Moscow Nights

 Well, after reading the reviews on this newsgroup, my wife and I were
 interested enough to try this place. Here's our experience:

 It was pretty good! Definitely kind of a kooky dining experience. We
 arrived at about 7:00 pm on Friday, stood outside in the freezing cold
 looking at the menu for a couple minutes while I scoped out the people
 inside. I had read here that the place might be a bit formal in dress
 so I was worried, as I was wearing jeans. Looked like I'd fit in,
 though, so we went in. Lights were very bright.  Host guided us to our
 seat, gave us menus.

 The clientele all were rather loud and boisterous, chatting loudly.
 Most of the people there seemed to know each other. I heard Russian
 being spoken from back toward the kitchen, which I counted as A Good
 Thing. Menu had a considerable amount to choose from. I ordered a bowl
 of borscht and "Russian Meat Stew" ("As it is prepared in the old
 country," so the menu said.) My wife ordered some kind of chicken
 cutlet dish.

 While we waited, we regarded the setting, taking careful notes so that
 we might report back to pgh.food. The place sort of matched my
 expectations of what a Russian restaurant might look at--some attempt
 at decor and style, but all just a bit offbeat and perhaps even
 downtrodden in some subtle but sad way. (Perhaps I've just been reading
 too much Dostoyevsky.) For instance, the silverware was the cheap
 flimsy kind made out of aluminum, the kind you give to your kid to dig
 in the sandbox with. The cane chairs were kind of rickety, like the
 kind you buy in KMart. The place had obviously just been painted, but
 it was a flamingo pink color that didn't do a lot for the atmosphere. I
 didn't care. I wasn't there for the setting; I was there for the food.
 In fact, the kookier the place, the better. The china looked very
 authentic, however, as if it was some antique somebody had pulled from
 their cupboard.

 We were sitting pretty close to the door, and every time someone came
 or left, a gush of cold air blew in, freezing us to death. This wasn't
 as annoying as it sounds, since I felt sort of like I was in a church
 basement for some kind of bakeoff or bazaar and hence for some reason
 didn't expect much. My wife said she felt as if she was at a wedding
 reception. I think it had something to do with the way people were
 sort of talking to each other--talking loudly across the room, not
 caring really who heard.

 Some burly, smiling guy who looked like Mr. Clean with a beard
 (including the earring) delivered water to our table. We attempted to
 make conversation and he agreed with everything we said. It was only
 later when we asked him to describe the dessert to us that we found
 out he spoke only about three words of English.

 The borscht came along with a couple of slices of bread. The bread
 appeared that it had been bought at Giant Eagle but the cream cheese
 that came with it was obviously homemade--it tasted very different than
 any kind I've ever eaten before. Knowing very little about Russian
 cooking, I imagined it made out of goat's milk or something. It was
 exotic. The borscht was very good. Sort of a slightly sour cabbage soup
 with a single potato plopped in the middle of it. As I ate the potato,
 I felt that this meager but honest meal would perhaps be considered a
 treasure in Siberia, a concept continually reinforced by the gusts of
 cold air that periodically blew through the door.

 The main course arrived, with Mr. Clean efficiently wisking away our
 empty plates. At first I was disappointed with the size of the portion
 of my stew. It turned out to be almost more than I could eat, however;
 the size had been deceptive. It was very rich with oil and sauce, which
 may account for why it was so filling. It was extremely tasty.  The
 meat was flavorful and juicy. My wife received something of a platter,
 with a chicken breaded with bread crumbs, molded into the shape of a
 giant drumstick, replete with a bone sticking out of the end. There
 were also some sort of sliced potatoes as a side vegetable that
 appeared to have been lightly fried. Also there was a spoonful of peas.
 These were canned peas--you know, insipid in color and flavor, kinda
 mushy. Again they were a symbol of the general theme of the place: a
 dramatic attempt at dash and flair which did not quite meet the mark
 because of some shortfall of sensitivity as to what comprises the
 mainstay of style, fashion, and refinement.  Again, I'm not knocking
 this--I found the lack of pretension refreshing.

