To be honest, I love dumplings. And I sincerely believe that they should be on the menu of any restaurant, cafe or snack bar, because dumplings (well, or their varieties) are present in the cuisine of all nations, this is a universal dish, which is also difficult to spoil - with quality ingredients, dumplings always turn out delicious. You can overeat them with any sauces and seasonings, they can be fried until golden brown or served with fragrant broth ... And therefore, as soon as I read on the Internet that in the center of St. Petersburg, on the Fontanka, the restaurant "Pelmeniya" was opened, where only dumplings are served without any soups, pastas, grilled meat, salads and desserts, and the owner of the new catering point pathetically declares that "dumplings are self-sufficient food, salad is not needed for them, as well as for khinkali and manti," he immediately began to respect the restaurateur and hurried to the city on the Neva, anticipating the enjoyment of exquisite taste.

But ... The first disappointment befell me as soon as I crossed the threshold of the establishment. Alas, this is not a restaurant. And not only because, according to dictionaries, a restaurant is an institution with a wide range of dishes, which necessarily include custom-made and branded ones, which are prepared upon the visitor's arrival (and not warmed up), but it is extremely problematic to invent something original and branded from dumplings (well, perhaps what to mold a sculpture on a plate from boiled dumplings), and you don’t need much skill in cooking them: you throw the semi-finished products into boiling water and wait for them to emerge. "Dumplings" is not a restaurant in appearance alone. The restaurant, as we are used to, should be beautiful, pretentious, where you can have a good time, lounging in a comfortable chair at a massive table covered with silk tablecloths. There is nothing of the kind here. The first desire that comes from visiting Pelmenia is to turn around and leave, because everything here is designed to ensure that visitors linger as little as possible. As in any fast food outlet, here the expectation is that the visitor will come in, quickly throw a portion or two of dumplings into his stomach and go on, freeing the table for the next one in the stream. The tables and chairs are extremely uncomfortable. They are wooden, which makes it simply uncomfortable to sit (and this is not so bad), they also have such a height that it is extremely problematic for a person of even average height to climb them. Why this was done is a mystery. It is possible that there was a semblance of dumplings from Soviet times, when there were no chairs at all at high tables, they went in to drink beer and eat dumplings with vinegar, while eating while standing. But if so, it was necessary to fully preserve the atmosphere of Soviet times, getting rid of chairs altogether. It would be something unusual, a kind of "chip". And it turned out strange: tables hanging under the ceiling, chairs a la "I'm sitting at the bar", and at the same time everything is uncomfortable. Personally (while I was in the institution) I witnessed the scene when two ladies of very advanced years (a kind of elegant old women in hats, with bright red handbags and umbrellas with long handles) came in, figured out how much effort it would cost them to climb up to the table and, sighing heavily, turned around to look for a restaurant where they would not be required to perform acrobatic stunts.

Not only are the tables and chairs uncomfortable. They stand so close to each other that everyone sitting (and not necessarily obese) will feel the back of the visitor at the next table. At the same time, the audibility is such that those who speak even in a whisper can be sure that everyone hears their conversation. Visitors can perfectly hear the screams in the kitchen (something like: “Will someone pick up? Everything is ready” and “Damn, where is the rag, how much can I say?”). We must pay tribute to the employees of the establishment - they try to drown out the human rumble by turning on a good selection of music (jazz, lounge), but this does not always help.

Do you remember the last time you were in a good restaurant? You entered and found yourself in the hallway, in the foyer or in the hall, where there is certainly a mirror so that you put yourself in order, a wardrobe where you can leave your outerwear ... In the same, if I may say "restaurant", the hallway is also there is a whole restaurant. Imagine a small, very small room (in my apartment, in a typical high-rise building, there is one corridor, by God, there will be more in terms of footage), where it is cramped, uncomfortable and only four tables - that's the whole restaurant. And in this micro-room they still managed to place a bar counter (well, or its likeness). To the left of the entrance, however, there is a small branch a la a room in a communal apartment: narrow, long and cramped, for another 10 people - a "smoker's compartment" (there is smoky so that the faces of eaters are not visible because of the smoke, very bad). And that's all. Add to all this bad design decisions: the already poorly lit, gray-black room was made in dark colors, laying out the walls with bricks. The result was a basement, where, in addition to other inconveniences, darkness presses on visitors (in fact, from being there, the eyes begin to hurt), I want to quickly escape to the Nevsky Prospect, normally lit by evening lights.

However, let's not pay attention to my nit-picking and taste the cuisine, because restaurateurs can forgive everything for masterfully prepared dishes, and even the most seedy catering point can be turned into the most visited one, the fame of which will be passed from mouth to mouth.
I order for a sample: dumplings with chicken broth (140 rubles), manti with beef and lamb (250 rubles), khinkali (150 rubles), dumplings with cottage cheese (120 rubles). I'm interested in how long it takes to wait for the order to be completed - they answer, half an hour. Well, great, there is time to take a closer look at the menu and get acquainted with the prices. They are as follows: classic Russian hand-made dumplings - 120 rubles for a dozen, Ukrainian dumplings - 150 for a dozen, manti - 150 rubles for 3 pieces or 250 for 5, Georgian khinkali - also 150 for 3, Italian ravioli (depending on the filling - meat , fish, cheese, vegetables) - from 220 rubles for 5 pieces, Japanese gyoza (with pork, shrimp or apples) - from 100 rubles for 5 pieces. The wine list causes nothing but disappointment: tea, coffee, juices and homemade fruit drinks. Juices at 170-200 rubles per 200 ml (and not freshly squeezed, but packaged, from the supermarket) alerted, tea in a teapot for 120 rubles is brewed from bags (the waitress explained that two bags are put in a glass teapot and poured with boiling water) disappointed (although how otherwise - the same "restaurant!"), Lemonade of an unknown brand, the label of which frightened with the presence of all kinds of "e-shek", flavor enhancers and dyes for 80 rubles, I first ordered, but did not dare to try it (they would have at least put it in a glass poured, otherwise they put a bottle with a killer label on the table ...). There is one type of beer on the menu ("Carlsberg" - 180 rubles for 0.5 l), but it is on the menu, it is not available, they say they promised to bring it - but they did not deliver it. “But what about vodka?” I ask the waitress. “After all, dumplings are a traditional snack for what? Right, for vodka! You even have funny pictures painted on the wall about vodka and dumplings!” The girl makes a guilty gesture: “We don’t have any alcohol at all, we didn’t get a license ...”

