would name it something a little more ambiguous like the food they serve.

MI

Minh Steven Tran

On Friday 1/9/15, my wife and I went to the Russian House Restaurant. My wife is from Russia and she always talked about the food. We bought a $20 for $40 Groupon. We made reservations. As we walked through the door, it was like a house. It looked like they put chairs in a living room, but I guess that’s why it’s called the Russian “House.” The only people running the place was the owners, the husband and wife, and another person whose job was to refill water, help with bringing out the food, and serving bread, but not to take orders. The husband and wife were running around and seemed unorganized. But they were very sweet and kind. It took them a while to seat us. Then it took them a while to come to us and take our order. We ordered the “Pirozhki,” Russian puff pastry and the Pate. The Pirozhki came out. It was ok. It cost $8.95 for (2) pastries. The Pate was $11.95 and it was so small. It was literally a square 4 inch X 4 inch and literally 1 cm thick. There were 2 slices of cucumber and tomatoes with it and it came with really hard crostini bread. Are you serious?!? I laughed when we got it. For our entrée’s we ordered the Beef Pelmeni Raviloli and the Lam Shashlyk. My wife really wanted something authentic and Russian. My Raviloli was $19.95. Overpriced for like 8-10 small raviloli. It tasted pretty good though. My wife’s Lamb Shashlyk was $27.95. It was a little bit of rice. On top were about (8) small cubes of lamb and gravy. Served with grilled vegetables. There were more vegetables more than anything. Again, overpriced. We gave them a 20% tip b/c the service was decent. Our tab came out to be over $80. We could have gotten better food, more food, and a better place. And most of all, my wife said that the entrée’s were not authentic and were not what she expected. We will not be going back.