Russian Restaurants in Boston
- There are several Russian restaurants in greater Boston.Boston downtown image by Alessandro Lai from Fotolia.com
Boston, Massachusetts, has a significant population of immigrants, with 26 percent of its residents born in a foreign country. Harvard University reports that between 40,000 and 50,000 Russian immigrants live in the Boston area, attracted to the city by its colleges and universities and its similarity to European cities. There are several Russian markets and restaurants in the Boston area. - Cafe Stoli is located in Brookline, a popular neighborhood for Russian residents and businesses in greater Boston. In addition to its traditional Russian cuisine, Cafe Stoli serves house-infused vodkas in flavors such as honey, mint and cherry. Lunch and dinner menus are available, as is a banquet menu for large parties. Lunch features appetizers such as samsa, which is a puff pastry stuffed with spiced ground lamb, served with yogurt sauce on the side. Lunch entrees include dishes such as seared tilapia and vareniki, which are potato dumplings topped with sour cream, mushrooms and fried onions. The dinner menu is more extensive and has appetizers such as Siberian pelmeni, or meat-stuffed ravioli. Entrees include pork chops, beef stroganoff and chicken shashlik, which is a marinated chicken and vegetable kebab. The dessert menu has options such as chocolate cake or blintzes filled with either fruit or chocolate mousse. Guests at Cafe Stoli can enjoy live piano music on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is open from 12 p.m. until 12 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
- Located on Beacon Street in Brookline, Vernissage is a restaurant, bar and banquet hall. Every Thursday night, Vernissage has live jazz and world music performances. Tickets are required for the performances, and there is a student discount. The bar serves a wide variety of imported and domestic vodka, as well as specialty martinis such as a chocolate martini made with vodka and creme de cacao. The dinner menu at Vernissage offers appetizers such as roasted eel salad with cranberries and almonds or sturgeon caviar with crepes. Several types of meat and seafood entrees are served, including pan-fried frog legs in Chablis sauce, quail with julienne-cut fries and wild rabbit in garlic and dill sauce. Ice cream, crepes, Napoleon cake and pears poached in red wine are on the dessert menu. A separate menu is available for those who rent the Vernissage banquet hall or for those wanting a family-style dinner with larger portions. Dinner is served nightly from 5 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.
- Arbat is a restaurant and nightclub in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood in greater Boston. Allston-Brighton is a popular neighborhood with Russian immigrants and has the largest number of immigrants of all neighborhoods in Boston. Arbat has live music from American and Russian bands every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night and it has a large banquet hall for special events and parties, featuring a special banquet menu. Lunch and dinner is served daily from either the à la carte menu or the banquet menu. Appetizers include beef carpaccio and borscht, the traditional Russian beet soup. Arbat has seafood entrees such as mussels in garlic sauce, poultry dishes such as roasted duck and meat entrees including rabbit, lamb, pork and beef. Dessert choices are cake or blintzes filled with cherries or sweet cheese.
