Cheburechnaya
“Got chebureki with mushroom for app, served hot and fluffy with righ amount of mushroom.”
“SAMCY w/potato- The potatoes inside were perfectly cooked, not mushy with a slight bite, and they had a buttery flavor.”
“1) We got the meat Chebureki, lulya, lamb ribs, beef skirt, green pilaf and green baklava.”
Cheburechnaya
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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In an attempt to step outside our narrow gastrointestinal boundaries, my husband and I made a visit to Cheburechnaya for dinner yesterday. Knowing near nothing about Eastern European cuisine (and, in fact, being barely able to pronounce the name of the restaurant), we came armed only with Yelp recommendations and an expectation-less appetite. Our meal began with an assortment of chebureki and samcy. Both are stuffed pastries, but the chebureki are flat like ravioli and fried, while the samcy are baked with a rounder and slightly thicker pastry.
The chebureki arrived with a promising patina of sizzling grease, delivered to our table mere seconds after its baptism through a deep fryer. The mushroom chebureki was filled with a savory blend of chopped mushrooms and a light sauce that miraculously didn't soften the crispy wrapper. The potato chebureki made the fat carb lady in me sing. Smooth, mashed potato-like filling in a deep-fried wrapper? Dumpling fans, meet your new best buddy.
The samcy were the next to arrive and we ordered two kinds of these as well. I'm usually not a fan of anything with pumpkin in it but something compelled me to order it this time and I was richly rewarded for the risk by the first bite. Shredded pumpkin is cooked with onion and a perfect medley of spices that cleverly drew the flavor of the pumpkin away from its usual sweet and dessert-like fate. Wrapped with a flaky pastry, this topped out as one of my surprise favorites of the night. Out of respect for my carnivorous husband, we also ordered what is called "samcy with ribS" on the menu, but it should really just be 'rib'. Singular. A large bone-in rib is wrapped with the same pastry, inviting one to simply approach it caveman style and hold it by one end like a drumstick while chewing on the other. In the end, that's just what my husband did. He gnawed at it unenthusiastically and shruggingly pronounced it "just okay".
"Just okay" could actually describe the rest of our meal. Lamb and salmon skewers ended the meal with far less pizzaz, both being just a touch too dry and rescued only by the flavor-saving grace of flame broiled char. We found ourselves recycling the hot sauce that came with our cheburekis and samcies by dousing it all over our skewers in an effort to coax just a little more flavor out of our entrees. While the vinegary, salsa-like sauce helped plenty, there were also bottles of ketchup, pepper-marinated vinegar, and the somewhat incongruous but ever-ubiquitous bottle of Sriracha sauce available.
Our multitudionous meal came out to about $17, helped largely by the inexpensiveness of our appetizers, each of which were only two bucks or less. Though we were clearly the foreigners in the mix, service was warm and prompt. To top it all off, it seems that Cheburechnya is one of few BYOB places in the area. We didn't take advantage of it this time, but since we've christened these chebureki as the perfect new drunk food, we may return with a few bottles in hand.
My boyfriend took me here on a date, which was much needed after a rough week at work for the both of us. We ordered a ton of things and were enticed by the authenticity of the restaurant and the staff working there. The manty (dumplings) were the first dish we started with and were so delicious. You absolutely must get them if you visit here. We had borscht, lamb kebabs, traditional pilaf, and the namesake cheburechnaya with meat. We also had baklava for dessert. The lamb and pilaf were okay – the meat in the pilaf was really greasy and fatty. But everything else was delicious, especially the baklava, which I was having for the first time, as per other Yelpers and my boyfriend's recommendation.
The service was okay. We were confused at first because we were approached by many different waitresses and kept denying we needed their help because we wanted to be loyal to the first waitress who had brought us our drinks. We wanted to order appetizers and keep ordering based on how hungry we felt throughout the meal, but they didn't seem to get that concept and it took them about 15 minutes to come back and take the rest of our order, after we had our appetizer delivered. The language barrier between us and the waitress was large, so that might have contributed to it, but overall I would absolutely recommend this place.
Amazingly affordable, interesting and delicious food. I highly recommend trying this place. Central Asian food is great and not widely available.
The pumpkin samcy, like a pumpkin ravioli but bigger and in pastry dough, was my favorite thing
The mushroom and potato chebureki were delicious! I would like to try the other chebureki if I go back
The monty were excellent lamb filled dumplings
The Fresh Salad was great and totally worth ordering, had lots of fresh vegetables including avocado
I would suggest getting both the sea bass and the lamb kebabs.
