The Russian Tea Room is the poodle skirt of fine dining.
The Russian Tea Room (RTR) is a Manhattan institution. No self respecting Manhattanite ought to end their New York days having never been there. It’s one of those things you have to do if only to check it off your NYC bucket list. And, if it disappoints you, it’s merely because you were foolish enough to have high expectations. One dines at the Russian Tea Room more to pay respect to its history than to eat the food. If the over 80 year legacy this establishment boasts doesn’t impress you then don’t go. Though tasty enough, I understand the food has failed to stand on its own since Warner LeRoy destroyed the place back in 1996.
Stepping into an over-the-top, deep red and gold sea of chandeliers and busily printed carpet, you can instantly imagine how the plush booths attracted an elite crowd for decades. It gets noisy, quickly. I watched a couple celebrate an anniversary with candles in their desserts and there were a few children at different tables making plenty of noise. I rarely see noisy children and candles in desserts at similarly priced restaurants. Some people would turn up their noses at these things and I understand why but I found it endearing and appreciate how this relic of a restaurant has settled into not taking itself too seriously.
OK, the food. I lunched with another dear sharer by the name of Jasmine. I ordered: borscht (of course!), hanger steak au poivre with celery root puree and brussels sprouts, and cheesecake. She ordered a goat cheese and mushroom blinchik, Chicken a la Czar, and the chocolate pyramid. The food was fine. Some of it was even good but if you expect it to blow you out of the water, you will be disappointed.
The borscht was, of course, one aspect that didn’t disappoint. It was packed with flavor. It’s admittedly counter intuitive to have a bowl of hot soup on a 90+ degree, humid NYC afternoon but it’s the Russian Tea Room! There’s air conditioning! Have the borscht!
I normally wouldn’t order a hanger steak au poivre at a Russian restaurant but here’s the thing with sharing: while it means you get to try double the number of dishes, it also means you need to order by consensus. I probably would have ordered the almond crusted striped bass with orange ginger buerre blanc and saffron jasmine rice plov (pilaf) but my partner in crime isn’t a fish fan and “settling” for a hanger steak au poivre with celery root puree and brussels sprouts doesn’t suck at all. And it absolutely did not suck. It was a nice dish. Having said that, it’s worth noting that whenever I order steak in a restaurant and they ask how I’d like it cooked, I ask them what medium and medium rare means in their establishment. I like my steak pink on the inside but not at all raw. Some places call that medium rare and others call that medium. So I ask. The waitress, who was not my favorite aspect of our multi-person wait staff (all the other members were delightful), told me that at the RTR, medium is pink of the inside. She was incorrect. My hanger steak was cooked more than is my preference. That said, it was still a very tasty dish. But if you like your meat pink on the inside, at the RTR don’t listen to the waitress; you want it medium rare. I could have sent it back but it was perfectly enjoyable and I didn’t have enough time to be sending things back. I do actually have a job to which I ought to return after lunch on most days.
Jasmine’s chicken a la czar was fine but it didn’t impress me. I had a chicken dish for lunch at Telepan last week that knocked my socks off. I don’t normally order chicken at restaurants but this Telepan chicken dish rocked my world and had me rethinking my approach to menus. The RTR’s chicken a la czar reminded me of why I shunned the bird to begin with. It was a chicken breast served atop mashed potatoes with mushrooms, roasted peppers and a cream sauce. The breast itself was overcooked (picking up on a theme?) so the cream sauce felt like an overcompensation. I adore both roasted peppers and mushrooms in general but this dish just didn’t come together. Edible, for sure, but if you want a good chicken dish, go to Telepan.
Dessert. Let me just say that on the menu the cheesecake is described as being covered in chocolate curls and fresh berries. When it came out, it was an individual round cheesecake with 2 white chocolate shavings and one small blackberry on top. The berry sauce swirl underneath was actually stuck to the plate, giving one the distinct impression that this little dessert had been sitting around pre-plated in a fridge for a while. The actual cheesecake was not bad at all but between the way the description on the menu is embellished and the evidence of non-freshness, it’s tough to muster up enthusiasm.
The chocolate pyramid was equally average and struck me as equally non-fresh. There’s a gelatinous raspberry filling inside what is otherwise a genuinely decent tasting mouse-like chocolate dessert but the whole thing seems like something they brought in on a truck that morning and kept cool in bulk.This was the first time I’ve dined at a relatively expensive establishment and did not feel compelled to finish dessert. Jasmine and I finished half of each dessert between the two of us and then stopped. Yesterday at Aquavit, my superego screamed inside me that I absolutely may not lick my empty dessert plate no matter how badly I wanted to. Today at the Russian Tea Room, my id said “meh, it’s ok but not worth the calories.
Sidebar: Jasmine and I each had coffee with our dessert and Jazz was surprised when she saw the $8 charge on our bill. It’s worth remembering that restaurant week is a price reduction, usually a pretty drastic price reduction. Any departure from the restaurant week menu (even a cup of coffee) is going to be a departure from that price reduction. So if you’re enjoying fine dining on a budget (like I do), deviate from prix fixe options at your own risk.
Having said all that, I have no regrets. I had lunch at the Russian Tea Room. Check.
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