Eating Local: Russian Comfort Food at Babushka in Walnut Creek

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In search of unique eateries in my local area, I stumbled upon something fascinating – a little European restaurant tucked away in Walnut Creek, California that serves up the most comforting Russian and French-inspired dishes! That place is called Babushka. If you want to swoon in rich flavors and hearty portions, I suggest you also make your way to this place – stat!

Restaurant Info

Babushka serves both lunch and dinner, and there is no difference in the menu (price-wise nor in items), so it really doesn’t matter what time of day you come. Although, we went in right when they opened for lunch with no one else in the restaurant, so we got the VIP service!

Parking is available right in front of the restaurant, though during peak times like dinner, I would imagine those spaces fill up pretty quickly.

Address: 1475 Newell Ave, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Website: http://www.babushkarestaurant.com/
Hours:

• Tues – Thurs 12:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m.; 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Fri – Sat 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.; 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Closed Sundays & Mondays

Starters

I say starters, plural, because we ordered several things! I really wanted to get a feel for all the different foods they offered and I’m sure the nice waitress was wondering how in the world we were going to eat everything (spoiler: we ate every last bite).

Note: They do serve caviar here if you are wondering (it is a Russian restaurant after all); however, we did not get any because, you know, caviar ain’t cheap!

Baklajani – Egglplant Dip

Probably one of my favorite things we had at Babushka was this baklajani eggplant dip, which consists of baked eggplant, red bell peppers, tomatoes and onions served warm with toasted rye bread. Oh. Wow. The meld of flavors was exceptional and when paired with the toasty (yet soft) rye bread, it was a flavor party. It even impressed my non-eggplant loving husband!

Borscht – Beet Soup

Borscht is a traditional vegetable soup made from beets, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and bell peppers, and you can get it served with or without sour cream (I suggest with to get a little more rich depth of flavor). They also give you the option of adding beef to it here, though we opted out of that.

This was both my husband and I’s first time trying borscht and we thought it was delicious! We love beets, and the flavors in this bowl of soup were on point. Babushka’s version is brothy with chunky beets, though I have seen some recipes where you can make a blended variation. Also, if you have any extra rye bread from the baklajani dish, it makes a good dipping companion to the soup!

Piroshki – Puff Pastry Pies

Hello comfort food! If you don’t love piroshki, we can’t be friends.

Piroshki are crispy puff pastry pies stuffed with your choice of filling (whatever they have available that day), and served with a Dijon emulsion and shaved root salad with a citrus vinaigrette. Luckily for us, they let us mix and match – so we got both the beef and the potato.

Another “wow!” There’s nothing like a warm and flaky puffed pastry stuffed with smooth potato filling to kick off your meal. These rival one of my other recently-discovered loves, potato-filled knish (that I got at an Arizona baseball stadium of all places!). My husband loved the rich flavors of the beef in his piroshki and said it was the best puffed pastry dish he’s ever had.

Calories? Who’s counting!

Golden Fish Salad

This was my husband’s pick to help balance out our meal with a bit of greens. It’s made up of mixed greens, smoked salmon, capers, potato, egg, parsley vinaigrette, and salmon roe. The vinaigrette was tangy, and the pop of the capers and salmon roe added a nice textural element, as well as a little bit of saltiness to the dish. I quite enjoyed the bits of potato throughout the salad as well. Definitely recommend this one!

Entrées

If you can believe it, we still had plenty of room for a full entrée each! Hey, when in Rome?

Vareniki – Dumplings

So what is Vareniki? I like to describe it as Russian ravioli but it’s really the Russian version of Polish pierogi – soft little dumpling pillows stuffed with potatoes (or your choice of filling), topped with a rich cream sauce, and finished off with crispy shallots! It’s seriously a hug on a plate.

At Babushka, you can get them filled with mushrooms, farmers cheese or potatoes. I can highly recommend the potato, though I will definitely try the cheese on our next visit! Also, it is worth noting that this is the only vegetarian entree that you can get at Babushka (but you definitely will not be disappointed with your choice).

This is the ultimate definition of comfort food and a dish that I’ll be craving on cool winter days to come.

Beef Stroganoff

When I hear the words “beef stroganoff,” I think of a rich and creamy gravy with mushrooms and beef, served over a plate of egg noodles. Being in the U.S., that is one of the more common preparations of the dish. At Babushka, my husband’s was prepared a little differently – a slowly braised short rib in a dark red wine sauce with wild mushrooms, mashed potatoes, crispy shallots, and topped with sour cream.

The braised short rib just fell apart when cutting into it, and the mashed potatoes were the creamiest we’ve ever had! Babushka hit the mark on this one for sure.

Note: If you are really craving that American-style stroganoff, you can ask for a side of egg noodles (or ask for your stroganoff on top of the egg noodles instead of with the mashed potatoes).

Dessert

Last, but certainly not least, we had dessert. Did we need it? Nope, definitely not. Was it worth it? Yes, without question.

Hot Chocolate Cake

This little scrumptious cake takes about 15 minutes to make – so if you order one for yourself, just be aware. However, that does give you a little bit of time to let all that heavy food settle in your tummy before digging into your sweets.

Hot and gooey on the inside, pairing deliciously with the cold vanilla ice cream and tangy sauces of passionfruit and raspberry. Our only gripe was that we wanted more sauce to go with the cake!

Final Thoughts

There’s no doubt that this was an insanely delicious meal! We visited in the winter, so this style of food was extra comforting. It is a little on the expensive side, but nothing shocking compared to prices at other area restaurants. I’m so glad that we ventured out and got to try a completely new cuisine to us! What is even better is that we did not have to go very far to get a little glimpse of Russia.

Things I want to try on the next visit:

• Vareniki with farmers cheese
• Svekolnik salad (beet salad)
• Honey cake

Happy eating, fellow foodies!