Here are those things! Ate, is called, dumplings! How so? Although this may be a strategic plan for restaurateurs. In the same Soviet times, dumplings were occupied by elderly, stern men who wanted to drink, who, like flies, stuck around the counter tables and broke away from them either when the money ran out or when their wives pulled them by the collar. Perhaps, in order not to repeat such a fate, restaurateurs liquidated all alcohol in the hope of gourmets who will drink dumplings with green tea from bags. But this is a miscalculation, clearly! Restriction on alcohol (especially in such an institution!) Immediately cuts off a good half of potential visitors. For what? Moreover, modern drunkards are not the same as before. The name "restaurant" alone will scare them away, they would rather go to eat dumplings somewhere in the station cafe for 50 rubles per serving, and it doesn't matter to them whether they are made from high-grade meat or from soybeans.

When the waiter brought the order (in fairness, I note - even less than half an hour, so I put a plus for efficiency), it turned out that it was simply impossible to put all the plates on the table - they did not fit! Another minus for the furniture (well, or again, the calculation is that an ordinary visitor will not order more than one plate here). With grief in half, everything was placed. The question why all four hot dishes were served to me at the same time (at least it was possible to wait with dumplings) remained unanswered. When asked what sauces go with dumplings, the waiter was not at a loss: "None! For an additional fee! Mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic sauce - 50 rubles, sour cream - 30." “Okay,” I say, “bring two sour cream.”
Of course, he didn’t say anything to the girl - she doesn’t set prices and service rules, but, good gentlemen, let me remind you that in the Soviet times I already mentioned, sauces for dumplings were free! What is there in the glorious Soviet past? Dumplings in Moscow (not calling themselves restaurants, but ordinary dumplings, feeding people without pathos at reasonable prices) on the tables have free access to choose from sour cream with mayonnaise, and ketchup with mustard, and vinegar with soy sauce. And here everything is for a fee! And what! Of course, I don’t mind paying 50 rubles for a tablespoon of mayonnaise, but given that a portion of dumplings costs three times more (150), the question begs itself: what are such cheap dumplings made of or, on the contrary, where does such expensive sour cream come from - from cows that give milk enriched with gold? Incredible numbers!
I'm about to start tasting and... I don't find any cutlery. I call the waitress, I swear, she apologizes, brings a spoon and fork wrapped in a napkin. "Is that all? - I'm interested. - Actually, I have four dishes, I expect to get at least four devices." "Wait a second," the girl replies. "They're gone, they're not ready!"

Fantastic answer! For a restaurant (I specifically repeat this again: the institution is positioned not as a simple dumpling, but as a restaurant). A restaurant without forks and spoons! Soon, however, it turns out that they are, but they were only washed and did not have time to wipe and wrap in paper napkins. Some time later, the missing appliances were nevertheless brought, but on themselves they had traces of hastily wrapping: stains from the wet fingers of the kitchen workers clearly appeared on the napkins.

Finally, I started the first course, but then - another disappointment. The chicken broth in which the dumplings were floating turned out to be cold. Or rather, a little warm, as if it was warmed up in the first place, but it was not served to the table right away - they were waiting for the rest to be ready. I did not scandalize - I only made a remark to the waitress, she offered to warm up the food, but I refused. As for the taste of the broth, there was a strong feeling that it was made from chicken cubes, because not a single drop of fat floated on the surface of the dish, while the broth had a synthetic yellow color. As for the dumplings themselves, they were edible, but not perfect. Far from ideal. They are far from home-made dumplings, but what about home-made ... In the network of beer bars "Pivoram", scattered around St. Petersburg, dumplings are prepared (with and without broth), which are many times, one level tastier. Yes, a little more expensive, but what's the point of comparing prices if we are discussing the kitchen? In a beer bar, dumplings are a dish "one of ...", and there it is a solid "five", and here it is the main dish, a signature dish, after which the institution is named, but a fair assessment of it is only a "three".

The khinkali were hardly warm either. But if only that were the problem... Khinkali is made from fatty lamb. To beat off the smell of lamb fat when cooking, a lot of spices are put in the minced meat (depending on the taste of the cook, this can be dill and parsley, tarragon and cilantro, etc., etc.). Greens, as well as any kind of seasoning, I did not feel at all! But there were so many onions in the minced meat that at first glance it might seem that the minced meat was made not from a month, but from an onion! Moreover, it was cut rather large, it was poorly steamed and caused nothing but bewilderment. I have eaten khinkali more than once in oriental restaurants, I have tried home-made khinkali made at home in the Caucasus and comparing them with what was served in Pelmenia is like comparing a VAZ of the first model and a BMW X5. Incomparably!

I won’t particularly criticize manti, because they are more or less tasty. There is no admiration and praise, but I will not criticize either. Minced meat of normal density, not a lot of fat, not too thick dough - everything is fine. But with dumplings - trouble. Imagine a plate on which 5 dumplings turned into one big something: they stuck together, representing a shapeless dough product, which, when trying to separate it, fell apart, and the filling (for some reason, very dry cottage cheese) simply spilled onto the plate. As a result, none of the dumplings separated completely, which is not the norm. Why this happened and at what stage the production of the dish was disrupted - I don’t know. Maybe the cook just felt sorry for the butter?

