A note on the words: basturma is air-dried cured beef, bliny are thin Russian pancakes used here to wrap marinated sockeye salmon, and griby v smetane is a dish of mushrooms stewed in cream baked in a pot under a bread crust. Borscht is a deep-red soup made with beets, and pirozhki are small savory pastries that can be baked or deep-fried. Beef stroganoff consists of sliced beef in a rich, savory sour-cream gravy, served here with saffron rice, and Russian tea is hot black tea enjoyed by spooning assorted fruit jams directly into the cup.
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Sungari Shinjuku Higashiguchi on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Hearing that something called Kabukicho Tower had opened in Shinjuku, I went to check it out, but it was incredibly crowded! Feeling that having a drink there would be tough, I searched for somewhere else and found a Russian restaurant nearby that I had wanted to visit for a while. Since it was only 17:00, just after opening, I figured it certainly wouldn’t be closed, so I went straight there in person. Apparently it has been around since 1957, making it a true long-established spot.
It was a little different from what I had imagined! But it definitely has that venerable, historic vibe. Opening the old wooden door reveals a narrow, rather steep flight of stairs! It almost felt like visiting some sort of Disneyland attraction. Then opening the basement door, you find a dimly lit, atmospheric restaurant that feels somewhat like being inside a cave.
When I asked, they told me that without a reservation, they only had a table available until 19:00… but that was completely fine with me, so I took it. Wow, they are seriously popular!
The Sungari course — 5,478 yen
The Peterburg course — 8,668 yen
Apparently the Sungari course is recommended for first-timers.
Come to think of it, 5,478 yen is quite reasonable. They said swapping the amuse-bouche appetizer for caviar would cost an extra 1,000 yen, so I chose the Sungari course with the amuse upgraded to caviar.
Now then, to start, I ordered a Russian? beer.
It is a Lithuanian beer, but brewed in Estonia — a bit geographically puzzling for a Japanese person! But with its gentle bitterness and crisp quality, it was very easy to drink, quite different from Japanese beer.
Here is the caviar amuse-bouche for an extra 1,000 yen.
Apparently the original dish was a small salad of house-made basturma (air-dried cured beef).
A bite-sized tartlet that you pop right into your mouth in one go.
A mousse-like base sits atop the crisp tart crust, crowned with ikura (salmon roe) and caviar. It might be the first time in ages I have eaten caviar. With a gentle, pleasant saltiness, it was delicious.
Just looking at the dish’s name, you would have no idea what it is, but it is a Russian-style marinated sockeye salmon wrapped in bliny pancakes.
Basically, marinated salmon, pickles, and onion wrapped in something like thin pancakes or crepe pastry. The sauce with its gentle tanginess was also very delicious!
Griby v smetane: mushrooms stewed in cream baked in a pot.
The dome covering the top is bread; the staff explained that you can either break it open and eat it like a pot pie, or pull it off, tear it into pieces, and eat it together with the stew.
Taking it off looks like this. The bread dome on top is shaped like a mushroom cap, and there are plenty more inside.
The famous beet stew: borscht.
With its gentle seasoning, it was so good! At this point, they let me choose whether I wanted the pirozhki baked or fried.
The one in front is fried, and the rest are baked.
The filling inside is delicious on its own, but eating them together with the borscht is superb.
For the final main course, they said you could choose between zharkoye iz telyatiny, golubtsy, or beef stroganoff.
The first two sounded completely foreign to me, but apparently they are veal loin roasted under a herbed breadcrumb crust, and Ukrainian-style stuffed cabbage rolls baked in tomato cream. Still not entirely sure what to make of them, I chose the beef stroganoff.
Beef stroganoff.
The slightly firm strips of beef paired with the rich, savory sauce were delicious.
For some reason saffron rice was included as well, so I ate it mixing together the rice, sauce, pickles, and beef.
Mm, refined and delicious!
Asked whether I wanted black tea or coffee, I chose tea, and out came Russian tea!
About three kinds of fruit jam were brought out, and they told me to add whichever ones I liked into the tea.
I see — this might be a bit more fun than just coffee!
So there you have it: a course so satisfying it made me think, “Wait, this was only 5,478 yen?” (though I did choose the +1,000 yen amuse!).
Familiar Russian classics come out, and indeed for someone visiting for the first time, ordering this course is probably a safe bet.
It feels rather rare to find a place where you can enjoy authentic-style Russian cuisine prepared with such care and gentle flavors! I would love to come back!
Sungari Shinjuku Higashiguchi (Russian / Seibu-Shinjuku Station, Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station, Shin-Okubo Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