 As we ate, the host began putting little reservation cards up on the
 table. Apparently the dancing began at 8:00 and the place becomes
 crowded for that. As that time neared, some guy appeared dressed in a
 shiny suit and a tie that had strange geometical patterns on it. He sat
 down behind the Casio keyboard thingy up on the platform that served as
 a stage and began to play, which was a weird experience. You know those
 Casio keyboard things that you play around with when you're at Sun
 Appliances or whatever? The ones that sound kind of tinny and toy-like?
 --Imagine someone playing one of these while you eat, and he's GOOD.
 It's obvious that he's put tons of time into practicing. He did magical
 things with the trite, synthetic, pre-programmed rhythm section, even
 if he was playing "Feelings" at the time. It was if someone was playing
 "I Did It My Way" on a harmonica in such a way that it brought tears to
 your eyes. This was an odd experience.

 Another odd experience was when one of the patrons informed my wife
 that she "matched the wallpaper."  It was indeed true that both my
 wife's blouse and the wallpaper were of a flower pattern. I looked
 closely into my wife's eyes to sense whether offense had been taken,
 but read only a vague kind of uncertainty, bemusement, and
 astonishment. So I made some sort of flippant response to the effect
 that "she always does this when we eat out" and we shared a laugh.

 Mr. Clean came back over when we had finished our meal, and we told him
 that we'd like to see the menu again so that we could order dessert.
 This is when we learned he couldn't really speak English. He
 essentially kept repeating "Kiev cake" and "Lemon (L'amour?) cake"
 again and again, and this we deduced was what they had available by way
 of dessert. My wife, always unpredictable, tested the bounds of the
 situation by asking him to describe what the Kiev cake was like.  He
 made a brave attempt, then brough over the host, who spoke English
 slightly better, but who nevertheless seemed to have a difficult time
 describing what the cake was like. We ultimately had to settle for the
 description that it was "not like bread." This sounded like what I was
 after, so I ordered the Kiev cake while my wife opted for the
 lemon/l'amour cake.

 The Kiev cake was some sort of multi-layered fruit cake with an
 structural underpinning made of wafer, sort of like those crunchy sugar
 cookies one eats as a kid. The fruit had sort of an off-taste to it,
 as if the cake had been left out uncovered in the refrigerator and had
 absorbed the odors of the other food, but then I recalled that many
 fruit cakes taste this way and so couldn't figure out if this was a
 good thing or a bad thing. My wife's lemon/l'amour cake was exquisite.
 I don't even know all that was in it--yes, lemon, but also some wafer,
 some kind of strange gel, a poofy chocolate thing on top, some nuts I
 think. It was very tasty.

 We found out that they didn't take credit cards--not yet, they're
 working on getting set up for it--but they were quite happy to take
 our personal check. Total for the dinner including tip was $41. Toward
 the end of our dinner, more and more people were coming in, being
 greeted with exuberant shouts and kisses on both cheeks. We were
 disappointed that we couldn't stay for the dancing but figured we'd
 come back again when it was warmer. A very different dining
 experience, one which was refreshing and fun.

 Someone wrote:
 > The food was delicious, and the service was excellent.  The decor is a bit
 > on the "let's get to it later" side, but it's reasonably comfortable.  We
 > had their Borscht (a wonderful meat/beet/vegetable borscht), Meat Blintzes,
 > and Stuffed Cabbage.  The price is right, and the owners are enthusiastic.
 > I THINK that their plans may include renaming the place, as the reputation
 > of their predecessor is hurting their draw.  At this time, it's a BYOB
 > situation, and hopefully they'll get to the place where that, too, will
 > change.

 I'm glad to hear that the food is still good and that the service
 has improved.  The one time I was there, the only argument I had with
 the food was that it was cold!