The result of the dinner: 800 rubles for 4 small portions of dumplings, 2 portions of sour cream and a glass of chemical lemonade not drunk. On the one hand, the price is ridiculous, considering that four hot dishes were ordered. But on the other hand, the dishes are very small, it is simply unrealistic for a healthy adult man to eat 2-3 servings (and I, since the man is large, I didn’t even eat four!). The quality is very, very poor. For a mono-cuisine restaurant (that is, tailored for the preparation of one particular dish, on which all the strength and skill of all the kitchen staff are thrown) this is unforgivable! Dumplings here should be the best in the city, which will be famous throughout the country, where foreign tourists will strive to get, but not "ordinary", which everyone can cook at home in the kitchen as well, or even tastier. In general, the second time you will not go here, in my opinion. This institution, alas, is typical for St. Petersburg: the calculation is made on the constant flow of tourists who, having decided to nostalgic, look into the dumplings, take a portion or two for a sample. Don't like something? Well, God bless them - tomorrow there will be a new day, new tourist buses and a new stream of city guests who have descended on the Fontanka. It does not wait for regular visitors, does not rely on those who live in the neighborhood or work nearby, this is a one-time establishment. As a well-known rubber product. Used once and forgot.

And the finishing touches. Minor, but characterizing the level of the institution. Bank cards are not accepted here. The official website of the dumplings is a rarely updated page on the social network Facebook. There are no opportunities for banquets, parties in the room. When I paid a visit to Pelmenia, not one of the two runaway waitresses greeted me, did not offer to choose a room and a table, the menu was served in silence: it was simply laid in front of me. When leaving the establishment, no one said goodbye. What can I say, "restaurant"...

Pelmeni in Russia is eaten by everyone, from taxi drivers to oligarchs. Pelmeni are on the menu of many Moscow restaurants; in addition, there are dumplings in the capital, and two new ones ("" and "") have recently opened, which certainly indicates the relevance of the dish, as well as the fact that this niche is not yet fully occupied. But where should you go if you want to eat really tasty dumplings? The Village already that excellent dumplings can be found in the restaurant "". Together with its chef Andrei Makhov, Olga Kiseleva went around ten more Moscow restaurants and cafes in search of the perfect dumplings - fish and classic Siberian dumplings with pork and beef.

Restaurant chef
"Cafe Pushkin"

Andrey Makhov

Photos

Yasya Vogelhardt

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"Overdone." III place

Dr. Zhivago” was opened last fall by lawyer and restaurateur Alexander Rappoport. The place is significant: on the first floor of the National Hotel overlooking the Kremlin and Manezhnaya Square, in the premises of the former Composer restaurant, nothing remains of its frightening pomposity. Other interior, prices, chef - Maxim Tarusin, who previously headed the kitchen of the restaurant "Yar". According to Rappoport, he created a restaurant not with Russian cuisine for foreigners, but with national food "plus or minus for every day" for the residents of the city themselves. "Zhivago" works around the clock, in addition to the main menu, there are breakfasts. We decide to start the experiment from here, but we didn’t manage to sit down early in the morning: the night before I called the restaurant, and it turned out that there were free tables only at 13:30.

OLGA KISELYOVA: Does it matter if you cook dumplings in broth or in water?

ANDREY MAKHOV: Everything plays a role: there will be some difference, but maybe not fundamental. If we want to eat the broth later, that's one thing. We don’t want to - then why cook in broth? The dough absorbs the taste of the meat that is in it, and it is ten times more concentrated than any broth.

OLGA: Do you need to add water to the stuffing?

ANDREY: Of course, water is added everywhere for juiciness.

They brought dumplings.

ANDREY: The fact that the dough is torn, of course, is a marriage. Some say that the dough should be as thin as possible. Perhaps a thin dough can be the pride of a housewife, but home criteria cannot be measured in a restaurant: here, in addition to taste, the dish must also look good. You need to find a middle ground, when both the appearance and the content are impeccable.

In general, thin dough is a very thin criterion! Here we see this subtlety. The dough on dumplings was all wrinkled, and the appearance of the dish became not very attractive. In addition, with a thin dough, there is a big guarantee that almost all dumplings will tear a little. And when we put a dumpling in our mouth and start to bite it, juice should splash out of it. In dumplings with a thin dough, if they burst a little, no juice remains. There is nowhere for juice to collect.

Almost all of our dumplings are torn, the dough is falling apart, there is no structure to it. And it should be felt when you eat it. If you now try the dough separately, it will seem to you that it is rather bland. What does this say? The dumplings were boiled in unsalted water. If you turn to the regions where dumplings are very popular and talk to housewives there, they will tell you that dumplings should be thrown into steep, well-salted boiling water. The dough, of course, is made with the addition of salt, but insignificant.

Now meat. It is quite grainy and fibrous. When we bite into minced meat, we feel the connective fibers that have not been ground in a meat grinder. In my opinion, the correct stuffing should have a dense, but at the same time tender texture. I'm talking about ideal indicators - I just don't find them here.

Order

Siberian dumplings
450 rubles

Dumplings with carp and nelma
450 rubles

Lemonade tangerine (1 l)
500 rubles

Assam tea (400 ml)
350 rubles

Honey "Royal sweet clover"
200 rubles

Cost: 1 950 rubles

Ideal stuffing for Siberian dumplings

In theory, Siberian dumplings contain several types of meat, at least two - pork and beef. Pork works on softness and juiciness, gives structure, pork fat gives tenderness. Beef affects color and texture, as well as a more meaty flavor. You can add a little more lamb, because it gives an accent. If you put a lot, it will be more like oriental cuisine, but if you put it in certain proportions, lamb draws out the depth of taste very well.

Onions are the second ingredient after meat. There should be enough of it. Different chefs do it differently: someone adds fried onions, someone raw, someone passes this onion through a meat grinder along with meat, someone breaks it into mashed potatoes separately. We break through the puree and add it so that you can feel a little onion fraction.

