The Bite: Vanka Cafe's Meat Schnitzel Is The Ultimate Comfort Food

The egg-topped meat schnitzel, with buckwheat kasha, at Vanka Cafe. (Photo: Alex Ellefson / Sheepshead Bites)

THE BITE: Russian eatery Vanka Cafe may have crafted the ultimate comfort food when it topped its meat schnitzel with a fried egg. Cut into the egg and let the warm, golden yolk soak into the fried spicy protein below.

The restaurant, squeezed into a modest storefront at 3810 Nostrand Avenue, serves portions big enough to start a war between your stomach and taste buds, and prides itself on its traditional homestyle Russian cuisine. Indeed, the first bite of the schnitzel ($7.95) recalled warm hearths at grandma’s house swaddled in cozy blankets. It’s served with coleslaw, a zucchini, and side a of your choice. I ordered the buckwheat kasha, which didn’t really keep pace with the outstanding flavor of the protein. But then, buckwheat is sort of the poor man’s barley anyway.

The same cannot be said for the side of the boiled potatoes that came with my appetizer. Slathered in melted butter and cooked to perfect consistency, this plate was equally as soul-warming as the schnitzel. The potatoes were served alongside a fillet of chilled herring ($5.95), which is marinated for days with vinegar, oil, and onion. Garnished with dill, cilantro, and lemon, this salty seafood starter is a more elegant expression of the pickled herring I enjoyed as a child.

The herring appetizer at Vanka Cafe. (Photo: Alex Ellefson)

Executive chef and owner Zumo Ashurov opened Vanka Cafe in the summer of 2008 with “a vision of creating the kind of eatery where everyone feels comfortable, satiated, and at home,” according to the restaurant’s website. Ashurov seems to have succeeded. I scored the last open table on a recent Monday night when I entered the crowded restaurant. Guests chatted amongst each other across the royal red table covers, which matched the heavy curtains near the door. Everyone seemed at ease.

Vanka Cafe, 3810 Nostrand Avenue, between Avenue Y and Avenue Z, 347-702-4023. Open Sunday – Thursday, 11am – 11pm, Friday and Saturday, 11am – 12am.

The Bite is Sheepshead Bites’ column exploring the foodstuffs of the Sheepshead Bay area. Each week we check out a different offering from one of the many restaurants, delis, food carts, bakeries, butchers, fish mongers, or grocers in our neighborhood. If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.