Kachka, 960 SE 11th Ave, Portland (Buckman), OR 97214
Kachka has earned rave reviews since it opened in 2014; it was a semifinalist for 2015’s James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. It might be the best Russian restaurant in the country. The chef/owner cooks “the food of the former Soviet Union.” The interior is dimly lit, with retro wallpaper and portraits of famous Soviets like Lenin, Marx, and Gorbachev. The Russian music they play definitely helps set the mood of stepping back in time to the Soviet era. Of course, they offer lots of vodka and caviar.
The menu includes cold appetizers (cold zakuski), hot zakuski, dumplings (pelmeni, vareniki), shashliki (kabobs), mains, pickles and breads. They recommend sharing dishes.
Visser’s endives ($9): smoked farmer’s cheese, candied walnuts, grapefruit, poppyseed dressing. I was surprised by how good this was, even the candied walnuts were exceptional – they tasted roasted and sweet but not too sweet. Everything was so balanced, fresh, and flavorful.
Imerulian khachapuri ($13): smoked sulguni cheese wrapped in pillowy fried dough – different than the baked khachapuri w/ phyllo dough that I’ve had before, Kachka’s version was deep fried, rich, and heavy.
Short rib borsch ($9): beet soup w/ shredded short rib, sour cream, and fresh dill, dark rye bread and Russian mustard. A lovely, earthy beet soup. The short rib was fine but not really necessary. The Russian mustard was as strong as wasabi – be careful.
Adjika rubbed wild prawns ($16): One skewer had four giant prawns and a fresh grapefruit salad. This was our least favorite dish because the spices didn’t penetrate the prawn.
Lamb lyuyla kebab with green adjika ($14): One juicy, ground lamb kebab, complementary sauce made with fresh herbs
Rabbit in a clay pot ($29): hindquarter braised in smetana, porcini, sour cherries, garlic, draniki. This was the best dish we had – luscious rabbit in a savory gravy (maybe smetana? What’s smetana) and thick, crispy potato pancakes. Divine.
Brindza & lepyoshka ($6): paprika sheep cheese spread with grilled to order uzbek style bread – pretty nice, like Russian style pimento creamy cheese, the bread is a thin grilled flatbread
Portions were fairly generous. Kachka makes you realize just how good Russian/Soviet food can be.
5 out of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
