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Orlando Weekly
Aug 26 2014
Ararat takes traditional Eastern European fare to lofty heights
Hidden-away Armenian-Ukrainian restaurant offers a little slice of home
By Faiyaz Kara
ARARAT BISTRO
7540 Universal Blvd. | 407-351-3131
It's not uncommon to uncover culinary treasures in the least welcoming
of corners in our city. What is uncommon is to find a restaurant
serving up exceptional Russian and Eastern European fare from such
dark, uninviting recesses. The recess in this case - a retail center
on the corner of Universal Boulevard and Carrier Drive - was once
anchored by Sleuth's, but since the mystery dinner show found greener
pastures on I-Drive, the strip mall seems even more neglected. But pay
no heed to the shuttered storefronts or the condition of the parking
lot; just listen for the faint sounds of thumping Euro disco and walk
in through the doors of Ararat Bistro.
Yes, there's a big speaker near the entrance blaring the best of the
Tbilisi nightclub scene, and two flat-screen TVs project only the most
mesmerizing of post-Soviet ethno-dance music videos, but, strangely,
it all works. From the menu in Cyrillic script to the young waitresses
and their broken English, Ararat is one of those places that make you
forget you're in Orlando. It's really a testament to the owners (one's
Armenian, the other Ukrainian) and their efforts to replicate a little
slice of home, and it stretches beyond the kitchen too. Walk next door
to the fully stocked grocery and you'll see an impressive array of
foods ranging from caviar to headcheese, and a variety of wines from
the Caucasus. We stocked up on a few items before leaving, but not
before gorging ourselves on an exceptional meal that started off with
traditional, and simple, cold herring fillets with boiled potato ($7).
The appetizer plate is a meal in itself, but our Russian waitress
insisted we sample the pelmeni ($6), boiled Russian-style dumplings
filled with seasoned minced meat, and we're glad we did. The pirozhki
($2), however, may have been our favorite. The oven-baked buns come
stuffed with a filling of ground beef, potatoes and cabbage, and we
remarked on how perfect they'd be for breakfast. Be sure to ask for a
side of the tomato-based dipping sauce.
As we gawked at the risqué music videos and sampled Armenian
pomegranate wine ($10) and Baltika porters ($4), we contemplated our
selection of mains. We put an order in for the tapaka ($15) first,
given the 20-minute cook time required to prepare this butterflied,
pan-seared Cornish hen. When it arrived, there was a fair amount of
begging on my part before my wife relented and permitted me a few rips
into this crispy fowl. The dish came served with fries that resembled
proper English chips.
A trio of peppers ($10) stuffed with a mix of rice and ground meat
were more herbaceous than expected, though still enjoyable. Kebabs
comprise a good chunk of the grilled entrees, and the cubes of
marinated Australian lamb ($15) couldn't have been more tender or
pliant. We chose sauerkraut as our side, a mistake; we probably
should've gone with one of their many potato sides.
The "Russian-style" Napoleon cake ($3) is less flaky and more dense
than a traditional mille-feuille, but just as gratifying. We also
liked the Armenian honey cake ($3) - so much so that we bought a box
of it from the grocery to take home.
One note: If you're paying with a credit card, there's no place on the
receipt to leave a tip. When we asked about it, our waitress said
she'd have to run our card again in the amount of the tip. Seems
highly inefficient and just plain odd to do it that way, but this
being Ararat, I'm probably just making a mountain out of a mole hill.
http://orlandoweekly.com/dining/ararat-takes-traditional-eastern-european-fare-to-lofty-heights-1.1742062
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Aug 26 2014
Ararat takes traditional Eastern European fare to lofty heights
Hidden-away Armenian-Ukrainian restaurant offers a little slice of home
By Faiyaz Kara
ARARAT BISTRO
7540 Universal Blvd. | 407-351-3131
It's not uncommon to uncover culinary treasures in the least welcoming
of corners in our city. What is uncommon is to find a restaurant
serving up exceptional Russian and Eastern European fare from such
dark, uninviting recesses. The recess in this case - a retail center
on the corner of Universal Boulevard and Carrier Drive - was once
anchored by Sleuth's, but since the mystery dinner show found greener
pastures on I-Drive, the strip mall seems even more neglected. But pay
no heed to the shuttered storefronts or the condition of the parking
lot; just listen for the faint sounds of thumping Euro disco and walk
in through the doors of Ararat Bistro.
Yes, there's a big speaker near the entrance blaring the best of the
Tbilisi nightclub scene, and two flat-screen TVs project only the most
mesmerizing of post-Soviet ethno-dance music videos, but, strangely,
it all works. From the menu in Cyrillic script to the young waitresses
and their broken English, Ararat is one of those places that make you
forget you're in Orlando. It's really a testament to the owners (one's
Armenian, the other Ukrainian) and their efforts to replicate a little
slice of home, and it stretches beyond the kitchen too. Walk next door
to the fully stocked grocery and you'll see an impressive array of
foods ranging from caviar to headcheese, and a variety of wines from
the Caucasus. We stocked up on a few items before leaving, but not
before gorging ourselves on an exceptional meal that started off with
traditional, and simple, cold herring fillets with boiled potato ($7).
The appetizer plate is a meal in itself, but our Russian waitress
insisted we sample the pelmeni ($6), boiled Russian-style dumplings
filled with seasoned minced meat, and we're glad we did. The pirozhki
($2), however, may have been our favorite. The oven-baked buns come
stuffed with a filling of ground beef, potatoes and cabbage, and we
remarked on how perfect they'd be for breakfast. Be sure to ask for a
side of the tomato-based dipping sauce.
As we gawked at the risqué music videos and sampled Armenian
pomegranate wine ($10) and Baltika porters ($4), we contemplated our
selection of mains. We put an order in for the tapaka ($15) first,
given the 20-minute cook time required to prepare this butterflied,
pan-seared Cornish hen. When it arrived, there was a fair amount of
begging on my part before my wife relented and permitted me a few rips
into this crispy fowl. The dish came served with fries that resembled
proper English chips.
A trio of peppers ($10) stuffed with a mix of rice and ground meat
were more herbaceous than expected, though still enjoyable. Kebabs
comprise a good chunk of the grilled entrees, and the cubes of
marinated Australian lamb ($15) couldn't have been more tender or
pliant. We chose sauerkraut as our side, a mistake; we probably
should've gone with one of their many potato sides.
The "Russian-style" Napoleon cake ($3) is less flaky and more dense
than a traditional mille-feuille, but just as gratifying. We also
liked the Armenian honey cake ($3) - so much so that we bought a box
of it from the grocery to take home.
One note: If you're paying with a credit card, there's no place on the
receipt to leave a tip. When we asked about it, our waitress said
she'd have to run our card again in the amount of the tip. Seems
highly inefficient and just plain odd to do it that way, but this
being Ararat, I'm probably just making a mountain out of a mole hill.
http://orlandoweekly.com/dining/ararat-takes-traditional-eastern-european-fare-to-lofty-heights-1.1742062
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress