Cafe Assorti, Arlington, Virginia Restaurant Details

Food:

We went at brunch hour on Saturday so it was relatively empty. Both the egg & onion and the ground beef pirozhki were good but bland (I used sour cream to tart them up), and the pastry was a little heavy for pirozhki (my grandmother made them with lighter, filo-style dough). But they were quite good. I also had cheese blini with sour cream that were perfect - well made, well cooked, just the right amount of sweet cheese. My partner had crepes stuffed with sauteed apples; they were good, but not great. The tea choices were good; the cofffee so-so.
I liked the clean, contemporary look of the place, though the placemats (orange vinyl that adheres to the table top) were odd. Maybe a Kazhakh thing.
Our waiter never cracked a smile but was efficient and polite. We didn't have to wait, but we weren't rushed. All in all, a good choice. I'd like to go back and try some of the dinner foods.
It's a very clean, modern, organized place, and the food is authentic - it really does taste like someone's grandmother's recipes.

Food:

Bland food and not worth the price. Simple eastern European sure, but even Hilga knows what salt is.

Food:

Best. Russian. Food. Period. (In the area)

Highly recommended, very casual, russian food. Tastes almost exactly like my mom/grandma will cook it.

My personal favorites:

to start: try pirozhoks with eggs and green onions or pirozhoks with cabbage
salad: beet salad or traditional "Olivie"
hot entree: pelmeni with sour cream, beef stroganoff or home style cotelette
drink: both kompot and kisel are really good

oh, and don't forget to try crepes!

Never had any problems with service (either russian or english speaking staff). Just make sure they write your order down, especially if you are trying every single kind of pirozhkies at once : )

Food:

A mixture of Russian and European and very reasonable prices. Considering that, the place should be packed but isn't: a hidden gem.

Want something a little different and tasty at the same time? This is it.

Food:

Overall it definitely seems like a good intro to Kazakh/Russian food. I had the borsch and the samsa (beef). The borsch had a flavor I couldn't really pick out, but something went very right with it. The samsa crust (outer layer?) was sort of a happy medium between thin and thick and went well with everything else.