381740 Fri Mar 16 10:27:05 -0700 2007 2 2 Los Angeles Area 0 2392224 As part of a "Soup's On!" dining series, a friend of mine and I put together for my dining group a series of restaurant outings where we got to try different soups around the world. We did everything from chicken mami soup from the Philippines to jade noodle soup from Thailand and ended the series with Russian borscht soup at Traktir in West Hollywood. On a side note, Santa Monica Boulevard going through WeHo is home to a host of awesome Russian delis. After our lunch at Traktir, we actually did a Russian deli crawl and some of the food we saw in those delis were amazing, from breads and pastries to salads and various cooked meats. Definitely check it out when you get a chance. Anyway, on to the food. While the primary draw was the Borscht soup, we all started our meal with a compote. When I went home, I did an online search for what a compote was and according to wikipedia, it is a light refreshing drink most often made of dried fruit (raisins, prunes, apricots, etc.) boiled in water with sugar and left to cool and infuse. The compote really was as the description said, light and refreshing. It reminded me of fruit ice tea. For an appetizer, I ordered feta cheese and kalamata olives. When the dish arrived, I was surprised to see a whole bunch of cilantro on top. It seemed like a lot just for garnish, but then I was told by someone in the know that you actually eat the cilantro with the olives and cheese. So I ended up doing a Korean BBQ thing, wrapped the leaves around a piece of the cheese and olive and eat them all together. The peppery cilantro really added some great flavor and green freshness to the mild saltiness of the cheese and the olives. What a great combo. Soon after the borscht arrived. This was my first time having borscht and given that I love beets, I was really looking forward to this soup. While the soup was quite tasty, I was a little disappointed. I expected more of a "beet" flavor to come through, but in some ways, this particular borscht reminded me more of a chunky tomato soup and tomatoes weren't even part of the ingredients. It was still a good soup, but just not what I expected. From the soup, I shared an order of Russian Vereniki (dumplings) with another diner. Our order consisted of three different verenikis: Potato Vereniki - Russian style dumplings with potato filling Meat Vereniki - Russian style dumplings with ground meat and spice filling Mushroom and Sourkraut Vereniki - Russian style dumpling with mushroom and sourkraut filling I didn't think any of the three Russian dumplings were anything to write home about. The meat dumpling had some good flavor, but the potato dumpling was bland and I couldn't even tell that there were mushrooms or sauerkraut in the mushroom and sauerkraut dumpling. At least the sauce for the dumplings were good, but without that great sauce, these dumplings would have been a waste of time. Overall, I'd say that lunch at Traktir was okay. I'd go back to check out some of their other dishes at another time, but be warned. Parking is a pain. There's a small parking lot, but primarily it's metered street parking and you know how much fun that is. To see pics, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594587148440/ Traktir 8151 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90046 (323) 654-3030 Thanks, Abby Fri Mar 16 10:27:06 -0700 2007 12403 pleasurepalate 1 2392688 That's funny, I just passed Traktir the other day and my mouth was watering thinking of a great meal I had some time ago with friends. From what I've heard, though, the menu can be kind of hit and miss -- other hounds have said the entrees are pretty generic and to stick to the small plates, which is what we did. I remember we ordered two kinds of "former Soviet republic" dumplings (I think one kind was from Georgia, or Central Asia, or something). One kind was okay, the other was awesome. Looking at losangelesmenupages.com, I guess one of them was pelmeni... it's possible that we also got the vareniki and were underwhelmed by those. We also had a salad... possibly the Darnitsky. My friend who'd lived in Russia was discussing some "typical Russian salad" with our waiter, and this was what he brought. I remember it have a delicious creamy dill dressing. We had compote for dessert and it was delicious with the tea. So simple, so good. Fri Mar 16 12:16:39 -0700 2007 2392224 17346 Cicely 1 2516172 We had a terrific late lunch at Traktir on Sunday--our family group of 5 (including my parents in town for the week) shared a bunch of appetizers and salads and a few grilled meat entrees. We were sorry that our favorite cucumber/crab salad is off the menu but we enjoyed a plate of very tasty pickled tomatoes, cucumbers, and slaw; herring (this one came without sour cream); assorted vereniki (I liked the potato ones best); chicken blintzes (excellent, the seasoning reminiscent of a classic chopped liver, although the rich mushroom cream sauce they were soaked in was the same one as the vereniki had and thus a bit of overkill). And the borscht, which was actually much heavier on the beets than tthe one Abby describes; the borscht we had the last time my dad and I went here was much more like the one Abby had--almost as if there are 2 recipes at work here?--anyway, we thought this one was outstanding. People tend to downplay the entrees but the three grilled meats we got were all excellent--crispy juicy chicken, the deeply and mysteriously seasoned lamb lula kabob, and simple, unimpeachable sturgeon. And lots and lots of potatoes. All of this goes so well with the vodka sampler--5 shot glasses which my dad was supposed to share with me but somehow I ended up with most of it. The pepper and raspberry vodkas are the best. (And Cynaburst drove on the way home.) We jealously eyed the banquet spread they were laying out at the next table, plates of salmons and salads waiting for a dozen or so older folks who slowly and grumpily drifted in as we were finishing up, and rapidly cheered up as they began drinking and eating. The waiter told us the banquet is now $40/pp (up from $35 the last time I asked) and requires a minimum of 8 people. WIll have to try to get a group together some time! We needed a break before dessert, so we walked next door to the Royal Deli and bought big hunks of creamy cherry cake, honey cake with a subtle and delicious meringue between the layers, and a fabulous poppy seed cake, which we consumed later in the afternoon with big glasses of tea. All in all this is a great place. Wed Apr 25 21:03:53 -0700 2007 2392224 10621 PayOrPlay