Piroshki in San Francisco?

[leddytech]

Hi folks. Was wondering if someone could give me their opinions on the current "best" piroshki in San Francisco? I did a search, but basically there havent been many suggestions or advice in the last two years on where to go.

Some places that I found from running a search for threads in the the past 3 years are Gastronom, Moscow and Tbilisi Bakery, Cinderella Bakery, Europa Express, and New World Market.

Has anyone eaten a good piroshki here in San Francisco in the past year or two and can maybe give me some recommendations? Thank you very much for any info at all!

[Windy]

I also really enjoyed my piroshki (salmon, although I picked up another for tomorrow). But it's the borscht I'd return for. Wonderfully flavorful. I got my soup with beef, but the broth is vegetarian otherwise and hearty enough to make my college Russian teacher proud.

While I was waiting, I admired the cole slaw at nearby Paulie's Pickling, and took some of that home too. A real red cabbage day. This is great cole slaw: vinegar based, and definitely counts as a salad, not a condiment, full of shredded carrots. It could probably be a bit more tart, but that's easily remedied.

I also picked up containers of Paulie's chopped liver and white fish salad and loved both of them. The jars of pickles are available elsewhere in SF, but the marketplace on Cortland has sandwiches, spreads, and egg creams made with U-bet. Looking forward to returning.

Has anyone tried their home-cured salmon?

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Paulie’s Pickling
331 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110

[ROCKLES]

Ok, I tried Anda Piroshki...These handmade Piroshki are very good. The Smoked Salmon one is very rich and incredible-I needed a fresh tomato slice on top to compliment the awesome flavor.
The beef and cheese and beef and onion were very good as well, though I miss the deep fried style. My wife, being Russian, wishes they had a bit more flavoring but still thought that for a purchased product (rather than making here own) they were very very good. If you like piroshki, then I recommend you try them out. The owner Anna is very likeable person, she and my wife hit it off immediately.

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AnDa Piroshki
331 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110

[cheesecakeking]

Anda Piroshki is as good or better than the long gone but not forgotten House of Piroshki on 9th Ave.

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AnDa Piroshki
331 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110

[bigwheel042]

I have a soft spot for the ones at Moscow and Tbilisi bakery, even though they are huge greasebombs. Always assumed they were homemade but am not 100% certain.

[wolfe]

Anyone been to Anda.
http://andapiroshki.com/

[sugartoof]

Looks like yet another breed of Piroshki entirely (in both the dough/bread and filling) for San Francisco.

[Malcolm Ruthven]

It just opened a few days ago. Someone who is closer than I am has to go!

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AnDa Piroshki
331 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110

[rworange]

I think this was the place selling of certain days at another restaaurant. I'm pretty sure I read it on yelp, but it was difficult to decided if the positive comments were hype. Not sure if I asked about it here or not, but don't remember a response.

[MetalTomato]

I just saw a link for Anda, and although they don't look like the fried Piroshkis of my memory, they still look pretty damn tasty, AND I believe they deliver. I sent them an email asking about their shipping policy

[rworange]

Ohhh ... mailed piroshki ... I can't imagine that would be a good thing.

[Euonymous]

I went to AйDa Piroshki today. The proprietess (Anna) is very nice and the piroshki are delicious. They are the real Russian type, baked rather than fried. I got some stuffed with beef and cheese and some stuffed with potatoes, onions, and cheese. I had intended to have them for dinner tonight but my two kids have eaten most of them already. My older daughter has vowed to walk there every day this summer to get more.

They are really good!

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AйDa Piroshki
331 Cortland Ave, SF, CA 94110

[Windy]

looking forward to trying them soon, maybe with a little cold vodka Thanks for the report.

[MetalTomato]

they replied to my e-mail that they would let me know what the price to ship them in dry ice!

[Windy]

Hope you haven't been waiting 2 years since your original post!

[MetalTomato]

lol, in fact, I have!

[Mick Ruthven]

Just an update to this thread that San Rafael now has a quite good piroshki place.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/664542

[lae12345]

Nothing beats the House of Piroshki - I will spend the rest of my life trying to match the meat and cheese. The closest I've gotten is Cinderella Bakery on Balboa and 4th. They have a couple of varieties and do the sheet piroshki as well. And like all real White Russians, they provide soy sauce.

[Cynsa]

oh dear, here we go traipsing down memory lane again - I learned to have my piroshki with soy sauce from George and Sima at University Food - the cafe on Hayes Street near St. Mary's Hospital that fed all students so well in the 70's.

[wally]

And in the 60's.

[sugartoof]

Were they similar to House of Piroshki?

[Mick Ruthven]

I don't remember soy sauce at House of Piroshki. Did I just ignore it as I consumed those great piroshkis? I definitely need to get to Cinderella.

[sugartoof]

I was thinking the same thing. I don't recall any soy sauce.

