SimSim cafe

Such a lovely atmosphere and the food brings us back home to europe, staff is amaizing, definetly worth trying

My brother his wife and I came for some good local Uzbek food and here’s how it all went down:
Let’s start with the good:

The only thing that comes to mind was the décor. It’s a classic Uzbek style and seems nice and cozy inside. Also the potatoes and mushrooms seemed good and properly seasoned and cooked.
But that’s where it all ends for this restaurant.
The not so good or dreadful:

The waitress was semi nice and hospitable in the beginning but then dropped her demenour dramatically to a point where she didn’t even say thank you or good bye after we paid.
We ordered a «Greek» salad with feta cheese and they bring out the cheese on the side making us put it on the salad ourselves. Hmm fine I’ll let that go as a hiccup but when I come to a hospitality place and pay money I except service for my money.
Next came the «samsa» which is meat stuffed in a pastry like dough. First of all they didn’t bring it out with the special red sauce like it has to be served and second the dough raw on the inside. Not very pleasant to bite into a chewy raw piece of dough.
A side note, we were asked if would like bread with our dinner and sure we agreed but then noticed we were charged $ 2.00 extra. We aren’t cheap people and have spent $ 2−3k on dinner at one sitting at some of the most famous restaurants in the world, but if you are going to offer something and charge for it you BETTER inform your customers about it. I have never been charged for bread at a restaurant ever! That’s a very sneaky nasty greedy and unethical way of doing business. That wasn’t very nice.
Now come the entrees… my brother and I ordered the lamb kabob and his wife ordered the rib eye steak.
Let’s start with the steak… it was a flat piece of the lowest quality meats you would find in a low end supermarket for $ 4. They charged $ 21 for it. Hmm the flavor was.:wait what flavor? It was tasteless and bland. Definitely needed salt and pepper and a chefs love and soul.
Here comes the reason I am writing this review to begin with… ready for this one?! Call the health department they might enjoy this also… the lamb kabob both my brother and I ordered was spoiled! Smelled and tasted like sour meat laying in the fridge for about 2 – 3 days over its prime. When we were ordering we wanted chicken but the waitress mentioned the chicken wasn’t fresh and we should get the lamb instead. That should have set alarms off right away. Why would you mention something isn’t fresh at a restaurant? Just say you don’t have it in today. But I think this was done on purpose. The lamb was actually not fresh and the waitress was told to say the chicken wasn’t fresh so they can sell the lamb quicker instead of throwing it out. If that’s the case this place needs to be closed down immediately. Besides a huge health concern they are also committing fraud. I am not saying that’s what’s happening but it sure seemed that way after we tasted the lamb and put two and two together. We didn’t mention anything to the waitress because we wanted to leave the place as quickly as possible.
Definitely will not come back here again and will not recommend anyone do as well if they care about what they eat and how they spend their money.
By the way here are some of my credentials on why my review should be taken very seriously:
Graduated the world renowned Culinary Institute of America with a degree in culinary arts and hospitality management.
Owned and managed a multi million dollar bakery business.
Traveled the world exploring hundreds of restaurants and different foods of different cultures.
I hope this review helps educate the public about this place and maybe even educate the owner of how his establishment needs to change or it will fail very quickly.

Food is mediocre at best and expensive for what it is. At 3.50 a piece the chebureki should have been the best I had in my life not an dry bland immitation of the real thing. To add insult to injury it came with a souce that looked and tasted like hunts tomatoe paste.

Great food and great service, and also nice atmosphere!
We ordered plov with lamb, lamb leg with mashed potatoes, manty and salad with radish and beef tongue. Everything was delicious!

This restaurant recently changed name to Sim Sim, which is the one I visited. The service was welcoming and attentive. Food unspectacular. Kebabs had too much fat on them for my taste. Some of the appetizers left us regretting ordering them. Overall, I would eat here again if I was in the area and needed a quick place to eat, but would stop short of recommending it.

Awsum fud, wanted to try something out of the box which Hav not tried before, exceptionally Gud.

Quality of the food has dropped, not sure if they changed chefs, but there is a very noticable decline. Lamb and pork shish kebobs arent tender, overly dry and lack flavor. Pan fries potatoes were oil soaked and bitter tasting. Salad vegetables lacked flavor. Napoleon cake tasted sour (not spoiled, but wrong ingredient was used) on several occasions, however the last time it tasted better.
We tried to come back 3 separate times this year, and were always dissapointed with the food.
Common guys, quality food is #1 priority of any self respecting restaranteur and customer.

went there around 6 on a friday night, for a quick dinner.
There was one other table other than us, and there were only 2 people in my party,
and it took foreveeeer.
the waiter took forever to initially come over, and the food took so long.
Food is pretty good.

Great food, the place could be a little loud sometimes but def need to try more of the menu.

STAY AWAY far far away! Sorry Babushka is a SORRY excuse for a restaurant! I can’t even comment on the food because I didn’t stay long enough to try any of it because I was horrified by the service! It’s a «stalovaya dlya zverie» translated from Russian it’s a «lunchroom for animals». The waiter was nasty and rude when I asked to be poured a glass of wine in a very nice and polite fashion and when I asked to speak with the manager he was even worse then the waiter! I left without even ordering food! If I want some waiter to make fun of me I will go to Dicks at least there I know what I am getting myself into!

I stopped in for lunch today and must say that Sorry Babushka def has some of the best Russian food (I’ve eaten at a few places in Brighton Beach, Taras Bulba in Soho — ok more Ukrainian, and in Moscow).
I ordered:
Borscht — AMAZING — ok there was legit beetroot in the soup, so this was not schi… With the obligatory sour cream on the side)!
Eggplant salad — AMAZING!!! So fresh.
Compot — so legit!
Hachapuri — just OK. Sure that there are better options elsewhere.
Service was awesome too. No BS, just real.
I miss the food already… Def taking my friends out here if we hit up SI.

