dinner review: rus uz
You know when you spontaneously invite people to dinner to try a new restaurant and then end up playing the night away with rock band? Oh, is that just me? Haha, but that’s what this night at Rus Uz was! It was a blast, if unexpected. I wanted to try a new restaurant, since while I love Fuegos (read my original review), we went on a hot streak for a while and went almost every week for a month. So I wanted something different. And two of our friends, M & D live in Ballston, so I asked them for suggestions/if they wanted to join!
D suggested Rus Uz, a Russian Uzbek restaurant, and we decided to try something new! They served us warm rolls to start, which were light and fluffy and a little dry, but definitely delicious. They serve it with a yogurt sauce rather than your traditional butter. It’s okay, though it does look like butter so can be a little confusing if you’re not expecting it.
We ordered a good variety of foods. D ordered the plov and M ordered the shish kebab. T had the Manti, an Uzbek dish that is large steamed dumplings of seasoned lamb and onions. It’s served with tomato and yogurt sauces. When it first came out it looked like naan, but on closer inspection it was definitely dumplings. It was packed with flavor, and although I don’t know if I’d have wanted the whole dish, the one bite was quite delicious. I think the spices would have been overpowering as an entire meal.
I went with the Chicken Kiev. M and I reminisced about those frozen package chicken kiev’s that apparently we’d both had as children, but they no longer made. It was frozen food at it’s finest, but it was delicious, and I really liked them as a kid. Who doesn’t like chicken stuffed with melty butter that oozes out as you eat it? The Rus Uz (notably more gourmet) take on Chicken Kiev was yummy. The chicken was tender and juicy, but I was a little disappointed with the lack of butter. I was hoping for some juicy rich goodness, whereas the butter was really just a dribble and got sopped up immediately. It was a delicious dish, just didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
We decided to go for dessert, and ended up with a layered honey cake which T really enjoyed, and I went for the caramel cake both of which were dense, and moist and good. My caramel cake was served with a raspberry sauce of which my only complaint was there was not enough! The honey cake was delicious and surprisingly not cloyingly sweet despite the rich flavors.
Overall I give Rus Uz a solid 3 out of 5 chips (read: stars). I might go back again sometime for a change to my typical cuisines, but I didn’t find it overwhelmingly amazing. I wish they had some good happy hour specials, and if the portion sizes were a little bigger, I’d consider bumping up the rating. As it was I ended up eating all of it because it wasn’t quite enough to take home as a second meal.
Rus Uz
Rus Uz Website
1000 N. Randolph St.
Arlington, VA 22202
