Finding Kvass & Eastern Euro foods in NJ/NY area
A friend of mine traveled to Russia and was telling me about the foods over there including kvass - a drink made from rye bread and very lightly fermented (less than beer). She liked it, much to my surprise after hearing the description (I'm intrigued now!) I'd love to find kvass and other Russian foods here for her, but don't have a clue where to start - I can't find any Russian or Eastern European foodstores in the area...and I already searched the internet for NY/NJ areas. Can anyone help?
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10 Comments:
brighton beach, brooklyn -- tons of russian specialty markets.... spectacular! eastern european - there are lots of polish markets in greenpoint, brooklyn -- or ridgewood, (border of bklyn/queens) ....
pooch at 8:58AM on 11/03/09
In NJ there are a lot of Polish markets in Wallington and Garfield
VerasTastyFreeze at 9:06AM on 11/03/09
I grew up in Russia and loved kvass...haven't had it in 16 years...sigh.
Next time I'm in NYC, a trip to Brighton Beach will defintiely be in order.
I've also heard great things about food in Veselka restaurant.
orchidgirl at 9:15AM on 11/03/09
brighton beach, kensington, midwood, all in brooklyn (easy to get to via subway). large russian communities with great markets.
cg_ups at 9:33AM on 11/03/09
There's a great russian deli in central, NJ in Marlboro called Arbat Deli that has Kvass and lots of other russian delicatessens. Also a few doors down theres an amazing russian restaurant called Russian Dream.
HolisticHealthFoodie at 2:19PM on 11/03/09
Brighton Beach is definitely your best bet - the easiest one stop shop for Russian food, both freshly made and packaged, is International Foods. If you want a sit down restaurant - cheap, hearty, total opposite of the trendy crowds of Veselka these days - try Cafe Glechik (also B. Beach).
avocadoaz at 11:31AM on 11/04/09
Ditto what everyone else said: Brighton Beach. Lots of markets there, although the only one I've been to is M&I International Foods (some photos here), which I keep going to because I LOVE THEIR CARROT CAKE.
Robyn Lee at 2:19PM on 11/04/09
I'm always on the look out for Bulgarian products and Astoria, Queens is a gold mine. There are tons of stores there that focus on Eastern Europe, including Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia. I usually manage to stumble upon the smaller ones with the giant buckets of feta, but Titan Foods (http://www.titanfood.com) is a great Greek supermarket and a one-stop shopping destination for me. There are a couple places in NJ you can go to and www.findbgfood.com is a helpful directory. Good luck!
syannelevovna at 11:41PM on 11/08/09
Some of the Brighton stores still carry Troika Kvass... it's all natural, with a delightful raisin twist!
It's tough for me to get down there, though - anyone know of places to buy Russian grecha (straight brown kasha), kvass or Baltika closer to lower Manhattan?
James Boo at 10:37PM on 11/11/09
you can find grecha (buckwheat) in regular supermarkets in the international aisle usually....i'd assume food emporium and stuff has it. i know i've seen it at whole foods.
korovka at 4:28AM on 11/12/09