Russian food in Manhattan

[Atomic Lunch]

I know there is a lot of Russian stuff in Brighton Beach. But for those of us who don't want to spend the better part of the day on the subway, is there anywhere in Manhattan that has Russian foods? Namely I'm looking for frozen pelmeni, but anything else would be gravy.

I'd even go to an outer borough, but only a CLOSE one.

Anyone know anything?

[Suzanne F]

I just got some decent ones in Rego Park -- between the Union Turnpike subway stop (E train) and a funeral home a bit closer in on Queens Blvd. (The father of a friend.) Not a very long trip, since the E train now runs express in Queens. And the pelmeni were pretty good -- a mix of beef and pork with onion, about the size of tortellini, cooked up quite fast.

But if you really want to stay in Manhattan, you could try the still-somewhat Ukrainian neighborhood near 8th Street around 1st and 2nd avenues (ask Pan, he lives near there).

[Pan]

Yeah, I live here, but I only know places to get Polish pierogies or their Ukranian equivalent (the name slips my mind at the moment).

[SobaAddict70]

Pelmeni are what you're thinking of.

Soba

[Pan]

Hmmm...well, in that case, Ukranian pelmeni and Polish pierogies seem the same to me. Is that a heretical statement?

[SobaAddict70]

My bad. I meant varenki.

heheh

Soba

[Pan]

That's right, and they spell it varenniki around here, I think. My statement stands, though. Varenniki and pierogies are two different names for essentially the same thing. But that doesn't help Atomic Lunch in his quest.

[Atomic Lunch]

Hey Pan, what are the Polish places, then? I have fond memories of polish food at my friend's house at xmas time.

[Bux]

There's a tiny restaurant on the south side of Bleeker Street between Sixth Aveneue and MacDougal, or maybe a block east of that, that specializes in pelmeni and pierogies. It might even turn out that's all they serve. I haven't eaten there and don't know if they prepare their own or outsource them, but that's what I have to offer.

[Pan]

Atomic, I usually get pierogies at Teresa's, and I sometimes get varenniki from the Ukranian church ladies, who have booths at the festivals St. George's Ukranian Catholic Church puts on and otherwise sell things on weekends from the basement of a building just a little west of 2nd Av. on the north side of 7th St. (you'll see a sign mentioning varenniki, kielbasa, and I think stuffed cabbage). There are various stores in the neighborhood that sell pierogies, but I haven't bought any from such stores for a long time.

[Mister_Cutlets]

If you really want pelmeni, get off your ass and go out to Gravesend, to Russian Ravioli on Avenue U, or to the M&I Market on Brighton Beach Avenue (the B train.)

The former restaurant, by the way, is great, and the pelmeni and vareniki are both out of this world.

Mr. Cutlets