And most importantly, the minced meat needs to be “revitalized”. You also need to add water to it. But just adding water, mixing it, is not that: minced meat will not accept a lot of water. And the task of the cook is to add as much water as possible to the minced meat. Although, if you add a lot, the minced meat will simply become liquid, like in pasties - it is almost poured there. And for dumplings, we need a fairly dense elastic stuffing. How to achieve this? The cook starts beating the meat. You can do it by machine, but minced meat, like dough, loves human hands. Therefore, the cook takes minced meat, throws up a large piece and hits the table with force - and does this for 10–15 minutes. In the process, water is added to the minced meat. Thus, the minced meat is mixed, saturated with oxygen and does not become liquid. The ideal criteria for minced meat - density, elasticity and at the same time softness - are achieved precisely by knocking out.

Let's try dumplings with crucian carp.

Olga: I like that they are in soy sauce. They benefit from the overall taste.

ANDREY: Yes, in soy sauce, and a little sesame oil. They are more pleasant, although problems with the dough are also felt here. In addition to the fact that the dough on the dumpling was wrinkled, the shape of the dumpling is not traced here. What modeling, I see, but the form is not visible. This, however, is rather a secondary factor.

Considering that dumplings with crucian carp and nelma are exclusively the author's invention of the chef, this is not bad. But usually in regions where there is nelma, no one will put it together with crucian carp. These are so different fish that putting them in one dumpling is like disrespect for nelma, let's say so. It’s like, well, I don’t know, for example, putting boiled pork with sausage together, although this is not quite the right comparison. Of course, in a restaurant, if there are dumplings with nelma in the fish dishes section, there is nelma, and good pieces go there, and all the rest go into dumplings. There is a certain logic here, and perhaps that is why the union of crucian carp and nelma was formed: somehow you need to use non-standard pieces that cannot be put, for example, on the grill.

And then there is another moment. Let's take a break. For me, the main question is this: would I want to eat these dumplings again? I definitely would not come back for meat dumplings. I probably wouldn’t have gone specifically for fish either, but on occasion, being here and thinking about whether to eat dumplings, I would remember them and, probably, would take them. Would I change something from a professional point of view? Definitely. I see what can be changed even in the presence of crucian carp and nelma, how to make it a little more interesting. We have worked enough with minced meat, but you can still work on it, you can feel it.

OLGA: And how to distinguish whether dumplings were frozen or not? Is it real at all?

About frozen dumplings

ANDREY: I'll tell you a little secret. Frozen dumplings are much better than unfrozen ones. Dumplings, of course, can be molded and immediately boiled, but at the same time they will lose their shape more. The dough under the influence of hot water begins to quickly deform, stretch, shrink, and since the minced meat is not frozen and tender, it will succumb to the pressure of the dough, and the dumplings will turn out to be a little crooked. But this is a secondary point. And what is the main thing? As soon as the minced meat is cooked to full readiness, moisture is released from it, and if it continues to cook further, there is more moisture, and it tears the dough. In a frozen dumpling, this moisture does not come out so quickly - and does not have time to tear the dough. If the dumplings are fresh, they cook faster: the minced meat will cook instantly (in two minutes), and the dough may still be damp, it needs to be cooked longer. Therefore, there is an imbalance. In the case of frozen dumplings, the dough thaws during the cooking process, reaches readiness, and has time to cook completely.

A high-quality dumpling, if it is properly frozen and lies without temperature changes in one freezer, in principle, can be stored for a week, a month, or two. What can be affected by long-term storage in the freezer? For dough. Over time, the dough, if it is not properly packaged, will simply crack, especially if it has a lot of moisture. When we start cooking such dumplings, they turn out with cracks. Therefore, the restaurant should have a standard for storing frozen dumplings. The shorter the shelf life in the freezer, the better.

Frozen dumplings are practically indistinguishable from fresh boiled dumplings. External criteria may be present, but they may also depend on other reasons. In principle, unfrozen dumplings have their own interest: if you make dumplings with a large group and finally throw the first batch into the pan - of course, in such an environment, dumplings are the most delicious, long-awaited. Dumplings, like an ear, are an event dish. No matter how good a cook cooks fish soup in the ideal conditions of a restaurant from ideal products, the fish soup that was cooked from freshly caught fish will still be remembered more.

"Varenichnaya number 1"

"Nostalgia for savings in the Soviet style"

Even on the street we hear music from the speakers - Soviet songs mixed with New Year's Eve Frank Sinatra. Inside on the ground floor, half the seats are occupied. We order dumplings to the song “Three White Horses”, which is gaining momentum.

ANDREY: The dough is much thicker here. It is dangerous to make the dough very thin, because there is more to lose than to gain, but too thick a dough is compulsive. Dr. Zhivago” and “Varenichnaya No. 1” are two poles. The stuffing here is not flawless: I like it more in aroma and taste, but in structure it is harsh and rough. In "Dr. Zhivago” meat was more tender.

OLGA: It is so small that it is difficult to feel at least something.

ANDREY: Yes, minced meat is not enough even in relation to the dough. The proportion is not met. There should still be more meat: relatively speaking, 2/3 of meat and 1/3 of dough. Here, by weight, they are in equal quantities, or even more dough. Small dumplings in equal proportions of dough and minced meat, in principle, take place, but in this case you need to work very well on the dough: it must be very soft, with boiled blinds. There is also a knot of dough that has not boiled to the end, a rough thick pinch. But with small dumplings, from experience, it is much harder for a cook to work: their dough, as a rule, is liquid and is very poorly stored in the freezer.

The stuffing is dry. Why is it more meaty? If in the first place they worked on dumplings - they added pork, lamb, and beef in certain proportions, they played with fat, with onions - then here the dumplings are very clean. No one thought how much fat should be. And very little, in my opinion, onions. Therefore, the taste of meat is felt stronger, but the taste sensations are limited.