The Baltika 9 beer was ok, interesting to try Russian beer but nothing special
The green pilaf was the least exciting part of the meal
The baklava was an excellent dessert!
Overall, this is a good sit down place, not far from the train with reasonably attentive service. There was no water brought to our table even though we asked. I would strongly endorse this place
When it comes to restaurants, I try to do my best to not judge a book by its cover. You develop this mindset after living in Queens for years. You learn that the exterior may seem simple and basic (sometimes even dirty), but after giving some of them a chance, you can be rewarded with a memorable experience.
That mindset led me to Cheburechnaya. Cheb is clearly exposed in the middle of 63rd drive Rego Park, Queens. It's located mid-way between my apt and the 63rd drive train station on Queens Blvd. Walking home, I often noticed that it was always packed with Russian families, young and old, right around 5 pm (and around 11 a.m. on weekends).
When my girlfriend came to visit me one weekend, I decided to pull out some of my mental bookmarks and try something new. So we gave this place a chance since neither of us had Russian before. I ate, came back again, and again and again…over a period of 3 weeks. I went home and did more research on Russian food on Google and Youtube, so I can come back to try new dishes. The food here was truly that delicious and authentic. Whenever I think about places like these in NYC, it saddens me that such eclectic options are no longer so easily accessible.
At first glance, the soup, salads and entrees all look very simple. When you starting eating it though, you can taste all off the creativity and uniqueness in each and every dish. The soups are hearty, healthy and delicious. Any of the Samcys are worth a try. The meat are so flavorful and fresh. I've had a lot of lamb in my years, but what I had here was definitely special.
And on a side note, they don't seem to get offended when you ask them for hot sauce or Sriracha on the side. Sorry, but I need to have that with almost everything.
WAY OVER PRICED. They gip you on the food amount when you make a big order. Lagman soup is good. Loom for other places they are out there.
I like their kebabs a lot, which are very juicy, tasty, and tender. The garden salad is also great, with interesting flavor combination of parsley and scallions. And don't forget to order a bowl of lagman soup! However, they don't serve free water, and don't speak English well.
Cheburechnaya is the reason why I both love and am proud to be a New Yorker. Growing up eating this type of food, I can honestly say it's the epitome of what it means to be considered "authentic."
Yes, on the outside and on the inside it may not seem like much, perhaps even one step below diner, but the food is far from mediocre. See, you can't judge a book by its cover! It's as if there's a Bukharian grandma cooking up a storm in the kitchen because the second you walk in it smells like home.
My parents have been coming here for years and know exactly what to get so my mom took control of the order, with some of my input, of course. We ordered the manty (lamb dumplings), Cheburechnaya salad, pilaff (or plov, for those more familiar with that term), veal liver, grilled onion, french fries with mushrooms, green baklava, a pot of tea, and Chersi (tarragon flavored soda). Food coma, anyone?
Manty are massive and the lamb they're filled with isn't ground but rather in chunks. Dip them in the sauce, or not, either way, they're great. The salad is huge and really refreshing, especially when you're eating such a meaty meal. Pilaff was very good as well, tastes just like the kind my relatives make so you know this stuff's legit. Fries with mushrooms: salty, shroomy, and piled with fried onions. The liver itself is decent, but when you order it with the onions you have a perfect pairing. Green baklava is not your typical baklava and isn't drenched in honey like you'd expect. Yes, theres honey, but it isn't overbearing or overly sweet, but rather much nuttier from the pistachios.
The food is dirt cheap and you can bring your own wine. When my parents come here they leave with the whole dinner costing them less than $25! It's also great that you order meat by the skewer so order a variety and share it all! The skewers aren't the kind you'd see in any restaurant though, they're the real thing; the kind that look like medieval weapons.
You know a restaurant is good when it's early (5pm) and the place is already starting to fill up. Good grub leaving your stomach packed with meaty goodness, I'll be back for sure.
This is a good restaurant to crave for some exotic Asian food I think. This was my first experience to enjoy the Russian food(not Jewish?) and won't be my last. The price was cheap.
The waitress was beautiful, like Xinjiang Chinese. The rice and soup were a hit. Israel salad was mediocre. What disappointed us was the sea bass ($6.5), which happens to be a kebab. But the menu didn't indicate that. I thought it was a dish. Overall it is a nice restaurant for middle eastern people.