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Veselka

New York, New York, United States

Veselka is a Ukranian restaurant located in New York City. They serve "home style" authentic Ukranian food. They have been around for awhile now (more than 50 years) and are quite pleased about that. I was somewhat satisfied with the food we received, but thought it could have been better. Everything was good, but it wasn't quite as good as the food I had growing up. (but perhaps that's just me expecting things being one particular way)

Dress

Very casual

Cost

Quite affordable - almost all entrees where less than $15.

Items Ordered

Pierogi (choice of seven)

Handmade Ukranian style dumplings boiled or deep fried with sauteed onion. Six fillings to choose from or mix and match to make your own pierogi plate (Potato, sweet potato, cheese, spinach and cheese, meat, sauerkraut and mushroom)

We ordered 3 potato pierogi, 3 sweet potato, and one cheese & spinach. The potato pierogi were very good, although they didn't have any butter on them (like I'm used to having them). Still, the spice mix was just right, and they were quite good. The sweet potato was a bit odd, but still quite good. I haven't had sweet potato pierogi before, but I was glad I tried them.

Ukranian Meatballs

Made with fresh ground pork and beef, onion, mushroom, egg, spices, and oven roasted. Served with creamy mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and one side dish. Side dishes: Fresh vegetable du jour, coleslaw, beet salad, sauerkraut, fresh carrots, mixed green salad, cup of soup, real mashed potatoes, potato pancake, kasha (buckwheat groats), french fries, home fried potatoes, egg noodles.

I was somewhat disappointed in this dish. The meatballs were good, but not great. Whenever I have had these in the past, they are always a bit pan fried before being baked. These were not fried at all, and thus didn't have quite as much flavor.

The "fresh carrots" were also very disappointing - they were just baby carrots from a bag that had been steamed. They didn't have any flavor at all.

Meatless or Meat Stuffed Cabbage

Your choice of either meatless (mushrooms, onions and rice) or meat (ground beef & pork, onions, and rice) served with mushroom sauce or tomato sauce and any two side dishes

The meat stuffed cabbage was fairly good. I ordered it with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, and with the tomato sauce. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about this dish - everything was what I expected.

I thought it was funny that the potatoes were called "real" mashed potatoes, but I think that's because they were not made from a mix. They were nice and thick, but lacked much flavor. They didn't have any butter/cheese/gravy on them.

Individual banana cream pie

The banana cream pie was a pretty good dessert. The crust seemed to be made out of a cookie, which was difficult to cut or break, but the filling and the cream were both delicious. There was probably a bit more cream than there should have been (compared to the amount of banana), but it was still pretty good.

Blintzes with fresh fruit salad

Our award winning sweet cheese blintzes topped with fresh cut fruit salad

This dish was a crepe that had a sweet cheese in the middle. Although the cheese was sweet, it still had the slightly sour taste of cheese. I think it would have been better if there was a sweet jam on top to make it even sweeter (for a dessert). The small portion is pictured here.