Moscow Restaurants: Shinok
A Kitschy Ukranian Restaurant With the Best Dumplings Ever
A short walk from 1905 street metro, Shinok does things with pork fat that you wouldn't believe, and the liver dumplings are indescribably good, if not good for you.
One thing needs to be said before we can move on to what is good about Shinok: this restaurant is expensive. A basic meal for two, with a couple of glasses of wine and a cup of coffee and sorbet afterwards can easily set you back about $150.
If you go all out, which is easy to do (the restaurant is 24 hours) you could quickly find yourself splitting the bill between two credit cards and wondering if your boss will kill you in a real or just a metaphorical sense.
This is the kind of restaurant it seems one can only find in a city as outrageous as Moscow: The entire restaurant is done up like a Ukranian country farmhouse, with heavy wooden furniture, farm tools, and old-fashioned utensils and embroidered cloths on the wall, all surrounding a Ukranian farmyard with not only real animals, including turkeys, goats, and a horse, but a "real" Ukranian woman in traditional costume, spinning and taking care of them.
For the uninitiated, Ukrainian lard, or "Sala" might not sound appetising, but wrapped around garlic, marinated in spices, or served with pickled cucumber, it melts in the mouth, and the sample platter of it is well worth the money.
The Ukranian dumplings called "Vareniki" are mouth-wateringly good, especially the liver, and for those with a sweet tooth they also come with cherry and rasberry sauce fillings. The wine list is extensive, and for those who prefer something harder, the vodka list is just as long. There is also a good selection of homemade Ukranian beverages ranging from mors (juice from various berries) to Kvas (a lightly carbonated beverage fermented from bread).
Most of all, the fun, kitschy atmosphere is what makes this restaurant worth a visit: watching the animals in their glassed-in courtyard, listening to the cheesy Ukranian folk music in the background, and being served by waiters in Ukranian traditional garb so faux-traditional that it reminds one of nothing so much as Disneyland. Or eavesdropping on business deals going down at the next table while everyone struggles to find a common language.
Reservations are recommended, and can be made by telephone. You may want to specify a table by one of the windows overlooking the courtyard.
And in such a meat-heavy restaurant, try not to feel too sorry for the animals behind the glass. On your way out, stop in at the French restaurant next door done up to look like a gothic cathedral. It always seems to be empty. Leaf through the menu and take a look at the prices, and you will quickly understand why.
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