HOMEMADE SOUPS
Russian Spicy Meat Soup - Russkaya Solianka
Hearty soup of beef, smoked ham, chicken, sauerkraut, cucumbers, capers, olives and fresh vegetables. Topped with fresh dill.
$4.00
Classic Ukrainian Borscht
Soup of beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and tomatoes served with sour cream or yogurt.
$4.00
SALADS
Tashkent Carrot Salad
The most elegant culinary creation of our hometown, Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Airy-sliced carrots marinated in our house vinegar and delicately-spiced with coriander seeds. Served with Lavoush crackers. The Russian Team Time is the only place in Chicago where you can enjoy this magnificent salad! (Note: if you are ordering an entree, this salad definitely accompanies it, so please consider other salad.)
$5.00
Spinach Salad
Tender baby spinach with French goat cheese. Accompanied with sliced tomatoes and our house dressing.
$6.50
Russian “Pink” Salad Vinaigrette -- Vinegret
This salad is a permanent item on the menu for all Russians for its great nutritious qualities and outstanding, tangy taste. And rightfully so... Steamed beets, boiled potato, and carrots, chopped onions, pickles, apples, green peas, sauerkraut, gently mixed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
$6.50
Traditional Caesar Salad
A Chicago favorite! Romaine lettuce with shredded Parmesan cheese and croutons. Served with spicy Caesar dressing.
$5.00
Or enjoy it with half of a grilled chicken breast.
$9.00
Marinated Beet Salad
Julienne beets in our homemade marinade
$5.00
APPETIZERS OR ZAKUSKI
Enjoy our exclusive Russian zakuski (hors d’oeuvres). Here, in the Russian Tea Time, any zakuska will start your meal in style, or it can constitute a light supper altogether. Even though it is difficult to eat all the appetizers from the menu, you still can enjoy this phenomenon to the fullest by ordering several zakuski at once, and sharing them in TAPAS style with your partners or by requesting Assorted Zakuska Platters. And do not forget to “down” them with ice-cold Stolichnaya vodka, another Russian tradition.
Russian Tea Time’s Assortment Platter for two -- Goriachaya Zakuska
An amazing assortment of: beef dumplings (Pelmeni), Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Paprikash, Chicken Croquet Pojarsky, Stuffed Cabbage roll, stuffed eggplant, beet caviar, Lobio, stuffed mushrooms, steamed rice, and Tashkent carrot salad.
$30.00
Same for 3
$43.00
100% Vegetarian Platter is also available.
Assorted Seafood Platter (for two), a la Russe -- Ribnoye Assorti
An astounding platter of: smoked Norwegian salmon, smoked Caspian sturgeon, Russian marinated Herring, 2 oz. Caspian salmon caviar and sardines, garnished with capers, chopped onions, cucumbers, tomato, carrot salad, and egg salad.
$32.00
VEGETARIAN APPETIZERS
Your favorite Potato Pancakes - Latkes
This outstanding dish is enjoyed throughout the world, but in Ukraine and Byelorussia (White Russia), these potato pancakes are a national obsession, and no meal is complete without a pile of hot fresh potato pancakes. We proudly cook them (4 pancakes) to your order and serve them with sour cream and chunky apple sauce.
$6.50
Grilled Portobelo Mushroom
This aristocratic dish will surely transform you into Courts of Imperial Russia. Large Portobelo mushroom under a special marinade, grilled and sauteed with onions, and served with buckwheat kasha, carrot salad, and roasted potatoes.
$9.00
Stuffed Mushrooms, Azerbajiani Style - Gribi Farshirovannie Po Azerbadzhanski
Everybody’s favorite! Four baked white mushrooms stuffed with sauteed spinach, onions, garlic, and assorted cheese. Served with a touch of carrot salad.
$5.00
Georgian Beet Caviar With Walnuts and Prunes
Claimed to be the best vegetarian item on our menu! Baked beets with prunes and roasted walnuts, garlic, coarsely chopped and mixed with mayonnaise, and a touch of fresh lemon juice.
$6.00
Legendary Georgian Bean Salad - Lobio
A classic Georgian salad - parboiled kidney beans, chopped onion, fresh cilantro, with a touch of lemon juice and vinegar.
$5.50
Chopped Eggplant Orientale - Baklazhanaya Ikra
All season favorite! Chopped eggplant simmered with tomatoes, carrots, pepper and onion. Served chilled. Excellent for spreading.
$6.50
NON-VEGETARIAN APPETIZERS
Russian Herring - Seliedka
Chilled slices of vinegar-marinated herring, served with sliced onions, turnip salad, boiled potatoes with touch of butter and fresh dill.
$7.00
Chilled Smoked Sturgeon - Kholodnaya Kopchenaya Osetrina
Garnished with capers, onions, dill, egg salad and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on pumpernickel toast.
