M & I International Foods

NOOOOOOOOO! Please don’t tell me that this place is closed!!! I have had many wonderful memories of getting food at this spectacular place. What the hell am I going to do now???

I haven’t been here in a while… please someone tell me they haven’t closed. It seems impossible since they were likely one of the most successful business at Brighton (everyone and anyone knew to go there).

I’m extremely sad and disappointed that this Brighton Beach staple has closed its doors for good. I used to come here all the time with my parents and family members to shop for food to bring back home to Long Island. We used to have a tradition when me and my brother were little, we would go shop in Brighton every Thursday with our mom, and this was always one of the stops. We knew a lot of the people that worked there, and my family is familiar with the owners. This is truly a time of despair. It feels like a piece of my childhood has been ripped out of me.

It’s very unfortunate if this place is closed. I haven’t been by in a few months but I used to come here fairly regularly to pick up just about every type of grocery. They also have a large salad and lunch bar if you’re interested. They had a tremendous selection of cheeses and hundreds of different pastries, as well as most basic grocery items.
One unfortunate, though inevitable result of progress has been that the Mok and Vatrushka pastries have suffered a precipitous drop in poppy/​cheese filling while accompanied by an increase in price. In fairness though, this has happened over all of Brighton Beach. It also helps to be a Russian speaker but you can get by with English if all you are doing is buying something simple.
On a side note, I used to know a lady who worked on the 2^nd floor (two huge floors of food!) as a neighbor and she was the sweetest lady you could come across. We didn’t speak the same language but she was always smiling and so helpful.

I’m really sad, it seems this place Closed!
I went past there today and all the chairs and furniture were on the curb, out for the garbage men to collect. I looked through the windows, the lights were off, the place was completely empty and deserted.
This makes me sad. I really loved this place, I had been coming here with my family since I was a little girl.

Oh my gosh! What happened? M&I looked scantier than the last time I visited… and this saddened me. First of all, the upstair café is closed. Don’t know why, but it was roped off. And I felt that there were less nonperishable products available on display. The layer is still the same, got the raw meats on the right, the bread station in the center, the fish on the left, sugar attack opposite the bread and a sitdown prepared food area in the back. But still, I felt something was ‘missing’. Perhaps there are now more business competition in the vicinity that took away some of the customers? Or perhaps M&I didn’t bake any carrot cakes that I’ve heard was a destination-​warranted item to get here? (Yes, extremely disappointed, so I bought a walnut/​raisin strudel at another store). However (of course, there’s always one), I was not going to leave empty-​handed now that I’ve traveled all the way from Manhattan, so I got a grilled fish from the back café. At $ 4.99/lb, this skinny little fish only costed me $ 2.00. Not bad to bring as souvenir for my mom. The ladies there were patient and answered all my questions, even though some of the older ones might not demonstrate comprehensive English language. I enjoy hanging out at ethnic shops very much and hopefully, the next time I return, the carrot cake would grace the showcase again and the upstair café would be open to the public.

Far under the radar of the Food Network and certain pretentious New Yorkers is M & I International.
Just a short walk from Coney Island in the shadow of the B/​Q line is M & I International Foods, a place with zero ambiance and excellent Russian food. Counters and open refrigerators encircle the place filled with fish, soups, sausage, meats, vegetable dishes, drinks, and desserts. Much of it I’ve never seen before, maybe you too, so you’ll have to just strike up a conversation and ask if you are not sure. All of the women speak English and are glad to help. Worse case, it’s trial and error eating and you’ll only be out a few dollars because nothing costs that much.
There are foods that I’ve never had before, like… pickled watermelon. Not something that I would have thought of pickling, but on a hot day it’s excellent. Got some to go. And some beet salad. Had something to drink that involved yeast and raisins. Never bothered to ask what was, and it was just OK. Then there is dessert. You are going to try some honey cake before you go, right? Just get a small piece and do your part to keep bees busy. Several of us wondered in here a few years ago and are still talking about the honey cake.

I am writing this review so I can quickly remember this place and the food. Because it was off the chains YO!!! I know there is more Russian food other than Borshk. But its one food that I can compare with a little objectivity. And this place had the best Borshk I’ve ever ever ever had. Of the CHAINS!!! amazing.
They have all kinds of prepared food in the back. And a little seating area. ANd I’m a black guy and my girlfriend is Chinese. So the ladies behind the counter were very nice. Well as far as NY goes. Because you have to be pushy to get your order in and you have to know exactly what you want. But thats just NY. You aren’t supposed to chat up the ladies behind the deli. Just pull your money out and start pointing. Right.
The only drawback is this place didn’t have a bathroom. And after riding on the A train all the way from Washington Heights. After lapping down a big bowl of soup. A fellow and his little Chinese girl could use a segment of refreshment. You know what I mean?
OK great place. Really awsome food. Its like walking into a beautiful vortex that takes you to a culinaray and cultural delight. Hope to vist there again soon.

