Korchma Restaurant, Moscow, Russia

While in Russia we wanted to eat traditional food, and while we spent about half our meals in restaurants that had food from the Caucuses and the central Asia parts of the former Soviet Union, we definitely wanted to experience dumplings, buckwheat blini, and other things that might be thought of as peasant food, but which we very much enjoy. 

We ate here our third night in Moscow, and while it was a little bit over the top in terms of the touristic themes, the food was genuine eastern Ukrainian fare.  Ukraine is a country that has been divided a number of times, with parts of it going to Poland, parts to Russia, and at one point, all to the Soviet Union.  Luckily for the cuisine, those three traditions share some overlapping features.  The one really Russian thing missing here was fresh dill in almost everything. Here dill did not make an appearance.

Our guide told us that the restaurant made it's own horseradish vodka, and that we should be sure not to miss this delicacy.   What happened next is a classic miscommunication between one who is not reading the menu clearly and one who is.  I thought that we should order a small carafe of the vodka rather than getting it by the shot, and my spouse, in an effort to be amiable, asked me if I was absolutely sure, and went ahead.  Well, what we got was quite a lot of vodka that was not exactly to our taste  Live and learn.  It was accompanied by slices of lard served on twigs (if I had known that, I would have been more circumspect about the drink that came with it).  We did get a giant bowl of delicious pickles to help wash it down with as well.