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Home > Restaurants > Ukrainian East Village Restaurant

Ukrainian East Village Restaurant

140 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003
nr. 9th St.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-614-3283 Send to Phone

  • Price Range: $$

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  • Reader Rating:

    6.5 out of 10

      |  

    2 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: Diner, Eastern European
Photo by Youngna Park

Hours

Daily, noon-midnight

Nearby Subway Stops

6 at Astor Pl.; F, V at Lower East Side-Second Ave.; N, R, W at 8th St.-NYU

Prices

$10-$15

Payment Methods

Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

  • Lunch
  • Take-Out
  • Catering

Alcohol

  • Full Bar

Reservations

Accepted/Not Necessary

Profile

Hidden in plain sight between such august Eastern European institutions as Veselka, B&H, and Kiev, it's not surprising that a pierogi lover could pass by the Ukrainian National Home without realizing that the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant lies within, down a hallway you enter from the street. Unlike its neighbors, this place has no counter and isn't open for breakfast. Instead, there's a clean, refined wood-paneled dining room with traditional costumes exhibited in glass display cases. The menu pays tribute to Ukrainian comfort food: nalensnyky (blintzes), flavorful, large varenyky (pierogis), and a rather bland Ukrainian borscht, slightly sour beet soup with carrots and cabbage, served hot. There’s also the less familiar halusky, a hearty pasta dish with the firm, thick, pliable consistency of gnocchi, but in unevenly sized and shaped bits. It’s mixed with bacon and a choice of cheese—salted sheep's milk cheese (bryndza) or tvarog, similar to cottage cheese but made with buttermilk. But there's also a blurring of culinary boundaries. As if it were the United Nations for Veal, international preparations include wiener schnitzel topped with a fried egg, veal parmesan, veal goulash, veal cutlet and veal liver sautéed with onions.

Extras

Catering and private parties for groups of 20-200.

Recommended Dishes

Varenyky (spinach, meat, cheese, potato or saurkraut pierogis), $8

6.5 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10
Write Your Own Review
50% Would you go back?
50% Would you take a date?
50% Would you take kids?
50% Would you go on business?
50% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 8.5
Service: 5.5
Décor: 8.0
Value: 7.0

Old-skool, no frills, good food...

slntwtchr from 10016 | Posted on 7/7/09

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)
Food: 9
Service: 8
Décor: 9
Value: 9

I fully disagree with giving such a low rating to this restaraunt. Though maybe one time we had semi-slow service, every other time I've been here it has been just fine. Very nice servers, very old-skool feel to the place. Simple decor, but clean and well maintained. How can you knock that? Good prices too. Sometimes we NY-ers get too caught up in flash and showiness. This place is the real deal. Awesome food that feels home-cooked. A nice, diverse menu. If you are a pierogi fan....you HAVE to come here. Veselka right next door is awesome too, but has more of a diner feel to it. This place is the real deal. Probably why most of the time I'm there, there tends to be a huge party of Ukrainians in the banquet room...If you want modern and sleek (lots of show and little substance), stick to the Upper East Side and some of the pretentious eateries up there.

Good Ukrainian food, poor service

nafadeeva from 10028 | Posted on 10/27/08

Overall Rating: 4 (Not Recommended)
Food: 8
Service: 3
Décor: 7
Value: 5

I invited two friends to the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant for dinner on a Friday night. The place was busy and we were sat at a table that wasn’t yet cleaned from the previous guests. 5 minutes have passed until our table was set. We had to ask for menus. When we were ready to order, we couldn’t get the waitress’s attention for about 10 minutes. We asked for two glasses of Georgian semi-sweet white wine but the waitress brought us red wine. She said they didn’t have any semi-sweet white wine. The menu is extensive with authentic Ukrainian dishes and prices are reasonable. Both of my friends ordered Chicken Kiev and I had a vegetarian schnitzel platter (two vegetarian patties with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables). 45 minutes have passed before our food arrived. After waiting for 25 minutes, I checked with the waitress on the food but she was unfriendly. When the food finally came, it was good, but the waitress disappeared again without checking if we needed anything or offering desert. We had to ask another server for a check. I would not go back.

Read All 2 Reviews >>

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