$16.00
Smoked Salmon Canopies - Kopchenaya Lososina
Smoked Norwegian salmon on pumpernickel toast, served with capers, egg salad, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and sliced onion. A marvelous delicacy!
$11.00
Sardines
Sardines served on lettuce with pumpernickel bread, chopped onions, carrot and egg salads, capers and quartered tomato.
$6.50
DOUGH APPETIZERS
Ukrainian Pumpkin Piroshki
Celebrate Halloween a Ukrainian way! Enjoy this outstanding pastry stuffed with pumpkin and onions; served with carrot salad and sour cream.
$5.00
Lamb Uzbek Pastry - Samsa
One wonderful puff pastry, stuffed with ground lamb and onions, touch of cumin. Unlike its Pakistani or Indian “comrades - samosa,” Uzbek samsa is very lightly spiced. Served with a touch of carrot salad and yogurt and garlic sauce.
$4.50
Ukrainian Potato Dumplings - Vareniky
This magnificent dish of dumplings, filled with potatoes and shaped as a half-moon, boiled and then tossed in butter is permanently listed on all menus - from peasant’s home to the most sophisticated Russian and Ukrainian restaurants. Six varenikies tossed in butter, served with sour cream and yogurt sauce on the side.
$4.50
Genuine Russian Dumplings - Pelmeni
Making first-class pelmeni takes a truly special skill! The dough is rolled very thin and hand-swaddled. We offer six wonderful dumplings with seasoned ground beef and onions, boiled, and topped with melted butter, and serve them with touch of carrot salad and sour cream and yogurt sauce. Enjoy!
$5.00
Genuine Knishes, Jewish Style
One baked knish, stuffed with cabbage, carrots and sauteed onions. Served with sour cream.
$4.00
CREPES
Salmon Crepe - Blinchik s Lososinoi I s Ikroi
Crepe with Norwegian smoked salmon, Caspian salmon caviar, and sour cream. Garnished with egg salad, lemon wedge, sliced cucumbers and tomato, and chopped onions. Savor like Russian Czars did in 19th century!
$18.00
Farmer Cheese Crepes - Blintzes
Two hot crepes filled with farmer cheese. Served with raspberry sauce and sour cream.
$7.00
Guriev Blini
Two Russian pancakes (wheat flour) served with melted butter, raspberry sauce and sour cream on the side (please allow up to 20 minutes).
$7.50
Guriev Blini with 2 oz. Petrossian Salmon Caviar From Caspian Sea (please allow 20 minutes).
$18.00
MAIN COURSE
CLASSIC DISHES OF THE RUSSIAN CZARIST COURT AND TRADITIONAL SPECIALTIES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
The Russian Tea Time proudly features the combination of traditional specialties of the former Soviet Republics and classic dishes which once were served habitually at the Imperial Courts of Russia, but are now forgotten delicacies, because of either immense food shortages or antiquated recipes. Chef Klara Muchnik, while adopting methods of preparation to the standards of your liking, had done her best to recreate the aura and charisma of the Russian and Soviet cuisines by preparing these genuine dishes, some of which were the favorites of the Romanoff, Galitsin and Stroganoff dynasties and others are enjoyed daily - from Vilnus and Moscow, to Tashkent and Kiev. So relish, enjoy, and Be a Czar or Czarina! You Deserve It!
KEBABS
A skewer of juicy marinated with coriander meats, grilled over charcoal, served on a bed of steamed rice, with Lobio beans, turnip salad, thinly sliced onions in Uzbek dressing, and Uzbek tomato sauce.
Uzbek Lamb (Shish) Kebab
$17.00
Chicken Breast (Juja) Kebab
$15.00
MEAT COURSES
Grilled Lamb Chops, Uzbek Style
A delicious meal, claimed by many of our guests to be the best lamb dish they have ever tried! Three delicate, thoroughly marinated Uzbek fashion, lamb chops grilled to the temperature of your liking. Topped with pomegranate sauce, and served with traditional garnish.
$22.50
Boiled Beef Tongue - Goviyazhi Yazik Po Ukrainski
Five slices of boiled and then grilled beef tongue, served with marinated beets, stewed sauerkraut, carrot salad, roast potatoes and Russian horseradish sauce. Served with Ukrainian garlic sauce.
$14.00
Classic Stuffed Cabbage - Golubtsi (or Holubtsi in the Ukraine)
Two cabbage rolls stuffed with a traditional Russian filling of ground beef, carrots, sauteed onions, and rice in sweet and sour tomato sauce. Served with buckwheat Kasha, carrot salad, marinated beet salad, roast potatoes, and sour cream on the side.