[Robspace1]

I now live in Wa. state and have missed those peroshkis from the House Of Peroshki for years now. I have tried many others and none has come close to the taste of those I ate there in the 70s.In the 60s I ate there a couple times a week. Today, they would do a good business if they opened back up with the same recipe. Some times a place has a winning food to offer and this place had the very best!

[Cynsa]

I get piroshki at New World Market; but the very best was from a vendor at the Saturday Alemany Farmers Market.

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Alemany Farmers' Market
100 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94110

New World Market
5641 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121

[cheesecakeking]

I am another one who has unsuccessfully searched for a piroshki equal to those made at the House Of Piroshki in the Sunset years ago. They were fried, pillowy, and the fillings were perfectly seasoned. Unfortunately most I've tried since then are baked, the kind that look like turnovers. Some have been quite good but don't measure up to the House of P. Anyone found any that are similar, especially the pastry part?

[sugartoof]

Same answer - Paramount when fresh were the closest thing and it wasn't all that close. Their fillings have gone from so-so to outright terrible though.

Your best bet would be Cinderella Bakery. Still not the same.

[Joan Kureczka]

Very sad. I was also a House of Piroshi fan, and sorely miss its passing.

[Cynsa]

Cinderella has a very good fried beef and cheese piroshki - and I still like the mushroom piroshki at New World Market.

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Cinderella Bakery
436 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94118

New World Market
5641 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121

[MetalTomato]

I lived in San Fransisco in 1980, and although I couldn't tell you where the best Piroshki is, I have wonderful memories of this tasty walking food. I usually got my Piroshkis from corner stores. Once I went in to a corner store, picked up a newspaper and a Piroshki. When I went to ring up my purchase, the fellow says "Ah, Piroshki and newspaper; Food for mind and food for soul". I couldn't agree more!

Now, the question I have is this; I want to know how to get some Piroshkis from San Fransisco sent to me in my black hole of a town in NJ! I see a company called Paramount Piroskis dominating the first page of a google I did, but they have no shipping or purchasing info that I could see. I also saw a Mrs. Smith's product called a Piroshki somewhere online, but it sure as hell didn't look like a Piroshki.

[rworange]

Trust me that you don't want a Paramount piroshki. They are leaden and I think their main reason for existing is they keep forever in deli counters ... and usually taste like they have been there forever.

What type of piroshki are you looking for? Fried or baked? The former are the Paramount type. The latter are usually like savory turnovers.

Have you asked on your home board about what is local. While I know some parts of NJ can be remote, that is still close to East Coast Eastern European Central. Surely there has to be good piroshki in nearby NY.

[sugartoof]

If you were living in San Francisco during the 80's, I'm sad to say that style of Piroshki is near extinct, and has been for a long time. The closest thing would be a Paramount Piroshki, but they've now started using low grade fillings, and even fresh deliveries don't taste fresh. A few years back they were good for a close enough approximation, and you could luck out and get a fresh enough one that the texture, and grease soaking would bring back nice memories of the Mr. Piroshki days. They almost kinda looked the same if you squinted in the right light too. The rest of what's being sold in the city is along the lines of what you'd get in Brighton Beach. Wrong breaded texture, and wrong light grey mystery meat fillings instead of the fresh ground beef you probably remember.

[Mick Ruthven]

I lived in SF near the Irving & 9th Ave area in the late 70's. The House of Piroshki was on Irving, later moving to 9th Ave. They had the best piroshkis I've ever had anywhere. They closed several years ago and I keep trying to find ones as good as those, but so far haven't succeeded. I haven't tried all the places mentioned in this thread, though. Does anyone remember the House of Piroshki and can compare the places in this thread with it?

[sugartoof]

Sorry, I typed Mr Piroshki but I meant House of Piroshki... no idea why, but I always called the owner Mr. Piroshki as a kid...so my above comments would apply. Their Piroshki right out of the fryer, and their big egg white cookies have no equal.

I don't know about the farmers market suggestions but the Russian ones are different. Even if they look similar the filling is entirely different. If someone could find anything comparable I would be thrilled to hear about it.

[wally]

In the early 70's there was a place at about 16th and Geary that had some innocuous name and really good piroshki, but I didn't spend a lot of time on the other side of the park.

[Parigi]

I grew up in that neighborhood and knew the house of Piroshki well, even back when it was on Irving. The owner had travelled through China on his eventual escape to the US. He could still speak Mandarin ! Breaks my heart to hear that the place is no more. I loved, loved the piroshki there.

[vconmy]

Oh I have dreams about those piroshkis.!There was the place on 9th ave. and I seem to recall somewhere on Polk st.? I have tried, in vain, to find a recipe for those fried delights. Alas.

[rworange]

These places are the type that don't change over the years unless owners change. So any reviews about those places are just as valid today.

New in the area is Royal Market on Geary. They have a bakery in back. On my visit they had beef and cabbage
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/579978

Also, Israel market next to New World market has baked piroshki
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/454562

[kopeclau]

Yes yes to Royal Market on Geary. I had two very Polish grandmothers and there isn't a day that goes by I don't miss their cooking. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality at Royal Market. Give it a try!