Our office is near Anderson Lane and Mopac and has been for twenty years.  We’ve eaten at almost every restaraunt over and over and over again.   Going to Jimmy John’s one more time we spotted Sasha–hmmm..interesting…the Ukranian bank teller at my bank had mentioned that was her favorite place to eat.  Next time a couple of us headed out for lunch we decided to try it.

We ordered the hot beef borscht and pierogis.  Borscht is traditionally vegetable with beetroot as its main ingredient–which gives it a bright red color and a strong beet taste.  The borscht was decent–the one my wife makes at home has a fresher beet taste (of course she uses fresh beets from the farmers market).  We tried the beef and potato, eggplant and feta cheese and wild mushroom pierogis.  The wild mushroom pierogis were great–loads of wild mushroom with a wonderful flavor; the eggplant and feta also had a strong flavor.  The beef and potato were a bit bland but do remember my taste buds are calibrated to strong flavors in Indian and Thai foods.  The stuffed cabbage rolls are on my list to try.

Do remember that this is a grocery store with a cafe counter in the back.  Sometimes they are a bit understaffed and the person manning the counter is also popping things into the oven.  This isn’t sit down restaraunt quality service; however, I found the service to be gracious and family like.  We were at a fabulous wine tasting at Grapevine market (Spanish and German wines paired with Spanish and German cheeses and cured meats) and Ike mentioned that Sasha had originally started at a farmer’s market.

I need to go back and wander the grocery store.  Might need a Russion cookbook to figure out how to use some of the available ingredients (dried golfish?).  So if you’re looking for something a bit different at lunch, give it a try.

Sasha Gourmet Russian Market and Cafe,  5523 Balcones Dr, Austin, TX 78731, (512) 459-1449