Mari Vanna

Had lunch on a Sunday. Everything was excellent, and really cool decor.

Came here for dinner on a weekday. The place was not super busy but I think reservations are better to be made or else you will be eating under a time constraint. Decor is super typical Russian, straight to USSR time. The waiters and waitresses all dressed to the place, and the dinnerware were all in same style. My friend said the menu has a bit more Ukrainian influences but I have no reference. We ordered majorly appetizers. Cherry Vareniki: the cherry dumplings perfectly made as my Russian reference friend said. Each dumpling contains a piece of cherry, mostly sweet and some are tart. The fruity fillings are enclosed with a slippery dumpling sheet and you eat it with the paired sour cream. With the popping of the cherry inside, you get the tartness and the sweetness and the creaminess blended with the smooth texture of dumpling. Borscht: the beet soup with beef cheek. The beef is tender and stringy, and the soup of full of aroma from the beet. When you melt the sour cream inside the borscht, the cream makes the soup less tangy and more harmonic to my palate. I soaked my rye bread (one of the healthiest bread in my opinion, so healthy that it is so heavy to eat) in the borscht to help breaking down some rye and added some moisture. The bread doesn’t absorb so much borscht flavor but it is a great combo. Herring under the fur coat: one of the favorite things to eat now. I hate herring before because when not cooked properly, the herrings can be super oily and fishy. But the carrots and the beets balance well with the herring and with the creamy potato and mayo and egg. Instead of getting the fishy flavor, you get umami from the fish: I can eat this all day. Blinis with beef: if I know crepes were this good when paired with meat I should do it sonner. The blinis were folded perfectly into squares with lots and lots of beef. The texture is almost cheesy, so creamy and meaty and indulging. The blinis itself was buttery and smooth, and when I topped with sour cream, it added a bit of tangy. The leaves paired on top were bitter, helped to cut down the over saturation of the fat heaven I am in. Potatoes with mushroom and onion: nothing can go wrong with caramelized onions and butter sautéed mushroom and potatoes (previously roasted I think). We ordered this because my friend was vegetarian but this classic dish was way better than expected. The garlic, dill, butter, and salt really came through. I especially dig the onions. Didn’t get to try their beef stroganoff and napoleon cake but I am sure I will be back soon sometime. So far no dish has failed me yet.

Fantastic, best eastern European food I've had as someone who has been to eastern Europe. Artichoke salad, borscht, potato dumplings, lamb shank, napolyeon cake Cocktails and shots were on point too

Selten ein Restaurant mit so viel Liebe zum Detail gesehen! Musik TOP! Service TOP! Essen TOP!

Great place! Food was tasty and we really enjoyed the ambiance!

Overpriced & mediocre

Mari Vanna is one of the best places I had ever went to for a Russian food. I’ve got Duck, Borscht, Khinkali and some drinks. Khinkali didn’t impressed me( I generally don’t like it) but all the rest was delicious. Highly recommend! Left 4⭐️only because we were waiting for a check a bit of time.

Still perfection