NYC Tastes

Right before Mr. T and I travelled to Westchester for our holiday celebration with his family, I stopped by Veselka to try out their special Christmas Borscht. I grew up enjoying my grandmother’s version every year but I have yet to find one in the city as perfect as hers. Veselka’s regular borscht came the closest in flavor so I was excited to try out this version and see how it compared. My walk over to Veselka was absolutely freezing! By the time I got inside I was dying for something warm and soothing. I took a seat at the counter and ordered myself a cup. Within minutes I had a steamy hot cup in my hands. The wonderful aroma of fresh beets and dill was absolutely intoxicating. I couldn’t wait to dive right in. Look at this beautiful ruby color. This soup was packed with chopped pickled beets and little dumplings filled with dried mushrooms. This was a Christmas Borscht! There was so much flavor going on in the soup- sour, earthy, sweet. If you’re not a big dill fan than ...

Mr. T and I finally tried Veselka last week. When I first moved here I heard they had Borscht and I was dying to try it. Borscht is something my Grandmother used to make every year at Christmas and it was truly one of my favorite dishes of the night. I've had it before at the Russian Samovar and I really didn't care for their version. I was hoping Veselka would be different and luckily it was. Look at this beautiful color! This Borscht was so wonderful! It had such a rich beety texture and flavor that was absolutely delicious. I was so content slurping away happily with my soup. This is what true comfort food is- eating something that reminds you of home. I felt like I had just gotten a big hug. We decided to split some entrees and first up was the burger. Wow. Just wow. Veselka is a highly underrated burger. The meat was perfectly charbroiled with a nice salty crunch on the edges and an incredibly moist inside. The burger to bun ratio was probably the best I've ever had wi...