Moving on to fish dumplings.

Yes, and this is our pike. By the way, if we were given the task of making fish dumplings, I would undertake to make dumplings from pike, because although it has a specific taste (in fact, this is conditional, some pikes have a characteristic taste, some do not), it works very well with pike meat. It is, let's say, the perfect consistency, not very greasy, and therefore holds the density more. Fish dumplings are generally more successful here, minced meat imperfections are not so noticeable in them and there is a general fishy tone.

Order

Siberian dumplings
240 rubles

Pike dumplings
240 rubles

Sour cream (2 servings)
100 rubles

Assam tea
210 rubles

Vittel water
190 rubles

Cost: 980 rubles

The ratio of dough and minced meat

In all cases with dough and meat - be it pies, manti or khinkali - there must be a golden mean in the ratio of dough and minced meat. We have the imprint of the Soviet public catering, where the dough significantly prevailed over minced meat, this was due to "economic" moments. In quotation marks, of course, because sometimes cooks themselves became economists of their own free will. Outwardly, the pie seems to meet the standard, but inside it has almost only dough and a little minced meat, because meat is more expensive than flour and water. The goal of the Soviet catering was, of course, to cook tasty, but also not to deprive yourself, your favorite cook! Production costs, as they say. Now the chef will simply crush anyone who even thinks to work in this direction: it is important to prepare a super-quality product for which guests will pay good money, and everyone will be satisfied.

So, based on this Soviet memory, "Varenichnaya" evokes nostalgia. There are housewives who cook pies with surprisingly tasty dough, and it is more pleasant to eat than minced meat. But this is an amateur. In a restaurant, you need to please more people, and, as a rule, a pie or dumpling, which has a lot of minced meat and less dough, hits the mark in most cases.

What else can I notice? If they put these dumplings and those that we tried for the first time in front of me, without reference to the place, blindly, and asked what you can say about the author, I would answer the following about these dumplings. Either someone made them at home, an ordinary hostess, or they are from a roadside cafe. Because they are made from a professional point of view in an amateurish way. All professional mistakes are traced here. And in dumplings, in the first place, mistakes were taken into account, all kinds of creativity were shown, somewhere a chef's education and skill, but then the cook stumbled on this skill, could not bring it to the ideal. Although, I do not argue, the dumplings in Dr. Zhivago" will find much more admirers than these.

"Lepim and cook"

"Golden mean". I place

New dumplings in Stoleshnikov Lane,. The chef is Svetlana Naumova, who previously worked at the Oblomov restaurant and launched the Pelman dumpling shop. In Sculpt and Cook, self-service, in the refrigerator next to the cash desk, you can get fruit drinks, salads and sauces. There are seven types of dumplings on the menu, there is a standard portion (10 pieces) or a large one (15 pieces), you can add broth. In addition to dumplings, you can order soups and cereals, breakfasts are also served here.

We go to the dumpling shop around five in the evening. There are a lot of people, noisy, moderately loud festive jazz plays, women make dumplings in the open kitchen, guys cheerfully take orders at the cash desk. One of them, the co-owner, immediately flies up to us and, gesticulating emotionally, blurts out a hundred words a minute, moderately bold and sweet: “We have the best dumplings in Moscow! They are made before your eyes! They have never been frozen! Here is our menu, we have seven types of dumplings! And behind your back is a refrigerator with sauces, salads and drinks that we make ourselves. Beer and soda at the bottom - we do not make them ourselves, but carefully selected for you! We have a self-service system, Ilya will accept, and you take a seat for now, and then we will figure everything out! The toilet is in our closet, if anything!”

ANDREY: There's some juice in here when we bite into them. Well, there shouldn't be many. The dough is moderately thick, with large tucks, which, it would seem, should give the feeling that there is a lot of it. But the dough is quite soft (compared to the previous ones) and very easy to eat. It is correct and I like it. In "Dr. Zhivago" overdid it, in "Varenichnaya" on the contrary, but here - the golden mean. There is broth. I can’t say that the minced meat is ideal: it’s dry, there is a little graininess.

This is by far the best minced fish we've ever had. Made it right. And minced fish is very easy to spoil: if some points are not observed, the taste of fish oil will prevail. Maybe the atmosphere is subconsciously affecting me now, but, nevertheless, I would like to eat both portions of dumplings again. With some reservations, maybe, but the work here inspires confidence.

Order

Pelmeni "Mamin-Sibiryak" (with pork and beef)
220 rubles

Dumplings "Fish of my dreams" (with salmon and pike perch)
320 rubles

Sour cream
50 rubles

Sea buckthorn compote (serves 2)
220 rubles

Cost: 810 rubles

"CDL"

"Cold dumplings"

"CDL" - a restaurant of the Central House of Writers. In 2014, the restaurant: the changes affected both the interior and the kitchen. The architectural bureau was responsible for the first, the team of the Ragout restaurant, headed by Alexei Zimin and Taras Kiriyenko, was responsible for the second. People began to go to the restaurant not only because of the legends associated with its past, but also for good food. However, after about six months, the Ragout team left the project. For some time, CDL disappeared from the radar, but after that the restaurant launched a menu invented by Fedor Verin, chef at Uilliam’s and co-owner of Brix wine bars.

When we arrive at the place, it turns out that it is impossible to go to the restaurant with Povarskaya: one of the halls is closed for a banquet. You have to bypass the building and enter from Bolshaya Nikitskaya. This entrance looks completely different - colorful, in the style of the 1950s. A completely gray-haired, but cheerful grandfather-cloakroom attendant takes our coats. We pass through a cafe, where almost all the seats are occupied, and sit down in the Motley Hall with historical drawings and autographs on the walls of famous writers and artists. The hall is almost empty. “You can feel the decline of life,” concludes a colleague.

