The first was nearly bare; the second was dressed in layers. You can think of pelmeni as Russian-style ravioli, a name sometimes applied to this restaurant by English speakers, since "Stolovaya" — "canteen" or "dining room" — is printed only in Cyrillic characters. These bite-sized dumplings, for this batch filled with minced veal (25 for $4.95), were boiled and adorned with just a little butter; sour cream and clear vinegar were also at hand.
Arriving at our table moments later was a herring salad ($6.95) of boned skinned fish bedecked in beet, onion, mayonnaise, and egg, a presentation called "selyodka pod shuboy." A poetic translation would be "herring in a fur coat," or, perhaps by a poet of lower aspirations, "an overcoat." It's a heavy dish, and photographed to a smaller scale than the pelmeni; you can guess which one provided the leftovers.
Stolovaya (a.k.a. Russian Style Ravioli)
813 Ave. U (East 8th-East 9th Sts.), Homecrest, Brooklyn
718-787-0120
