Buyan Russian Restaurant and Caviar Bar @ Duxton Hill

It has been a long time since I had Russian food, and since Buyan (I keep on typing buaya by accident) was on the Palate list of restaurants, I decided to bring my friend here for her birthday celebration.

Located at 9/10 Duxton Hill, it was a ten minute walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Despite having the address, I missed the place twice as its signboard was not prominent at all. And it seemed more like a bar rather than a restaurant.

Borscht soup, $13

Borscht soup is probably the most well-known Russian dish that most people know. One of the main ingredients is beetroot, which is responsible for the reddish-purple colour.

Having tasted authentic Borscht soup when I went to Moscow five years ago, this didn't impress me. I found it a little too sweet too.

Stchi, $11

If I recall correctly, the waiter pronounced this as "shee". It is basically Russian cabbage soup, and is very popular in Russia as one does not get sick of it easily. Thus, it has become a staple food in Russia, and a Russian saying explains it all: "One may become fed up by one's own father, but never by stchi!"

Compared to the Borscht soup, this was lighter and easier to drink, albeit nothing really special.

Pelmeni, $18

Pelmeni is something like Russian ravioli, or if we 'translate' it to Chinese, it's like meat dumplings. Out of all the starters, I thought this was the best. There was a very unique flavour to it (I can't place it exactly though) and the meat inside was also quite juicy.

Shashlyk, $38

Chicken, lamb and trout, all charcoal grilled. When it came, it was only slightly warm. The trout was a bit dry, and the lamb was also not juicy enough.

Beef Stroganov, $30

This was better than the other main course. The beef was slow cooked and served on mashed potatoes, and drizzled with mushroom sauce. The potatoes were very soft and creamy, while the sauce was rather rich. Combined together, they made the dish a bit too rich and filling, but taste-wise it was still pretty all right.

Bird's Milk, $12

I have no idea why they call this bird's milk, since it is actually souffle with chocolate. And when it came, we wondered if they had gave us the wrong dish - this didn't look like souffle at all! Souffle is supposed to be a lightly baked cake, but this tasted almost entirely of cream. I wouldn't recommend this dish.