ANDREY: They are cold, slightly warm. What is the first thing that strikes you? Do you feel the spices prevailing? Bay leaf? Dumplings were boiled in broth, into which bay leaves were thrown. Well, the dough is balanced in thickness, but I can’t find the super filling here either, and the most important thing in the dumpling is the filling. Before they are completely cold, you should try with salmon. (Tries.) These are more delicious. With salmon, by the way, you need to work very carefully. The filling may turn out to be too dry, like here, or give away rancid fish oil, since salmon is quite oily. Minced meat is rich, but dryish and harsh.

OLGA: How do you make sure it doesn't dry out?

How to make minced fish not dry

ANDREY: Unlike meat dumplings, in which minced meat should be dense and tender, fish dumplings should melt right in your mouth. There is no specific recipe here, but there are, relatively speaking, techniques. I will give hints: if meat means raw onions, then I do not advise putting it in fish under any pretext. Raw onions are too harsh for minced fish - only delicately fried in oil is needed. In addition, it is good to put in minced meat and evenly distribute finely chopped or grated frozen butter. It will begin to melt and give the dumplings flavor and juiciness. You can add, for example, cream or sour cream sauce, but in moderation, because it becomes liquid when hot.

Order

Siberian dumplings
400 rubles

Dumplings with salmon
450 rubles

Assam tea
455 rubles

Honey "Forbs of the Syrdarya"
100 rubles

Cost: 1 405 rubles

"MarieVanna"

"Damn dumplings! It's so dry here!"

There are so many things in this place on the Patriarchs that it seems as if they multiply by themselves. Or when someone touches one, two will immediately appear, then four, and so on. We are led to a small round table, over which a floor lamp hangs - like a hearth of heat. There are subdued lights and many small lamps around. While we are choosing dumplings (wow, they are more expensive than in Pushkin), we start eating the dryers that are in the basket on the table, and we cannot stop.

ANDREY: By the way, drying is difficult to cook. They have custard dough. I have never seen such homemade dryers. They turn out different, crumbly.

Bring a large portion of dumplings.

ANDREY: All torn. I want to find at least one untorn, but there are no untorn ones. However, the dough is not thin. Especially thick and hard where the seam is. There is enough stuffing, but it is rather dry. Dumplings do not have any ideal identical shape, they are all different.

OLGA: They look overcooked.

ANDREY: Yes, most likely. If the dumpling is cooked correctly, under control, they monitor it and do all the right manipulations - 99% that the dumpling will not burst. But when technical problems arise, for example, a banquet, and a lot of dumplings are cooked in one pan, this can happen. The cook forgot about the dumplings a little, or they are already ready, but you don’t need to give them away yet, so they begin to digest while they are waiting for their moment in the water.

OLGA Q: What are the other reasons?

Order

Siberian dumplings
670 rubles

salmon dumplings
670 rubles

Morse raspberry (1 l)
900 rubles

Raspberry jam
120 rubles

Cost: 2 360 rubles

How to cook dumplings

ANDREY: If we exclude errors in the technology of sculpting dumplings, then there are the following rules in cooking. Dumplings need to be thrown into boiling water swirling with a funnel so that in the first ten seconds they do not fall to the bottom and stick. Why do you need to throw dumplings into strongly boiling water? As soon as we put the dumplings in the pot, the boiling process immediately stops, so if the temperature is low, the dumplings will boil for a very long time.

After that, the pan must be immediately closed with a lid so that a slight excess pressure is created and the water boils as quickly as possible. You can open the lid once or twice and mix clockwise - gently, with the back of a spoon, so that the dumplings do not tear. Why clockwise? According to the laws of nature of our hemisphere - here in Australia you would interfere in the other direction.

As soon as we see that the dumplings are boiling, we must immediately remove the lid (by this time they will all float up) and reduce the heat to a minimum. Then the dumplings will continue to cook with a slight boil without a lid. After three or four minutes, when the dumplings are almost ready, you need to turn off the gas (if you have a gas stove) or move the pan (if the stove is electric) and cover the dumplings with a lid. Let them stand in the warmth of their own steam for a while. The most important thing is not to overcook. When the temperature rises too high, more liquid is released and it tears the dough.

It is also important to observe the ratio of water and dumplings. For one serving, I would take at least a liter of water. In addition, you need to choose the right pan - with a thick bottom. Bay leaves can be added, but if you put too much or it boils, the water will turn bitter, and this bitterness will go to the dumplings.

About fillings

Now we are also introducing Siberian dumplings at Cafe Pushkin, but original ones. In addition to the three types of meat, we add some mushrooms. Mushrooms, as we know, fall into that section of products that contain the fifth flavor - umam, which enhances the taste of the main product. We take the most elementary champignons. They enhance the meat taste, but at the same time it does not feel like dumplings with mushrooms.

"#Propelmeni"

"I want to stay here for a long time." IIplace

We start the second day of the raid on dumplings from where new cafes continue to open. The project "#Propelmeni" is one of the most mature ones here, it is being run by the former director of the Danilovsky market, Maxim Popov. Products for dumplings are brought from his cooperative farms " honest farm» in the Ryazan region. The menu was developed by the former chef of the Seiji restaurant, Vladimir Kim. In addition to the dumplings themselves, gyozu, khinkali, manti and dim sum are also cooked here. They cost an average of 110 rubles per serving, in addition, you can order pho soup. We approach the counter, behind the glass there are dozens of varieties, but we take the classic ones - with pork and beef.

OLGA: Look a little like those that were in the "CDL".