Loved the veal dumplings and the compote was very refreshing. For the entrée I had the lamb kebabs and they were honestly one of the best I ever had. Tender and super fresh and the dipping sauce was a great compliment. Looking forward to coming back

Of course it had great food. But what interesting was — the menu in Russian is very entertaining.

SORRY, BABUSHKA, 3.5 stars
A casual small restaurant, with a non-​descript façade, which serves familiar home-​y Russian food: the typical appetizers of smoked fish and cold meats platters, herring with onions, eggplant salad, a new spin on a spinach salad paired with thick tomatoes & mozzarella balls, and, of course, the staple of marinated vegetables. For the hot appetizers we had «pirozhki» stuffed with meat [flaky dough pastries], and pelmeni [mini boiled pierogies or ravioli] with a side of sour cream; followed by the main course of the grilled meats and home-​fried potatoes with mushrooms. Must say the grilled chicken was juicy and succulent, the lamb skewer was very tasty and moist, and did not require any sauce, as the flavors were simply fantastic. I am sure everyone can find something appealing off the menu.
The gathering we attended had over 25 people, so we actually occupied most of the floor space. Max capacity appears to be about 50 guests. But it’s a perfect place for a casual lunch or dinner with friends, or a week-​night family meal. It is BYOB, which is always a great money-​saver. The service was quite efficient, though without smiles.

This place proves once and for all that the US propaganda I grew up with about Russian food was way off base! I love my fancy Russian places like Samovar in Midtown West but if this is «humble home cooking» then it’s settled that Russians know their food.
First of all, I always get the kompot, I’ve read it is a dessert beverage and have had some very sticky sweet versions in other places but I tried it here on the waitress’s suggestion and it is light and refreshing and pairs perfectly with everything I’ve had.
Always take the staff’s suggestions, in any Russian place, but especially here tell them what you tend to like if you’re fussy but in my experience a Russian menu is a general guide to what’s possible, at best. What’s possible here is lot — standards and specialty dishes from several Russian and some Soviet regions but again, get what they’re making when you visit.
My favorite dish here is the «uha» (mixed fish soup). So far, it’s only been available on one several visits but I’ll never forget it. Like the mixed smoked meats and bean soup it’s based on a home made stock with a subtle but memorable balance of straightforward spice including a remarkably fresh and flavorful dill (home grown?). I highly recommend the hachapuri (Georgian cheese pastry), the“Odessa style” Eggplant salad (really a spread), lamb leg and schnitzel with egg.
If you think you know pierogies and dumplings — think again and try SB’s pelmeni’s. Best if you go with a group and try each variety.
The atmosphere is great even though some days the american pop music is a little loud and they don’t change the loop often enough. The staff is friendly and attentive, reserved while you relish the meal and on cue when you need them even though you wouldn’t know they were watching you.

This is a very clean and delicious Russian restaurant. There used to be a different owner a while ago but I can honestly say the food tastes a lot better under the new management. The food is almost exactly like the food my grandma would cook which is a very big plus. If there’s anything I enjoy the most, it’s homemade food, or anything that tastes like it, and the food here hits the spot.
I would give it a full 5 stars but i wasn’t too pleased with the venue, if they made it a little more cozier and added booths or comfortable seats i would’ve probably enjoyed it a lot more, otherwise it is a very good place, worth the while.

After two trips to this place I can honestly says that it’s good enough to get a positive review with 4 stars. What really improved my opinion of this restaurant is the quality of the food improved. I ate same dishes twice and second time around it was much better. They need to improve on their staff and make place cozier inside and then they can get a full 5.

Very pleasant, cozy place. There aren’t enough small Russian/​eastern European/​Central Asian cuisine centered cafes around. This place has a comfortable interior, good service and good sized menu with reasonably priced items. All the waitresses speak English fluently, and it’s not just for Russians anymore.
Unlike most of the Russian places that have nasty uptight wait staff (this is coming from a Russian, I can’t imagine how other might describe them *cring*) this place is welcoming. There was even a table with English speaking patrons enjoying the food. This place is something new for Russian cuisine. Very few places exist that have both an upscale feel with casual food in the Russian community.
So what to get:
The schnitzel. (which is made of minced meat and fried and served with. Fried egg on top) this is the way we Russians do it, don’t know why, but we do.
The kavkaz style pelmeni
The blackberry vareniki
Hachipuri
Braised shorts ribs with spicy Russian mustard

I heard much commotion about this new place, and you know what, it wasnt a let down. The name is true to form. It’s like all the awesome food my little babushka makes, but in a sit down trendy looking café. Also for when I don’t want to smell my house up with fried, garlic and onion and have pots and pans to wash, this will be my go to place. It taste like home, and the prices are really good too. They have a little bit from every part of the former soviet union, but for simplicity let’s just call it Russian food.
The kurza was very tasty. (Azerbaijani pelmeni)
The baked samsi (Uzbek turnovers I guess) something like Indian samosas with lamb.
–yeah Russian food is confusing ;) but oh so good. I guess the only plus to communism lol–
The schnitzel was really good. It’s not what you expect, it’s made of ground meat and served with an egg over easy. Try it you won regret it.
Also, the waitresses were nice. The other reviewer mentioned an unfortunate fact I. The Russian communiy (rude and nasty waiters) this place had none.
I really liked, and usually I’m a babushkas home food kinda gal.