Babushka Russian Deli and Restaurant--Walnut Creek, CA (Russian cuisine)

This unexpected hidden gem houses a family-run deli and restaurant just outside the downtown Walnut Creek area. Located at 1475 Newell Avenue, this quiet restaurant felt very comfortable, while offering exceptional food in a slightly upscale manner. While the usual Bay Area restaurant packs in as many tables as possible, Babushka chooses to have a bit of wiggle room in between tables and chairs, creating an almost-private dining experience for each small group or couple.

The feeling of having some room to breath was unusual but very noticeable. Not being distracted by a neighboring table's conversation, or getting bumped by the next person's chair was also really nice. It was a wonderful change of pace and the presentation and quality of the food was very impressive.

Here were some of the things I've enjoyed.

http://www.babushkafood.com/


Piroshki. Two fillings of crispy puff pastry were on this plate. One was spinach and the other was beef. Both were topped with a Dijon mustard emulsion and served with a shaved celery and carrot salad with lemon vinaigrette. The beef and the spinach were almost equally savory, not overly enhanced with other ingredients and very tasty. The salad was fresh, crunchy and had just enough acid to cleanse the palate between bites.

Wild Boar. A very succulent wild boar was stewed for a long time with carrot, onion and celery until very soft and served with a lima bean ragout, buckwheat and topped with salad achu chuk and a zesty herb sauce. The buckwheat had great flavor and texture. The dish as a whole was piping hot and felt very comforting.

Lagman. Another fantastic meat dish. This one had tender lamb with carrot, onion, celery and bell pepper. The sauce was very savory and had a bit of tomato. The potatoes were fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside and worked very well as a sauce-sopper. This was also impressively piping hot.

Honey Cake. It may look quite modest, but this medium density, moist, not-too-sweet, creamy layered cake is in my book of "best" cakes I've ever tasted. The vanilla cream was sweet, but not overly so and the light honey drizzled around the plate added a nice gentle sweetness that complemented the whole dish. The craftsmanship of this cake was very impressive. So much so, that I even bought another order to take home.

I have not tried the deli section of this establishment, but if I'm in the Walnut Creek area, I will definitely stop in to try it out and hopefully get another bite of honey cake. For a taste of Russia with a slight French influence, I would recommend coming by for a visit.