Loosen Your Borscht Belt

As you might have guessed, AC and I are often seized with the bizarre notion of trying odd things in large quantities. Most recently, our twisted brains sent a disturbing message via our spinal cords to our mouths, telling them to ingest two types of borscht and two types of pierogies in a single afternoon. A full description of this gluttony can be found in my most recent DCist post. The highlights are as follows:

This copious ingestion of beet soup and dumplings took place at the only two locations in the DC area that purvey these Eastern European goodies: the Scandinavian/Polish Domku in Petworth and Russia House in Dupont Circle. Both dishes at both places were excellent, but for vastly different reasons.

The borscht at Domku was a magenta puree of lovely beets, topped with a dollop of sour cream and parsley.




The pierogies at Domku were just how we like them: doughy steamed purses filled to the absolute max with two different fillings. One had potato, farmer’s cheese, and small bits of bacon for a smoky creamy effect, and the other had a cabbage and mushroom hash.




We washed this all down with a flight of aquavits, which can be seen in this photo infusing in these nooks above the bar.




We tried caraway, vanilla and lemon, and black currant. We recommend the savories with the soup and pierogies. The fruitier ones tend to work well with the proprietary cocktails.

At Russia House, the borscht was brothy, with chunks of beet, carrot, and potato.




We were disappointed that the pierogies turned out to be more like piroshkis, which are baked pastry pockets with filling. In this case, they were filled with potato, and small pieces of smoked duck, achieving a smoky effect similar to the  potato and bacon combination at Domku.




We were also tempted here to try the house-infused vodka. The horsradish was powerful, but delicious. The cantaloupe, was full of fresh cantaloupe flavor that did not blend well with the vodka.

We also tried the Grilled Boar Sausage which was studded with tart cranberries, grilled with a nice char, and accompanied by a red cabbage salad. This was the standout dish at Russia House.




Domku Cafe
821 Upshur Street, N.W.
(202) 722-7475

The Russia House Restaurant & Lounge
1800 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
(202) 234-9433

—AK & AC