Mari Vanna, 116 Knightsbridge, London
Mari Vanna is a Russian restaurant in Knightsbridge, the other branches in its mini chain are in New York, St Petersburg and Moscow. No half measures here then, those with small wallets need not darken the doorstep. The Knightsbridge branch is right next to the housing estate for millionaires that is No. 1 Hyde Park. I have never eaten here as I previously made the assumption that I am simply not rich enough. The New Russians of London like to spend big on strangely tiny pancakes.
I went there on Saturday to collect a cake (more of the cake later) and the restaurant was not at all what I was expecting. The imposing No 1 Hyde Park new development and roaring traffic of Knightsbridge make Mari Vanna’s quant fabric awnings and little hanging baskets look a bit lost and kitsch. However, I liked it as soon as I got inside. It reminds me of the place I stayed in Astana, Kazakhstan. Hotel Yegorkino in the fast disappearing old city was really a restaurant with some rooms added on as an after thought. It is fitted out to look like a traditional Russian village; all logs, open fires, herring-in-a-fur-coat and buckets of borscht. It was the best food of my trip. I had Pelmeni almost every day, sometimes even for breakfast.
Mari Vanna herself was supposed to be a legendary St Petersburg inn-keeper who welcomed travellers with traditional Russian Food. The Knightsbridge version of her inn is decorated with multiple Matryoshki, other Russian knick-knacks and pictures of the old world. The dining room is filled with country wooden tables and decorated with the light pastels of a Tsarist drawing room. It looks like the country dasha of a relatively well off Tsarist family, pre-revolution that is.
Whilst waiting for my cake (more of the cake later) I got a sneaky look through the menu. Indeed, not unexpectedly, it is possible to get a whole 30gms of cavier on tiny pancakes for £315, whilst a bottle of Beluga Gold Line vodka is a terrifying £250. Herring-in-fur-coat (herring under layers of finely chopped veg, pickles and mayonnaise) is my favourite and it’s £12 for a starter portion. This seems a little bit steep; perhaps one gets a whole herring, or even real fur coats to wear while you eat it. You can also have the classic borscht for £9 a serving. The main courses seem a bit more reasonable. Meat, rice and cabbage parcels, known as Golbutzi, are only £15 and my favourite Siberian Pelmeni is only £13. That said, at £6 a side dish you might find you rack up quite a bill. Who cares though, Russian food is good. Never go to a Russian restaurant without being really, really hungry. Be prepared to eat loads!
A good place to start on traditional Russian and Soviet foods is http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/. tAlthough,those on diets must go elsewhere.
So maybe I will try it out after all. I could definitely stretch to some borscht and pelmeni in the middle of winter. Anyway, on to the cake.
It was my birthday so I bought a Napoleon Cake. It bears no real resemblance to Napoleon, France or Corsica. It would seem that the Russians just thought naming deserts after the vanquished was a good idea. It was vast, sweet, fluffy and very, very nice. The Russians approach deserts in the same fashion as they do their main courses, there is no such thing as ‘lightness’. In fact I have at least a weeks worth of cake left even after six of us had a piece. I defy anyone to take Mari Vanna’s ‘cake-for-six’ and actually finish it in one sitting.
It takes at least a couple of days to make, including for layer after layer of pastry and crème patisserie, and then enough chilling and setting time. I found this on Russian You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HGwqMpKzQU, but some recipes recommend up to 20 layers. Life is too short and arteries too narrow for 20 layers but it tastes like it’s worth the time and effort to do a few. Serving it with strawberries is essential too, all that effort would be wasted without the strawberries.
So having tried the deserts first in an unusual about-face approach, I will eventually go eat at Mari Vanna, mainly to look at their knick-knacks and matryoshki or pretend I’m in the Siberian snow eating dumplings. I will ask them to show me their Faberge Limited Edition Vodka range, from which you can buy a 70cl vodka bottle with Sapphire Egg, Murano Glass Carafe and 4 handmade vodka glasses.
Well, you can buy it if you are prepared to shell out £3,200 that is. I’ll just have cake instead please.
http://www.marivanna.co.uk/
I went there on Saturday to collect a cake (more of the cake later) and the restaurant was not at all what I was expecting. The imposing No 1 Hyde Park new development and roaring traffic of Knightsbridge make Mari Vanna’s quant fabric awnings and little hanging baskets look a bit lost and kitsch. However, I liked it as soon as I got inside. It reminds me of the place I stayed in Astana, Kazakhstan. Hotel Yegorkino in the fast disappearing old city was really a restaurant with some rooms added on as an after thought. It is fitted out to look like a traditional Russian village; all logs, open fires, herring-in-a-fur-coat and buckets of borscht. It was the best food of my trip. I had Pelmeni almost every day, sometimes even for breakfast.
Mari Vanna herself was supposed to be a legendary St Petersburg inn-keeper who welcomed travellers with traditional Russian Food. The Knightsbridge version of her inn is decorated with multiple Matryoshki, other Russian knick-knacks and pictures of the old world. The dining room is filled with country wooden tables and decorated with the light pastels of a Tsarist drawing room. It looks like the country dasha of a relatively well off Tsarist family, pre-revolution that is.
Whilst waiting for my cake (more of the cake later) I got a sneaky look through the menu. Indeed, not unexpectedly, it is possible to get a whole 30gms of cavier on tiny pancakes for £315, whilst a bottle of Beluga Gold Line vodka is a terrifying £250. Herring-in-fur-coat (herring under layers of finely chopped veg, pickles and mayonnaise) is my favourite and it’s £12 for a starter portion. This seems a little bit steep; perhaps one gets a whole herring, or even real fur coats to wear while you eat it. You can also have the classic borscht for £9 a serving. The main courses seem a bit more reasonable. Meat, rice and cabbage parcels, known as Golbutzi, are only £15 and my favourite Siberian Pelmeni is only £13. That said, at £6 a side dish you might find you rack up quite a bill. Who cares though, Russian food is good. Never go to a Russian restaurant without being really, really hungry. Be prepared to eat loads!
A good place to start on traditional Russian and Soviet foods is http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/. tAlthough,those on diets must go elsewhere.
So maybe I will try it out after all. I could definitely stretch to some borscht and pelmeni in the middle of winter. Anyway, on to the cake.
It was my birthday so I bought a Napoleon Cake. It bears no real resemblance to Napoleon, France or Corsica. It would seem that the Russians just thought naming deserts after the vanquished was a good idea. It was vast, sweet, fluffy and very, very nice. The Russians approach deserts in the same fashion as they do their main courses, there is no such thing as ‘lightness’. In fact I have at least a weeks worth of cake left even after six of us had a piece. I defy anyone to take Mari Vanna’s ‘cake-for-six’ and actually finish it in one sitting.
It takes at least a couple of days to make, including for layer after layer of pastry and crème patisserie, and then enough chilling and setting time. I found this on Russian You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HGwqMpKzQU, but some recipes recommend up to 20 layers. Life is too short and arteries too narrow for 20 layers but it tastes like it’s worth the time and effort to do a few. Serving it with strawberries is essential too, all that effort would be wasted without the strawberries.
So having tried the deserts first in an unusual about-face approach, I will eventually go eat at Mari Vanna, mainly to look at their knick-knacks and matryoshki or pretend I’m in the Siberian snow eating dumplings. I will ask them to show me their Faberge Limited Edition Vodka range, from which you can buy a 70cl vodka bottle with Sapphire Egg, Murano Glass Carafe and 4 handmade vodka glasses.
Well, you can buy it if you are prepared to shell out £3,200 that is. I’ll just have cake instead please.
http://www.marivanna.co.uk/