 Someone wrote:
 > I'm glad to hear that the food is still good and that the service
 > has improved.  The one time I was there, the only argument I had with
 > the food was that it was cold!
 >

 And the service was some of the worst I've ever experienced.

 ******************************************************************
 Jim Mann                      [email removed]
 Transarc Corporation
 The Gulf Tower, 707 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219  (412) 338-4442
 WWW Homepage: http://www.transarc.com/~jmann/Home.html

 Excerpts from netnews.pgh.food: 22-Feb-96 Moscow Nights by
 [email removed]
 > My wife and I had heard of the past criticisms of a Squirrel Hill Russian
 > style restaurant called Moscow Nights.  Since reading those "hits" (last
 > year), we heard that the place was under a completely new ownership,
 > management, and operating staff.  So, this past Monday, we decided to give
 > it a try.
 >
 > The food was delicious, and the service was excellent.

 My wife and I were there last night, and certainly agree with these
 statements. The service was very good and friendly.  The food was also
 good, particularly the borscht (which seemed unusual to me:  not as
 "beety" as others I have had).

 Overall, I would suggest ignoring the history and give the place a try.
 One down side is that it is a little empty at the moment, and the
 lighting does not exactly set a suitable mood:  we were more than a bit
 uncomfortable for the first few minutes).
                                                Mike

 ------------------------------------------------------
 Michael Trick, Graduate School of Industrial Administration
 Carnegie Mellon University,Pittsburgh, PA  15213
 [email removed]           http://mat.gsia.cmu.edu/
 Editor, INFORMS Online   http://www.informs.org/
 ------------------------------------------------------

 Someone wrote:

 >One down side is that it is a little empty at the moment, and the
 >lighting does not exactly set a suitable mood:  we were more than a bit
 >uncomfortable for the first few minutes).

 I was there yesterday, and the owner told me they would be
 moving to the South Side in March and possibly changing the
 name of the restaurant.  Hopefully they will do better there.

 Nick

 Someone wrote:
 >
 > My wife and I had heard of the past criticisms of a Squirrel Hill Russian
 > style restaurant called Moscow Nights.  Since reading those "hits" (last
 > year), we heard that the place was under a completely new ownership,
 > management, and operating staff.  So, this past Monday, we decided to give
 > it a try.
 >
 > The food was delicious, and the service was excellent.  The decor is a bit
 > on the "let's get to it later" side, but it's reasonably comfortable.  We
 > had their Borscht (a wonderful meat/beet/vegetable borscht), Meat Blintzes,
 > and Stuffed Cabbage.  The price is right, and the owners are enthusiastic.
 > I THINK that their plans may include renaming the place, as the reputation
 > of their predecessor is hurting their draw.  At this time, it's a BYOB
 > situation, and hopefully they'll get to the place where that, too, will
 > change.
 >
 > We liked it very much, and hope that you'll try it.
 >
 > (No relatives or other interests on our part.)

 We've eaten there once within the last six months.  We were very
 disappointed.  The entrees were adequate, but the sides consisted of frozen
 diced vegetables and thin mashed potatoes, both microwaved to scorching
 temperatures.  The sliced wonder bread added little to the appeal.
 Altogether, too typical of Pittsburgh's "they'll eat anything" style of
 restaurant.  I agree that the staff was enthusiastic, for whatever that's
 worth.

 Someone wrote:
 >
 > In article , Lee Kahn
 > wrote:
 >
 > > Michael T. wrote:
 > > >
 > information.  We've been wondering about that place, you
 > > have sold me on it.  We will definitely be there.  Thanks again...
 > >
 > > lee
 >
 > The other night I went to eat at the Murray Street Grill, next to
 > Moscow Nights and the building was empty. I suggest calling them
 > to see if they are still there...
 >
 > --Dave Cameron  -  [email removed] know the people who own Moscow Nights. The  owner was in a car
 accident and won't be reopening until may.

 Crazy8
 http://netco.lm.com <-- Use Netscape 2.0