Eating In Russia

I can’t speak for the rest of the country. I guess MacDonald’s, though they do have a presence, hasn’t really taken over the country with fast food. There are lines for MacDonald’s, especially in the center of town by the Kremlin. I can’t speak for the rest of the country. I guess MacDonald’s, though they do have a presence, hasn’t really taken over the country with fast food. There are lines for MacDonald’s, especially in the center of town by the Kremlin. Kentucky Fried Chicken has also made the trek here from the USA.
I don’t know how the prices compare because I tried to steer clear of the evils of fast food.
And why would you want to eat BAD American fast food when you can get delicious Russian fast food for less than half the price? Go figure. Russian fast food is bliny (thin crepes with different fillings), pelmeny (dumplings like wontons –also usually with meat filling), ice cream of all kinds (mostly the American Nestle sort, not like the delicious paletas in Mexico made from fresh fruit and cream), and various other finger foods. I guess hot dogs are pretty popular too, with ketchup of all things. The best way to ruin a hot dog is to put ketchup on it, in my opinion. Only mustard belongs on the dog. Oh, and sauerkraut if you are lucky enough to have it.
Russian food in restaurants… if you land in a good restaurant (don’t ever go to Yolkie Palkie) you are going to find the most amazing fish dishes, bliny, and the soup is to die for! I had fish soup on at least two occasions, both with sour cream, and what a treat. Even the soup at a bad restaurant is fairly decent. Mark had a disgusting cold soup at a café we went to a couple of times. It literally made me gag. He liked it. It was a beef broth that was really sour, and additionally so due to the sour cream in it, with green onions, slices of mystery meat, and maybe hard boiled egg? I had a delicious cream of mushroom soup.
At home – dinner with the family – was simple but good. Aunt Zhenya does very good appetizer things: Syrian marinated eggplant with cloves and vinegar and who knows what, a red sauce with garlic and red peppers to eat with bread or crackers, an amazing egg salad with a green onion like thing. Her main courses were much more simple (fish, chicken, turkey, green veggie, potatoes) and not how I would cook things (a little too cooked for me), but tasty none-the-less. And then dessert: home made cherry jam, different kinds of cookies, cream puffs, and tea of course.
I thought I could lose a little weight by walking all over hell and back and not eating too much junk. Wrong! The sweets were too enticing. Oh, not to mention the cheese with bread or crackers at every meal just about. I just couldn’t resist. Now when I get home I am going to have to cut out sugar altogether. I forgot my stevia and as a result had sugar with my tea every morning, afternoon and evening. I am also going to go through serious caffeine withdrawal. Hmm. Fun. Although I am looking forward to eating fruit and veggies at every meal with little else. There isn’t the same kind of variety as we have in California unless you want to pay out the nose.
There was a salad at every meal, which was very good. And I had bananas at breakfast with my oatmeal (what Aunt Rita calls “flakes.”) Rita also introduced me to what she called “curds.” I would say it is a cross between cottage cheese and ricotta with a bit of a yogurt sourness. I loved it. We ate it with flavored yogurt, the applesauce I made, and jam.