Kim G.
Yelp
I've written 2 reviews for this market and they keep disappearing! What's up with that???
Love this place! What a gem! The hot and fresh food area draws you in with the aroma of grilled meats, fresh bread and pastries, and home cooked dishes like stuffed cabbage rolls, sautéed potatoes, beef and rice stuffed sweet peppers, meatballs, baked chicken, and sautéed cabbage. Everything is homemade, authentic and so savory and delicious. They will even give you a taste before you buy.
What motivates me to drive here from SW Portland are the cheese blintzes, the Turkish 3-cheese pie and the ricotta pancakes.
The cheese blintzes have a tanginess and I just love the flavor. They are the best in Portland! I always buy a half dozen to bring home. They also make meat blintzes.
The Turkish 3-cheese pie which has a thin dough fried crisp with feta, farmers cheese and another cheese i can't identify, along with chopped dill that takes it over the top. It's shaped like a large triangle and best eaten hot off the grill. Often they are out of this and try to get me to order the Georgian pie, which is round and has just one type of cheese and no dill. It has way too much dough for my liking. I've learned that if I request they make a Turkish pie and I let them know I will wait, they will sometimes accommodate.
The ricotta pancakes, at least that's what I call them, are wonderful. Dense, round, with a hint of lemon, they are small yet filling. I put powdered sugar on them and enjoy for breakfast.
The meat and cheese deli counter is well stocked with hard to find European varieties. For dumplings and pelmeni, find your way to the frozen area. They come in various size bags - veal, pork, beef or chicken. You can even scoop your own. These are perfect to keep in your freezer for a quick meal.
Bread is baked on premise and they have all of the dark, dense wonderful rye and pumpernickels, as well as other types of bread. The pantry area is well stocked with veggies, pickled items, crackers, cookies, grains, Russian tea, noodles, pasta and other staples. Always fun to buy things I've never seen before and try them out.
They sell feta and farmers cheese which I buy whenever I am making spanakopita. First market that I found in Portland that carries farmers cheese! Also sell sour cream with no preservatives.
There are lots of Roman and Russian chocolates, sweets, cookies, and even a counter with fresh bakery cakes and pastries, like Napoleons, my fave.
They don't speak English, and even though I've been here dozens of times, they always speak to me in Russian. Communicating isn't a problem, I just point and tell them the quantity. The only time I seek an English speaking person is when I want the Turkish 3-cheese pie and there are none on the counter!
The women who work here work hard! There are several doing the baking, the cooking, working the counter and the register. All work hard and have provided me with excellent service over the years.