Russian food from Pushkin

Russian cuisine.  Not one I am all that familiar with.  But I do always like to try new things, so when I had the chance to try food from Pushkin, I gladly did.

Pushkin is in San Francisco, a small retail storefront in the International Food Court, open for lunch only, Mon-Fri.  They also do catering, which is how I experienced the food.

PIROJKI

Pirojki were new to me, large, yeasted baked stuffed buns.  Pushkin makes these in 4 varieties year round (beef, sausage, mushroom, and apple), the last of which is sweet plus additional, more exciting sounding, seasonal varieties.

I was able try two kinds.

Mushroom. $4 each.

"Button mushroom, onion."

First up was the savory bun, filled with mushroom and onions.  The buns all had a lovely golden sheen.

I really liked the bun dough itself, soft, slightly sweet, really enjoyable.

Mushroom: Inside.

But I did not like the filling.

I like mushrooms, I like onions, but this ... truly did not do it for me.  The mushrooms were chopped up into reasonable size chunks, the onions were smaller, the ratios were right.  But ... I just can't pinpoint it, I didn't like it.  It was basically just slimy mushroom stuff inside?  It didn't seem particularly seasoned.

I ate the entire bun, but, um, discarded the interior.

Apple. $4.

"Apple, raisin, cinnamon, poppy seeds."

Next up, the sweet one, apple.

I *loved* it.

The dough was again soft and fluffy, slightly sweet.  It was almost like what I always want Asian style buns to be.  Excellent base for the product.

Apple: Inside.

Inside was cubes of well spiced apple, perfectly cooked slightly al dente, which be sound weird describing apples, but, I actually really liked, as they had some bite to them this way.  Unlike American style apple pie filling, there was no additional goo really, just, the chunks of spiced apple.  Small chunks, which made a mess as they fell out, but really didn't bother me.

Also in the mix were a few raisins, not too many, and they were rather plump and juicy, so not a deterrent for me in the way that they are when hard bits in granola or scones.

I found this strangely satisfying, as a snack, just as is, but it was even better warm with honey cinnamon whipped cream, turned into more of a dessert.  I could imagine it also perhaps appropriate for breakfast?

Dumplings

A huge part of the menu is assorted dumplings, all varieties, again, offered in 4 staples, plus a slew of additional seasonal ones.  They come by the cup normally, but we had a full pan for catering.

Potato Mushroom Vareniki. $48/tray.

"Potato, mushroom, fried onion / pan fried."

I was very excited for these, as they are fairly familiar to me, I went through a pierogi discovery phase in college, and ate them regularly.

I found the dumplings fairly unremarkable.  Sure, the dough was better than frozen grocery store ones that is fairly lifeless, but they didn't taste particularly good, and the filling was kinda just a mass of potato.  Others did enjoy them quite a bit though.

That said, the caramelized onion bits served with them were delicious, so flavorful, droolworthy.  I gladly ate just the onions!

Salads

Salads are not part of Pushkin's regular offerings, but are available through catering, several styles, including a basic "fresh" salad, a traditional Olivier potato salad and a herring salad, and a beet salad, which is what I had.

Vinegret (Russian Style Beet Salad). $60/tray.

"Beet, potato, peas, pickled cabbage and cucumber, dressing: vegetable oil."

This was ... fine.  Not really my thing, as I don't care for cooked beets, or really potato cubes, peas, cucumbers .... really, just not my thing at all.

It was far more bland than I expected.

Mains

Pushkin only has one main dish, and it is only available via catering.  And only in mass quantity, with the smallest order being 3 trays of the main itself, and a tray of the side it comes with.

Plov (Uzbek plov). $150.

"Rice, beef, carrot, onion, garbanzo beans."

This is not a dish I had any interest in.  I don't like rice (unless in dessert), and I hate garbanzo beans.   The bits of beef were chopped small, and looked dry.  Just totally not a Julie-style item.

But I was quite interested in one thing in these trays: the garlic.  The *entire* bulbs of garlic.  Several of them per tray.  Just, entire cloves.

The garlic, um, I liked?  Roasted garlic is just so delicious, the flavor mellowed out, and I enjoyed eating it just by the spoonful, although it was also fantastic warmed back up and spread on croutons (I didn't have any fresh bread!)

Salad that comes with Plov.

"Fresh tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, shallot onion."

I did not try this, as it really looked like just some mushy tomatoes, yellow onion, and jalapenos.