Best Russian Restaurants in East Harlem

I took a shot on this one due to the mixed reviews. This was our first time here (party of 4) to celebrate my mom's birthday. Honestly, everything was really nice from the moment we walked in. We were received by a nice, smiling hostess and all our servers were kind and answered all questions we had. The food was good and the tea was great. The only thing is that it is a bit overpriced for what it is...but it's NY people, this is expected. Overall we were all extremely satisfied with our first-time dine in at the Russian Tea Room.

This is the place where everybody knows your name even if this is your first visit. A rare place where people go to be with each other, not just eat. There is always life music late at night. Sometimes it is blues, on other days you can catch gypsy performance. On this visit a random walk in from the street treated dinners to a soulful ballad. Great voice. This encouraged one of the dinners to perform a beautiful classic. Also great, professional voice. When we visit New York, we always try to go to Samovar. The food is also great. Try a flight of vodka. It is not very strong and goes done very smoothly.

Reserved a space in the back for a large group and was so grateful for the Russian Vodka Room inviting us in and taking care of us.