awesome Russian deli and store quite close to subway station, this is the real deal and a cheap place to eat wholesome, fresh food made from scratch. Stuff they sell at the deli looks just like what I saw at stores when visiting Russia. Tried the beef pierogie and a dish made of shredded cabbage, grilled mushrooms, and kidney beans with some of that delicious Georgian mineral water — great. if you want to eat in, this is an informal order at the counter place. If you look even vaguely like you could be from one of the former Soviet republics, as I do evidently, expect the people at the counter to address you in Russian and then to look somewhat annoyed or perplexed if they need to switch to English. when I responded with my 2^nd grade level Russian, I got the annoyed look and a switch to English with some communication difficulties. Most of the customers speak Russian, no surprise since most of Brighton Beach speaks Russian. only a block from the boardwalk so if weather is nice you can take your food to go and enjoy it out on the boardwalk, as I did. I saw they have a huge variety of yummy looking Russian pastries, all those great things like pickled tomatoes, and then a full Russian grocery selection, meats, and fish and such. I am quite familiar with the Russian neighborhoods of San Francisco and Denver and this place is much bigger and has a much more extensive selection of deli products than places I have seen in those cities in addition to the good pastry selection and all the groceries, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the largest Russian deli in the U.S.A. (unless there is some other really fantastic Russian deli place I don’t know of in another town with a large Russian community like Miami Beach or Atlanta?) ah, no restroom, this is probably the only factor preventing me from giving this wonderful establishment 5 stars. if you just took a long train ride from Manhattan and then ate and drank and your bladder is sending your brain a lot of electrical signals, the public library nearby does have restrooms available…

Fact: Russian food consists of more than just borscht, pickled herring, and Beef Strogonoff.
There’s a few things that I love that are only available at Russian Specialty markets:
— Cheese salad: a rich cheesy spread that’s amazing on anything (it’s a balanced combination of cheese, garlic, and mayo).
— Fairy Tale cake: I might have to type in all caps to get my point across, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING DESSERT EVER. If I had to pick a birthday cake for every year for the rest of my life, it would be the Fairy Tale cake. The cake is made by reversing the usual ratio of cake to filling (imagine soufflé mixed with cake and topped by a chocolate glaze). The cake is sold by weight (go all out, no amount is too much).
— Salo: imagine bacon fatty goodness (it’s similar to lardo, but cured differently).
— They also have a prepared food section in the back — good luck not going overboard.

My brother-in-law’s car was starting to smell kinda bad, in the sort of bad way that only certain kinds of dead fish know how to smell. In fact the olfactory situation came about because there *was* an actual dead fish in the car. Sometimes keeping a smoked mackerel in the car just feels like the right thing to do. Maybe it was the way it maintained steady eye contact with us, eye to eye, from underneath the glass case at M & I International Foods, that made it seem like we had established a real bond with the creature. It’s just one of countless possible outcomes of a visit to M & I International, a Russian food market that’s an example of the sort of global culture that makes New York a city worth exploring forever.
We were less hesitant about sampling the various knish– flaky rolled dough filled with things like spinach, «meat,» hard-​boiled egg, and potato, as well as apple and cherry pastries. All were super tasty, even though we didn’t think to ask the staff to warm them up for us (which they seemed to gladly do for other orders). Browsing through a quirky collection of beers (including some in plastic 2-​liter soda-​style bottles labeled with giant numbers boasting of their ABV potency), we settled on the «Old Bobby,» a British-​style ale brewed in St. Petersburg featuring a boxer dog dressed in a classic military general’s uniform. Why not?
Back to the mackerel… the next morning we unwrapped it from its sheet of paper. My family stared and hovered over the scaly being like members of an ancient cult worshipping a naturalistic deity. Except that our modern-​day deity probably embodied modern-​day traits such as short attention spans and tangential thinking. Tangential thinking, which led to my pro-​Detroit rant to an unsuspecting stranger seated next to me on the airplane. «Based on our conversation,» she commented with certainty, «I think you’d really like Coney Island.» (The amusement park, not the Detroit-​style hot dog.) Which is roughly how we got to M & I, just one stray glance away from the Coney Island amusement park and (unjustly) not listed after «Statue of Liberty» in the guide to key tourist attractions.
The store was packed with other pleasant and unpleasant surprises, like fresh breads (especially rye), many types of sausage, Ukranian borscht, fish by the tin, women (not for sale) in green leopard-​spotted hats. Unless you grew up with it, I wouldn’t recommend eating the mackerel, whose true purpose is as a temporary toy, good for countless hours of amusement for the whole family. And I gave the bottle of Old Bobby to my Uncle Bob, who appeared to be completely offended by my offering– but that’s another story, one of thousands possible at M & I International.