ANDREY: Dumplings, let's say, are attractive. Of course, they are not ideal, and you can find fault with them if you wish, but they are attractive. What are attractive? Shaped, bite size, juice preserved. The dough is also without pretensions: it is both soft and has its own taste. Thickness is balanced. The only thing is that there is some undercooking of the dough in the pinch, but this nuance is insignificant. Here, for the first time, I liked the consistency of minced meat. The taste is a little lacking, it is slightly pale. Pork with beef is the best combination for Russian dumplings. But I talked about the balance of taste, and if you add lamb here, then the taste of dumplings, in my opinion, would play differently. But in fact, I would have eaten a plate of such dumplings. They are not ideal, they are more like homemade, such good homemade dumplings.

OLGA: At this point, we still need to mention the price. 120 rubles is a great price. Ten pieces. And you promised to tell about secrets.

Order

110 rubles

Sour cream
30 rubles

Cost: 140 rubles

The secret of juicy dumplings

ANDREY: Yes, I wanted to tell you how to make juicy dumplings. Look: in any dishes where there is dough and minced meat, whether it be dumplings, pasties, manti, khinkali and the like, a very important point is the presence of juice. But no one ever wondered what kind of juice it was. Let's look at the example of a cheburek. When I was at school, there was a pastry shop opposite, two pasties cost 15 kopecks, they were sold even in winter on the street. And so everyone ate these chebureks, juice dripped from them on the street table, and by evening it was all in small bumps - and if you look closely, they were lumps of frozen fat. Therefore, if you put a lot of fat in minced meat, whether it be cheburek or dumplings, after cooking it will melt and become liquid. And when we take a bite of a dumpling, we will feel this juiciness. But this is fat, but there should still be a strong meat broth.

It would be easier and cheaper to make minced meat with fat, but in this case the product can be considered low quality. In the right product, there should be meat juice. The most logical way is to mix as much liquid as possible into the minced meat (as I said, the minced meat needs to be beaten out for this). But there will come a moment when the water stops being absorbed, and if you add too much of it, then the minced meat can become liquid, we will not be able to wrap it in dough. Therefore, cooks resort to the most famous method. A strong meat broth is being prepared - so strong that it solidifies in the refrigerator and turns into jelly. Then this jelly is finely chopped and evenly added to the finished minced meat. So it does not become liquid, but when the dumpling is boiled, the jelly dissolves and fills it with a lot of juice - this is meat broth along with the natural meat juice.

Silver Panda

"Capsule Cafe"

Silver Panda is a network of three cafes at Krasny Oktyabr, Tryokhgornaya Manufactory and next to the Barrikadnaya metro station. They are designed for those who work nearby, and you can eat in them quickly and inexpensively. It cannot be said that strictly Asian dishes are prepared in Silver Panda - rather in an Asian manner. The design also refers to the East: each table is closed in front and looks like a separate compartment where a person can quickly eat his lunch without being seen by the others and return to work. It looks like a capsule hotel. It is not very convenient to come here not only with a company, but even together. However, during lunch it is noisy here, and in the open kitchen everything is boiling and frying.

OLGA: Very similar to dumplings.

ANDREY: You can feel a little Asian accent, in minced meat. Be sure to try it, don't let me eat it all myself. There is just a huge amount of juice flowing out. Mmm.

OLGA: There is a lot of juice, really. More greens.

ANDREY: Yes, a lot of greens, even vegetables, ginger. There is a lot of meat, the test is also decent. Pelmeni, let's say, are a bit unconventional for Russian taste. They cannot be called Siberian or traditionally Russian. Maybe because oriental ingredients are felt in minced meat. Perhaps soy sauce was added to the minced meat. A large amount of greens, the minced meat is green even on the break, which is not typical for Russian and Siberian dumplings. But they are very juicy - this is the number one feature here so far. I also like the texture of minced meat. Good dough. The shape of the dumpling is more like a classic dumpling. In this form, the juice is better preserved: the dumpling, as it were, inflates, and there is an opportunity to “walk” the dough.

But due to the fact that the taste of herbs and spices prevails, dumplings are not for everybody. I liked them, I probably would have eaten a whole portion of them. Would I like them a second time? May be. The active taste of greens gives brightness, but at the same time I would like to be calmer: with each dumpling, the taste of greens accumulates, and there comes a moment when the enumeration begins. How much do they cost?

OLGA: 100 rubles.

ANDREY: For 100 rubles, I would take two portions of hunger and eat it with pleasure. But in principle, from what we have tried so far, I still mark “Sculpt and cook”.

Order

Beef dumplings
100 rubles

Sour cream
10 rubles

Tea (4 cups)
120 rubles

Cost: 230 rubles

"Pelmeni & Pelmeni"

"Dining room with a separate dumplings menu"

Pelmeni & Pelmeni is a two-story cafe on the corner of Lenivka and Volkhonka, intended mainly for employees of the nearest offices. It looks like a canteen: trays and a row of food, you collect and move to the checkout. Pelmeni are displayed in a separate menu. There are about a dozen of them, but we take classic and fish ones. There are many visitors around - lunch time. It is felt that all of them are here not for the first time: they know that tea is punched at another checkout, that napkins can be taken there, and cutlery is over there.

ANDREY: Dumplings seem to be of different shapes. Also homemade. Why do they look like home? Because there is no professional core here. The dough is a little unbalanced: thin and compressed, but it's not scary. The tucks are welded. But the stuffing is medium, rough, and there is some kind of aftertaste in it. I can not say that it is unpleasant, but some poor quality. Perhaps the pork gives such a shade. Considering that we have already tasted about seven types of dumplings, these are not the best. Let's just say, not the first place.

As for dumplings with salmon, on the one hand, this is the most optimal filling, because salmon is bright and tasty. But she is very difficult to work with. Here we get a little taste of rancid fish oil. One could say, "Well, that's a characteristic fishy taste." No, uncharacteristic. Perhaps the raw material is not very high quality. Maybe it's not exactly salmon.

OLGA: And what?

ANDREY: Well, how? There is nothing strange in this. Salmon is salmon. In the salmon family, there are a lot of varieties of fish - this is both pink salmon and sockeye salmon.

