i first visited this place late last year and have come back for more more times than i can remember.

their legendary service (or lack of) and attitude is what that has kept me away all the years. but... maybe i'm a simple dope, but this has been a surprise. i'm not to need pampering when i eat, so i dont care for service with a smile, how that smile would make my meal any better, i dont know; a laugh with spittle.... i understand, but a smile??

they give me what i want; serve fast enough; efficiently; clears my plate before too long; comes to me when i catch their attention (usually without problem); restaurant is well staffed i got "good" service even in a full house evening. i dont complain; and when they fill my iced water glass without being asked, i call it excellent service. the chef even grnated me a baked alaska once when the waitress told me it was sold out (at 200pm...). maybe its my handsome good looks, but with the chef neither looking gay nor still interested in tedious pursuits for lusts, i believe its their attitude.

THE FOOD:
just order the borsch and spend days daydreaming about it. not cheap but heck, value for money, i have to force myself to say. like the master in the mastercard adverts, brilliant food is priceless.

i ordered the beef straganoff on my first visit while my female tiger in tow ordered the beef shashlik. i could have asked for a divorce right away as i fell in love again, though i know the beef straganoff could hardly satisfy me for more than 10 mins... eat it in the same mouthful with a russian salad and i begin pondering the divorce with more zest.

the shashlik is ok, but the wife enjoys it but i doubt divorce was on her mind whilst eating so it probably isnt as good as the straganoff. i have tried one or 2 other items since, though decent to good/vgood, they cant compete with the straganoff. the prawn shashlik has proven to be better than it sounds too and their steaks better than many places.

i've not ordered anything other than the baked alaska. and i try not to order it too often to keep the female tiger, and myself, in our still grea...erm...decent body shapes.

AMBIENCE: old school la. nothing to shout about but cool enough if you're nostalgic.

VALUE: their food is not cheap. not great value for money i have to admit. thats my complaint about this place. but their borsch, and in my personal opinion the beef straganoff, is world best, still i can hardly pass them for their value fro money.

i dont rate service by the smiles, which i believe would be better served in airplanes, hotels and brothels (seriously, no insults meant to the nice people in the service industry). but by how fast they respond, how attentive they are, and how little they spit into your soup. so i give them the thumbs up. compared to those waiters/waitresses that pretend not to see you as you wave at them. i used to wait, so i know good waiters will always see a waving hand within their vision. give this a try!