SuburbanTasteland

Thanks, everyone, for the welcome. My apologies for the error in the hyperlink above. The poppyseed cake was a packaged product and was sort of like a rectangular version of babka. It was half chocolate and half poppyseed. The poppyseed portion had an earthiness of taste that wasn't exactly endearing- I can't recommend it. And if a fruit juice could ever be described as manly, this pomegranate juice would surely fit that description. I'm a big fan of the Pom line of beverages, but their juices are rather prissy in comparison. This particular juice, "Georgia's Natural Pomegranate Juice" is billed as "100% freshly squeezed" and further states the following: "Consists of premium fresh sun-ripe pomegranates to preserve the distinctive Georgian taste." That's Georgia, as in Tbilisi, of course. The smell is almost beet-like, disturbing yes, but the taste is a touch sweet with maximum tartness. I'm not sure how to rate it as I've never had anything like it before. It's definitely worth trying, but it's not like you'll be leaping to the fridge to drink it out of the bottle. As for Kvas, I've not yet developed a taste for it, but I am forcing myself to continue trying it until I learn how to appreciate it. Kvas has an extremely low alcohol content, and its taste has been described as fermented whole wheat raisin bread. So, yeah, it's definitely an acquired taste. I'd love to hear from actual Russians about how it's meant to be enjoyed. Like, does anyone in Russia just kick back on the couch with a glass of kvas for some leisurely afternoon television viewing or is it only enjoyed on special occasions or at meals?

We stopped in on Sunday and were apparently their very first customers. They were still stocking the shelves, so we couldn't get a full survey of the inventory. Nevertheless, the owners are the same people behind the Russian Gourmet in Mclean, and according to their Website, they currently maintain locations in Herndon and Rockville. I've only been to the Mclean location previously, and that location had reasonably good prepared foods, including decent piroshkys, and an excellent eggplant salad. They also had a fairly extensive array of packaged goods, including different varieties of black bread, and a freezer treat that is a sort of sweet cheese stuffed with jam and covered in a chocolate coating. The location in Alexandria did not have any prepared foods stocked yet, but they were barely ready to go when we stopped in. Still, we walked off with a 2 liter of Kvas, a bottle of pomegranate juice, and a poppyseed cake. They did not have the aforementioned freezer treat, but the owner promised that they're on the way.