$13.00
Uzbek Beef and Vegetable Stew with Noodles - Lugmun
Excellent, hearty, but healthy stew of beef, potatoes, turnip, onions, tomatoes, carrots, daikon, garlic, cabbage, red peppers, fresh cilantro and parsley. Served over noodles with bouillon.
$14.00
Kulebiaka - Russian Meat Pie
The most elaborate and delectable dish on our menu. Large rectangular baked individual pie filled with chopped beef, sauteed cabbage, rice and onions. Served with turnip, Vinaigrette and carrot salads.
$13.00
Broiled Rack of Lamb, Kazakh Style
Strikingly delicious gift of Kazakhstan! Rack of Lamb broiled and baked au jus with carrots, onions, pumpkin, and potatoes, with a touch of coriander and cumin. Served with traditional accompaniments.
$23.00
Grilled Pork Chops with Ukrainian Garlic Sauce - Otbivnie Svinnie Kotleti Po-Ukrainski
Two pork chops grilled, accompanied with Ukrainian garlic sauce, sauteed spinach, carrot salad, roast potatoes, horseradish and stewed sauerkraut.
$16.00
Genuine Russian Dumplings - Pelmeni
Making first-class pelmeni takes a truly special skill! The dough is rolled very thin and hand-swaddled. We offer fourteen wonderful dumplings with seasoned ground beef and onions, boiled, and topped with melted butter, and serve them with carrot and Vinaigrette salads, sour cream and yogurt sauce. Enjoy!
$15.00
Classic Beef Stroganoff
Lean sirloin beef pieces sauteed and then simmered in sour cream, Madeira wine, mushrooms, onions and fresh dill. Served over noodles, with carrot salad, Vinaigrette, and roasted potatoes. A nineteenth-century dish created for Count Pavel Stroganoff, a dignitary at the court of Alexander III, a trusted friend of Russian aristocrats, and a noted gourmet. The Stroganoffs, the most noble and the wealthiest merchant family, first gained fame in the fifteenth century for their development of salt and metal mines, fur and timber commerce. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, the Stroganoffs had contributed tremendously to Russia’s territorial expansion and economic as well as its cultural progress.
$16.00
Sauteed Calf’s Liver, Moscow Style
Two slices of liver gently sauteed medium rare with onions, wine, lemon juice in butter, accompanied by roasted mushrooms, sauerkraut, two stuffed mushrooms and carrot salad.
$13.00
POULTRY
Chicken Breast with Oyster Mushrooms a la St. Petersburg - Kuritsa s Gribami Po Piterski
Two simmered chicken breast roulettes, stuffed with ground chicken, spinach and oyster mushrooms in a Mushroom-creamy sauce. Garnished with roast potatoes, carrot salad, rice and beet caviar.
$17.00
Chicken Paprikash, Moldavian Style - Kuritsa s Paprikoy, Po Moldavsky
This Hungarian staple migrated to western part of the former Soviet Union across the Carpathian mountains, bringing with them a satisfying piquancy and bite. Rich chicken stew with green peppers, whipping and sour cream, and paprika. Served with Mamaliga - Moldavian cornmeal mush.
$16.00
Classic Chicken Kiev - Kotleti Po-Kievski
Chicken breast stuffed with butter, fresh lemon juice, breaded, baked and then deep-fried to golden brown.
$14.00
Crispy Chicken Tapaka - Tsyplionok Tabaka
This great gift of Georgian cuisine has captured taste buds of every connoisseur of the former Soviet Union. Whole cornish hen, flattened, brushed with garlic and dill, then fried to golden crust. Accompanied by spicy tomato sauce, turnip salad and traditional garnish.
$15.00
Chicken Croquettes Pozharski - Pozharskie Kotlety iz Kuritsy
Two fluffy and delicate ground chicken patties rolled in bread cubes, baked and served with buckwheat kasha, roasted potatoes, carrot salad and Mushroom sauce. Named for the Chef and proprietor of the renowned tavern in the exotic little town of Torzhok on the Tvertsa River, where travelers to Moscow traditionally stopped to change horses. The legend says that Czar Alexander I once stopped over to try Pozharski’s famous dish. To Pozharski’s horror, he was out of veal, which was then the original recipe. His wife, for fear of insulting the Czar, suggested tricking the guest by serving chicken instead. Alexander I was fascinated by the meal. Courageous Pozharski confessed his swindling. But the Czar, who was spellbound by the dish, instead of criticizing the Chef, gave him a medal, and immediately put “Pozharski chicken” on the royal menu.
$16.00
WILD GAME
Grilled Quail with Dried Cherries - Zharennaya Perepelka S Vishnyami
Two whole, succulent, marinated and grilled quails with sun-dried cherries, served with a Pomegranate sauce, and traditional garnish.