Order

Pelmeni with pork and beef
355 rubles

Dumplings with salmon
480 rubles

Tea A lthaus (4 cups)
240 rubles

Cost: 1,075 rubles

"Omul barrel"

“Big solid restaurant with Siberian cuisine”

There are many types of stroganina on the menu (both from fish and venison), pickles, Buryat bouzes, a lot of fish - mainly omul, it is available in almost every section in several versions. A lot of things sound interesting. At five o'clock in the evening, Monday, the restaurant is almost empty. The order is waiting for a very long time.

ANDREY: They got a little stuck together, torn. But they still have juice. Very rough mince. The dough is tasteless. Insensitive, in my opinion. And serving in a pot - there is something in this, but the dumplings are all stuck together. What is the professional-technological error here? Why do they stick together? Because the dough is quite sticky when hot. So that dumplings do not stick together after cooking, they are always lubricated with oil. But you need to do it right. This is how it was done here: dumplings were boiled, the cook scooped them up with a slotted spoon and immediately put them in a pot. Then he, perhaps, poured a little bit of butter, but it glassed to the bottom. And since this is a pot, the dumplings lay down in several layers and, of course, stuck together. How to act more professionally in this case? Transfer the dumplings first to a plate and mix with butter in it, and only then transfer to a pot. But this technique complicates the process in restaurants where there is a mass return of dumplings.

Tries fish dumplings.

In fish dumplings, I am alarmed by a large top pinch: it is strongly felt, but here it is very pleasant. The stuffing is correct, very tasty. The sauce goes well with the dumplings. Something like sour cream, a lot of onion and omul caviar.

OLGA: No dumplings have been eaten with such an appetite today as these fish dumplings.

ANDREY: Yes, fish here are the most credited.

Order

Siberian dumplings with sour cream
365 rubles

North Baikal dumplings
(with omul and muksun)
485 rubles

Tea "Mountain herbs" (500 ml)
300 rubles

Cost: 1 150 rubles

Pelmennaya on Krasin Street

"The legendary dumplings, which is known to more than one generation of Moscow residents"

A legendary place known since Soviet times. The dumpling shop is open strictly from 10:00 to 17:00 (I tried it on myself: for the first time, being literally 15 minutes late, we ended up at a dark room with closed doors). It's an odd schedule for a cafe in Moscow, but maybe it's an indicator of quality? From many we heard that there are very good dumplings here, - however, we heard a long time ago, years ago. The dumpling room is small, there are six long tables, half of them are occupied. The Killers plays from the speakers, the menu is strange: it has a dozen types of dumplings, but they differ only in additives - with mayonnaise, adjika, butter, vinegar. At the same time, from what the dumplings themselves are not written. We order two servings - with oil and vinegar. A seller in shorts generously pours a clear liquid from a liter plastic bottle onto a plate of dumplings - this is dumplings with vinegar. Each serving comes with a slice of the simplest white bread. A man pours boiling water into a plastic cup and lowers a tea bag. We sit near the table by the window, look at the dumplings. Perhaps we were expecting more.

ANDREY: These are purchased dumplings. Because they have a characteristic shape.

OLGA: What are they, do you understand?

ANDREY: Well, hardly with several types of meat, I think that with one - you need to look at the manufacturer's packaging. These with vinegar are for everybody. There is such a format that they can afford it. Yesterday, by the way, we were talking about who eats here. This is probably where taxi drivers eat. Because dumplings are generally the food of taxi drivers.

Here we see a characteristic ball with an automatic rivet. In fact, I also sometimes buy dumplings in the store. I used to buy some (I don’t remember what they are called), but they had about the same shape of the rivet. Purchased dumplings that you can eat cost at least 400 rubles per pack. This is the minimum cost of raw materials, production.

Pelmeni is, in fact, a unique product. The perfect combination of dough and meat. There are not many such ideal combinations in the world. Here, for example, gin and tonic or bread and butter - humanity has not come up with anything more ideal.

OLGA: What about khinkali?

ANDREY: Not so perfect if you consider that khinkali are also dumplings. What's better than dumplings? Firstly, khinkali, as a rule, is not frozen. Large dumplings can be frozen, but this immediately worsens the overall quality and, in particular, minced meat. Khinkali is eaten with the hands, and this is already a kind of imperfection. Ideally - when with a spoon. In a cheburek - thinner minced meat. No, it’s all delicious, of course, but if we talk about ideal parameters, then dumplings are suitable for everyone. I cooked dumplings with broth - here's the first and second for you.

Love for ideal products has long engendered in my head the idea of ​​opening a high-quality professional dumplings. One where everyone could come: from taxi drivers to oligarchs. If the dumpling shop is at the level of the second floor of the Cafe Pushkin, the oligarch will come there. And on the first floor there will be another hall, with a democratic atmosphere. Up to the point of making “dumplings-auto”. I did market research and all the taxi drivers said that if there is such a place, they will come. However, after a while I thought that this is not very relevant. But now, having walked through ten restaurants, I understand that this issue has not yet been resolved in Moscow. There are few places where you can try fantastic dumplings. Therefore, my idea is still relevant, but it must be approached competently, defining the right concept and taking this product seriously so that in large print runs we do not lose the quality that we were looking for for three days.

Order

Dumplings with butter
110 rubles

Vinegar dumplings
110 rubles

Assorted tea (4 servings)
80 rubles

Cost: 300 rubles

Three winners

ANDREY: If they asked me now where to go for dumplings, I would probably go to “Lepim and cook”. Then - everything matters here, not only the dumplings themselves - I would go to the Danilovsky market, to "#Propelmeni". In "Dr. Zhivago" I would not go specifically for dumplings, but of all the places they are the most professional, refined. At the same time, the remaining seven cafes and restaurants also have a rational grain. But their chefs have something to change, and I am sure that they have long been accustomed to the dumplings they cook.