Some of the other reviewers have pointed out some changes here. I agree, the place isn’t quite as epic as I remember from previous visits. But, it still has very well-​stocked meat and fish deli counters, with great prices.
Also, the ladies at the counters are always nice to me. Their accents can be hard to understand, but just point. They know what you want.

A huge store filled with lots of things I couldn’t pronounce! Picked up a kielbasa and some homemade pierogis for dinner. I have to say that it was the best kielbasa I’ve had, just the right amount of smokiness and meaty goodness. The pierogis were equally delicious, sauteed with golden onions, that I’m sure were made with lots of butter, but I don’t care they were great!
It’s an interesting store, the counter ladies weren’t all that friendly and their thick accents made it hard to figure out what things were, but I’m sure there is more tasty items other than just kielbasa and pierogis, maybe next time I can find out.

This place… is sad.
They’ll be gone soon, too. It’s inevitable. The streets were bustling, and there was only a few people in here. Something probably happened I don’t know about.

I can say that the people here are not so nice but he selection here makes up for it. Also i can say that if the same item can be had somewhere else I would get it from that other place. I am not a fan of cold receptions and stoic emotionless interaction. I dont hold it against them though because it is what it is, however it is not the best place for knowledge seeking if you are new to the Russian Deli game.
Needless to say they have a lot of Russian delicacies and seem to be more varied if not just because of capacity alone. The place is big and they give samples of most of the food.
I found the following very good.
Pickled watermelon.
Chicken Terrine
Beat Salad
Turkish bread

Welcome to the standard bearer of the Brighton Beach Russian markets! Here you will find an array of Russian foods, candies and an upstairs dining area conveniently placed near the bakery! Some of the employees speak English and while the service can be abrupt (especially when they are crowded on weekends), the food is fresh and the atmosphere on weekends is like the Moscow subway at rush hour!
The one downer is the bathrooms which are horrible… but in fairness I ranked Brighton Bazaar and Cherry Hill four stars without having inspected their bathrooms!

Fabulous selection of the Russian staples: cured pork meat, fat, sausage, cheese, smoked fish. Quite inexpensive too! Which was why I went all out and got half a pound of this and that and this and that… I was unstoppable! Goodness, this was my heaven.
Service? Well, there’s service. They give you your shit and you pay before moving on to the next counter. They’re very cut-​and-​dry here. Don’t stand around and bullshit with the counter-​people who aren’t really excited about small talks. Just please… refrain from chitchatting mode. There are people behind you.

Packed with Eastern European staples (Polish pickles, Bulgarian avjar, etc.) and of course the best of the Ukraine and Russian Republic, not to mention packed with people on weekends!
This place has everything, but the aisles are so narrow, it’s tough to navigate, so leave grandma at the café just inside, and take her shopping list into the store and indulge.
Upstairs, it’s housewares and sweets, below it’s prepared foods, canned, bottled, baked goods including breads and pastries, deli counters for fresh seafoods and meats and cheeses. The woman working the seafood counter is not to be missed– blonde, dark lipstick, dark sunglasses– she’s a character.
My Russian is not nearly as good as my Polish, but I got by alright. Most of the people working here speak English, but you might benefit from getting the «lay of the land» before you get in line at one of the counters.
The prices on many things are outstanding– Krakowska for $ 3.99 a pound? I’ll grab all I can carry, thank you!
Even if you’re not going to buy anything substantial, it’s worth a look inside and you could try one of the Tarragon sodas which you won’t find at your local bodega.
Best excuse to buy yourself an «old lady cart» if you don’t already have one, and they are indeed for sale here!

Wow, this has to be the mecca of Eastern European food! I came here as a field trip, and I have never seen so much Russian food in one spot. The desserts, of which we chose a few randoms, were good. I didn’t realize anything containing prune could be good, but it was! Huge selection of meat, bread, smoked fish, cured meats, prepared meals, desserts, etc. The ladies upstairs in the sweets area were a bit short, but otherwise I can’t imagine ever going anywhere else for this kind of thing.

Spaceba to my Russian friends:)
I believe in learning about different cultures among my friends and I also believe in sharing my own with them… today I spent some time here with my favorite Russian couple and they took me to M & I @_^
I was shopping in there like a little girl in a candy store! My friend told me she saw Andrew Simmern doing an episode of Bizarre Foods here! I got so excited that my eyes almost popped out of my sockets! ^_​^
They had a magnanimous display of cured meats, sausages, fish, and a large variety of cooked foods, salads, beers, drinks and deli foods! OMG! Russian food is awesome! #_​#
We tried a variety of candies, pastries and I bought a whole apple streudel looking pastry! YUM! And the best thing was that it was in Brighton beach where we took a stroll on the boardwalk before heading into the eclectic Russian neighborhood filled with wonderful foods!