Every now and then I come across some establishments and immediately have this urge to share with them with you, my dear readers, but I cannot. There is simply not a category that they fit in. I prefer decent sized (and fittingly themed) weekly updates to anything else, so there is simply no decent way to share them with you. So here is an “indecent” way to do it I suppose, through this extremely unimaginatively titled article! What follows are a few spots that I came across during my adventures in town, ones that you too may enjoy visiting!
Stolovaya № 1 – https://yandex.com/maps/-/CCUG7YuzCA
Stolovayas are a gift from the Soviet past of the Russian Federation. Roughly meaning “cafeteria,” they are often found all around any and all Russian towns, offering cheap Slavic staples to all that pass through their doors. Cheap is the keyword here, not tasty. They are almost always “spiceless” and even saltless. This makes sense given the eating trends in the region, and also because they try to serve as many people as possible, including plenty of older folks who may or may not have an ailment or two. Once again, food is not great, but seeing all that variety, ordering many different things in one go, and trying them one by one for a very agreeable price is worth giving a shot, at least for the experience, once.
Pirozhkovaya – https://yandex.com/maps/-/CCUG7YWEGC
An institution, through and through. A massive bakery that practically only sells Russian pierogi and its variants, with pelmeni mixed somewhere in there as well. Pierogis are always freshly baked, taste quite perfect, and are served in the most Soviet looking hall imaginable. It does help that likely everyone that works there lived most of their lives in the Soviet Union. I hope that I do not even need to say that it is extremely cheap, the photo should speak for itself. This place is most definitely well worth a visit, despite being extremely far away from the city centre.
Sowok – https://yandex.com/maps/-/CCUG7YvFGA
I have always been a fan of “create your own dish” type of places. This is one of them. In Sowok, you can choose your own noodle, add your preferred protein, and top it all off with your desired extras. It is reasonably priced, quite fast, and decently tasty. Decently does not necessarily mean “very,” so they can certainly improve themselves in that regard. My issues with their woks are twofold: they do not cook them enough with the sauce which makes the sauces runnier than they should be and for some reason they always put some coriander on top, which is just so overpowering, rendering the rest of the taste profile quite vague in my opinion. Regardless, it is well worth a shot.
Domacaron – https://yandex.com/maps/-/CCUG7YCJOB
Oh Domacaron… Hidden in plain sight somewhere close to Oka on the other (lower) side of the city, you stole my heart so much so that I know that I will be going out of my way and visit that part of the town just to enjoy your tasty pasta again and again. Domacaron is like Sowok, but just much better in every single manner. Extremely tasty and freshly made pasta meets very well-prepared sauces. There are more ingredients to choose from here, and more European as well as Asian combinations can be created compared to Sowok, which certainly tries to imitate Asian “tastes” more than anything else.
Serbskiy Grill – https://yandex.com/maps/-/CCU8rIai9C
I still cannot get the residual (and much welcome) taste of grilled food that I had in Serbia out of my mouth. They just know how to grill things properly there, and apparently, also here in Nizhniy Novgorod. This unassuming kiosk (which is named after Serbians but is mostly staffed by Uzbeks) almost hidden in a not so fabulous corner of the city has some of the best grilled meat in town whilst likely being the cheapest grill in the entire oblast. I honestly do not know how they manage it; vegetables are always fresh, meat is as juicy as it gets, and their sauce is to die for. Make sure to put this spot on your list, even if it means going a bit beyond your planned route and devouring the whole thing without even sitting down, as there are no seats in this fine but small establishment…
