Nostalgie

If one accepts the fact that this is basically a dimly lit Russian bar with somewhat of a club feel which also serves desserts and espresso drinks, it is a pretty cool place. They have karaōke nights, sometimes DJs. The raspberry cake I tried was out of this world (a truly superb dessert) and my Irish coffee was awesome too. All other customers looked Russian, Russian music was playing, bartender/​waitress was Russian; they kinda looked at me curiously wondering what I was doing there, but I like the place it has a nice ambience that reminds me of some bars I went to in Russia when I visited. Sign out front says there are crepes but when I went in the evening there were just desserts, not sure if they have crepes earlier in the day or not.

I ate fried veal brains here.
It has a tofu-​like consistency. It was OK. I was kinda hoping that I’d absorb the memories and powers of the animal by consuming its brain but I was let down. I probably would not order it again because the items that other people had at the table looked better (the pierogies and a fried fish dish of some sort stuck out).
That being said, the marinated carrots, veggies, and mashed potato side were really good.
I’d also like to take a moment to give props to the insanely over-​the-​top drink descriptions on their cocktail menu. For example the «Heaven» cocktail description offered no information on the makeup of the drink but a message more akin to «Why wait for salvation from God when this drink can provide it?» — I don’t remember the exact phrasing but it probably is even more absurd than my poor attempt to remember what it was.
I find it humorous that club laser lights danced around us during dinner. That was entertaining.
The service was really nice and the crowd was friendly. I wouldn’t mind returning.
On the action-​movie-​parallel-​satisfaction-​scale, this establishment is The Mummy Returns.

Have to agree with Zanna H, this place is creepy. There always seems to be a dude standing outside it at night on a phone or smoking a cigarette or something. They have colored lights strobing around in the back with the bar and the Russian music, then in front there’s like a little café but they’re totally joined so it creates this really weird non-​meshy duo-​atmosphere. I think in this case, an iron curtain could have come in handy.

Ok well this is slowly turning from a nice café that was sorely needed in the far Northeast which had a nice selection of desserts & coffee to a Russian bar. They now serve alochol and have a selection of beer. Which is not a bad thing but with the inclusion of flat screens showing constant Russian music videos and a small stage dance area for live performaces of Russian music it is sad to no longer have a nice evening destination where you could go out later at night to have a great cup of coffee and chat. Now the background noise is threatening to destroy the nice Euro-​café feel. Oh well. I think I saw a new café opening at Welsh & Bustleton.

Tucked into one of the many blue collar strip malls in the wildly Russian section of the Northeast, this European style café and gelateria is a nice place to sneak off for a chat with a friend, or to drop for in for something sweet after lunch at one of those many Russian restaurants in the area.
Try a gelato. They generally only carry the basic flavors, but outrageous choices count for little if the product isn’t good– and this product is good. Amaretto is my personal favorite.
Also, this is the only place in the Bustleton-​area of the Northeast (as far as I know) where you can get crepes. They’re good, too.