$17.00
Stuffed Quail, a la Galitsyn - Farshirovanaya Perepielka Po Galitsynski
Whole baked quail, deboned, and stuffed with ground chicken breast, mushrooms and onions, served with pomegranate sauce, stuffed mushrooms, roast potatoes, grilled pineapple slices, and carrot salad. The Galitsins, a large and distinguished family, were descendants of the XIV century’s Lithuanian Grand Duke Gedieminas. The Galitsyns have greatly served to Imperial Russian Court as advisors, state heads, and bureaucrats - from Czar Alexis, father of the Peter the Great, to Alexander I.
$18.00
Marinated Venison With Raspberry Sauce, Careme Style -- Oleniatina Po-Franzuski S Malinoi
Two venison chops, grilled to the temperature of your liking, served over raspberry and wine sauce, served with poached prunes, baked apple and marinated beets. (Medium Rare recommended).
$27.00
Roast Pheasant “Erevan” with Ararat - Armenian brandy - Fazan po Armyanski
A whole baby pheasant served with a walnut and pomegranate sauce, grilled pineapple, poached prunes, walnuts, Lobio salad, turnip salad, and steamed rice. Accompanied with Ararat - a genuine Armenian brandy named for the monumental mountain which is said to have been the resting place for Noah’s Ark and for the ancient people of the region - Urartu. Unlike their American counterparts, Armenian connoisseurs enjoy their meals together with their wonderful brandy. Enjoy!
$27.00
VEGETARIAN ENTREE
Mash Mush (Mung Bean and Vegetable Stew) -- Mashkitchiri
In Uzbek, mash means mung beans, and is very familiar to health food enthusiasts and well known to connoisseurs of Indian cuisine. Mung beans are a staple legume throughout Central Asia. Mashkitchiri is a wonderfully satisfying vegetarian meal of vegetables, mung beans, and rice, jazzed up with hot paprika and cumin seeds.
$14.00
Uzbek Vegetarian “Layer” Stew -- Domlama
Vegetarian a must!! A delightful and succulent stew of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, “-dressed” garlic, red peppers and cabbage, touch of cumin. The secret to this great dish is that we put all the vegetables in layers, and while they simmer for quite some time, each of the components is fully absorbing flavor of all the others. Enjoy!
$14.00
Stuffed Green Bell Peppers
The healthiest and tastiest of all! Two huge green bell peppers stuffed with a succulent combination of sauteed vegetables - celery, potatoes, carrots, parsley root, onions, paprika and fresh c---ilantro, then baked in the oven with a homemade tomato sauce on top. Served with sour cream.
$12.00
Chick-Peas and Onion Stew - Nukhat
Tadzhik chick peas and onions, stewed in vegetable stock with tomatoes, red pepper flakes, paprika, coriander, and cinnamon. Served with thinly sliced onions.
$12.00
Stuffed Eggplant Vegetarian Platter
Two baby eggplants with sauteed onions, carrots, red pepper, and celery. Served on a bed of rice with tomato sauce, Lobio, and Tashkent carrot salad.
$12.00
Ukrainian Potato Dumplings - Vareniky
This magnificent dish of dumplings, filled with potatoes and shaped as a half-moon is permanently listed on all menus - from peasant’s home to the most sophisticated Russian and Ukrainian restaurants. Fourteen varenikies, boiled and lightly sauteed with onions, served with carrot salad, Vinaigrette and sour cream and yogurt sauce on the side.
$14.50
FISH
Baked Sturgeon With Pomegranate Sauce - Zapechonnaya Osetrina pod Vinnim, Gribnim Sousom
A beautiful and mouth-watering dish - an 8 oz. sturgeon steak grilled and baked to perfection. Served with beet caviar, roast potatoes, and carrot salad.
$25.00
Steamed and Broiled Salmon with Spinach Sauce -- Lososina s Sousom iz Shpinata
Salmon steak marinated with lemon juice, steamed and then broiled, served with creamy spinach sauce. Served with roast potatoes, beet caviar, and carrot salad. This recipe will delight both the eye and the palate!
$18.00
Armenian Style Trout -- Forel Po-Armyansky
Succulent filet of white trout, broiled and served with Armenian lemon, tarragon, and walnut sauce.
$17.00
Classic Sturgeon Kebabs - Shashlik iz Osetrini
No genuine Russian restaurant, whether in Russia or abroad, would be authentic without this masterpiece. A skewer of cubed juicy sturgeon, marinated in our original marinade, brushed with sour cream and grilled to perfection, then garnished with green onions, dill sprigs, quartered tomato, lemon wedges. Accompanied with oven roasted potatoes, dill, carrot salad, and turnip salad. Served with a pomegranate sauce on the side. While eating this dish will not make you a Russian (unless you are already), you can, at the very least, assertively declare that you were in the real Russian restaurant.
$25.00
