The walls are a picture gallery featuring the Tsars of old.
One of Bali’s most formal of settings suggests you are
about to explore new and different ground. Bali’s restaurant
with a difference has opened, experience a feast, a journey
of mystery!
On the site of the ill-fated Pala, Slavyanka shows virtually
no resemblance. Before this place was Modern International,
the new tenant is grand and old fashioned. It is elegant and
stylish with more than a touch of history.
Think Russian, and you immediately imagine lavish plates of
iced caviar with a stack of blinys on the side [thin Russian
pancakes]. It is not a surprise that it has already become
Slavyanka’s most popular entrée. The Caviar Table
is a selection of caviar from sturgeon, keta and salmon, with
those blinys, of course. Not cheap, but rare things always
cost.
Other cold entrees also include caviar; A Salad of Radish
and Hunchback Salmon with red caviar or Boyarka, just smoked
salmon with red caviar. Russian style Herrings are served
with onion and boiled potato. The Fish Table combines sturgeon,
halibut, eel and salmon. Roll your selection together in paper
thin pancakes. Other pancake combinations can be with sliced
salmon, and an unusual mixture literally translated as ‘French
Blame’, minced chicken and mushrooms in a wine sauce,
very tasty.
The Meat Table includes boiled pork, a meat roll, beef tongue
and a homemade sausage. Studen is a variety of different meats
[pork shin, chicken and beef] that have been simmered for
5 hours then left to set in its own jelly upon cooling down,
and then served with a sharp horseradish sauce. Marlin in
Jelly is from a similar process, but with fish.
Because of the incredibly cold conditions of the Russian winter,
under snow and ice for many months, fresh vegetables are often
salted to preserve them. The Salted Mushrooms are a good example
of this, combining different varieties in one dish. Padcherevok
is traditional food from The Ukraine, bacon and garlic is
salted, black pepper added. Another dish from the snow-bound
north is Shaved Venison, consisting of thin shavings of frozen
raw Venison which you pick up with your fingers and dip in
a salt & pepper mix before eating…most unusual,
but great with an icy cold voldka!
Hot entrees are also plentiful. The Pilgrim’s Bag is
a pastry pouch stuffed with a spicy mix of pork and onions.
You eat it with your hands whilst sipping from a cup of bouilion.
Boyarsky is one of the oldest Russian dishes, pork, potatoes
and other vegetables simmered in a claypot. Hearty food! The
Chicken Livers are prepared Hussar style. Perfectly trimmed
they are pan-fried with onion then re-cooked in a claypot
with red wine. You add the sour cream yourself. Don’t
miss out on this dish, it is very special! Another claypot
dish is from Georgia, the Chahokhbili of Slovyanka, with chicken
and potatoes.
Many hot entrees are cooked with sour cream, the Veal Tongue
with eggplant, Pike Perch fillets [imported] with onion and
the Chanterelle Mushrooms are just some of them.
Russians are just about as famous for their soups as for their
Caviar. Everyone knows about Borsh. At Slavyanka it is the
Ukrainian vegetable and meat version that combines meat, beetroot,
potatoes, cabbage and carrots, all cooked in a meat bouilion
of beef or pork. Less known is the Russian Solyanka, it has
beef and chicken as well as veal tongue, salted cucumbers
and olives. Whilst the winters are cold, the summers are hot
and Okroshka is a cold soup full of goodness; cucumber, radish,
potato, eggs and ham all combined with a secret Russian liquid,
Kvas. Very different, and a great way to start a Bali lunch.
Kulebyaka is another old traditional Russian snack. Either
a meat or fish version, it is a type of bread bun that has
been stuffed with pork or veal mince or fish and mushrooms,
either way a small bowl of bouilion, which you continually
sip from to reduce the dryness of the roll.
Pelmeny could be described as a Russian Tortellini, small
pockets, either fried or boiled, in a soup. Pelmeni Boyarskie
is at the top of the list, stuffed with minced venison. The
Siberian Pelmeni is stuffed with minced meat [beef, pork or
lamb] whilst the Siberian version [Starodumskie] uses salmon.
Whilst you could just keep on ordering different entrees and
snacks all night, there are many main courses to select from,
as well.
A Borodin’s Roll is a flat escalop of veal rolled around
mushrooms and onions, then baked in the oven. The Mushroom
Roll combines mushroom and bacon rolled in an escalop of pork.
The General’s Roll is chicken rolled around mushrooms.
The Shaslik is a traditional product of the Russian grill,
slabs of meat [usually pork but mutton for the Islamic areas]
with different spices, interspersed with vegetables. Each
region has its own variation. Many other meat and fish grills
are available with a variety of side dishes [potatoes done
different ways].
My all time favourite meat is Venison, and at Slavyanka it
is carefully presented with the mandatory cranberry sauce.
You select your potato side dish, the most traditional is
pan-fried with onion and salted cucumber or boiled with fried
bacon and onion.
Still hungry? A Russian dessert will finish you off nicely.
Pirozhky stuffed with cheese or cherries, Blinys topped with
a poppy seed jam, a Baked Apple with mint and honey and a
Cherry Sirniki, fresh cherries combined with cottage cheese
in a pancake.
Everything at Slavyanka is different, even your aperitifs
of Mors [cranberries boiled not crushed] and the super healthy
Honey Kvas. This is a most unusual and entertaining dining
experience, not to be missed.
QUICK REVIEW
Restaurant : Slavyanka
Address : Jln. By Pass Ngurah Rai 121xx,
Sanur.
Telephone : 283.835
Open : Lunch from 12.00, Dinner from 6.00, daily
Parking : Secure, off road.
Price : Rp. 460.000 for two [+ drinks]
Credit Cards : Visa, Mastercard
Food : Regional Russian
Wine : Medium list.
Service : Professional, helpful.
Atmosphere: The Tsars are watching you!
Overall : A step back in time
Reviews that appear in Bali Advertiser are based on actual
visits to the establishments listed, without the knowledge
of the restaurants, and are not paid for by the individual
restaurants.
Opinions expressed here are those of Gerry Williams and not
necessarily those of Bali Advertiser. Gerry Williams attempts
to write from a ‘typical’ diner’s perspective
and whilst quality of food is the most important criteria
overall, value for money is the real measuring stick.
