Cafe Glechik

My go-​to for Russian/​Ukrainian food in Sheepshed. A bit expensive sometimes but personally I don’t mind. Try the dumplings!
Also on a side note I haven’t heard too highly of their delivery services, but since I only dine-​in this hasn’t been factored in to my rating.

Glechik. I don’t quite get how Glechik operates. On one hand, it’s delicious, quality Russian food, with good ambience (once you get past the emotional atrocity that is the front of the house, more on that later). On the other, as take-​out and delivery, they are worse than worthless. 90% out of the times we have ordered pick-​up, and we have ordered it at least a dozen times, it has been a disaster. So before I start, I will justify my score right now. As a dine-​in restaurant, I give them 4 stars. Their Russian kitchen is good to great (varies with the day but fairly consistent), definitely a bit overpriced for what it is, BYOB helps. As a take-​out, I give them negative 4 stars. Negative 4 stars. Take the average of that (4+ [-4]) = 0. Divided by two is still zero. However, I’ll bump them up 2 based on how much I do enjoy the food when they ARE on point.
One of the reasons I hate ordering pickup is that the front of the house is laughably bad. They constantly mess up the order, clearly not even putting in until you get there. Then you have to sit there awkwardly with those girls, who despite looking like they are in their late 20s, have the affect and vocal pitch of a week old corpse. Oh, you were told 15 minutes? It’s going to be 45 more once you show up. That’s standard. And consistently the case. You just stand there and they stare at you begrudgingly. This goes on for 30 minutes, if you’re lucky. Feels great. I’ve done this too many times by now. Some items will be extra cold and some will be freezing, but HEY, some will be hot. What’s even happening? If that’s not the case, then it’s certainly of a much lesser quality than in the restaurant (way smaller, way sadder looking). Most recently, we came 30 minutes after to pick it up (being told 15). They said «Not ready for a while. We’ll just deliver». Hey, that’s annoying. And it’s not like you’re talking to beams of sunshine either; they seem so utterly dissatisfied with your presence in their life for that moment. Keep in mind, we are ordering in Russian. There is no room for anything to get lost in translation.
When it comes to dining in, service is hit and miss. It’s very rarely truly bad, but it’s just there. Don’t expect smiles or much in the way of politeness. *Russian* Russians tend to appear to be in a state of constant catatonic turmoil, as smiling is still, despite peretstroika, deemed as a repugnantly American activity. It’s a cultural thing. On vacation? Grimace. Stubbed your toe? Grimace. Orgasm? Grimace. Best day of your life? Grimace. Worst day of your life? Grimace. Don’t take it personally.
As far as eating in, don’t miss the beef/​chicken stroganoff, fried vareniki and their wraps (lula kebab wrap especially). Those are standouts that they do better than anyone else nearby. It’s a great place as a crash course for your non-​Russian friends, who will walk away pretty happy with the food, if not anything else. However, I guarantee that you don’t hate yourself enough to want to deal with pick-​up or delivery here. In my mind, based on what it’s lacking, it’s an incomplete restaurant, and my rating reflects that of an incomplete restaurant experience. Either perfect your takeout (even just try to improve it FFS) or don’t offer it at all. At this point, the latter will make more sense.
**Edit: Credit where credit is due: Besides the aforementioned dishes, their Napoleon cake may be the best you will ever have had.

This is a Ukrainian restaurant in Sheepshead Bay. The hostess was nice and the place is nicely decorated. I had the Borscht Ukrainian with Pompushka and Vareniki with sour cherries. The borscht was nice on a cold winter day. The Vareniki was ok. I love Vareniki but not a fan of the sour cherries. I should have ordered something more savory. A little bit chewy after a while on the plate.
I finished with a cup of coffee itch the Napoleon. The Napoleon was very rich and tasty. The coffee was really dark and strong. Not sure if this is Ukrainian style or not.
I would come back to try other items.

My friend’s friend introduced us to this place for Ukranian food.
I’m not sure how confident I should feel about this food when all I hear from the friend of a friend is «home cooking will always be better than the food here.» Shouldn’t that be a bit of the opposite?
Came as a small group of people and ordered a few dishes:
Red Wine: Not necessarily a food (but it’ll be food for me) but they gave us old wine to drink. Old wine as in few-​day-​old wine which started having an acidic not-​good taste in your mouth. I know my wine and know enough when it’s old wine.
Chebureki: It’s like an empanda with pork in it. It was ok, I wasn’t amazed by it.
Stuffed Cabbage: Surprisingly good — one of the rare standouts about the meal.
Potato with Mushrooms: It was ok — nothing amazing amazing. Very homemade taste.
Lamb Kebab: Pretty good — the meat was tender but it was ok.
Beef Stroganoff: Not too bad, but again nothing amazing.
Overall this place was only ok at best. They rushed us with a check quite early which I didn’t appreciate. I wouldn’t come back here.

I was so disappointed with my meal yesterday. The food was under seasoned, if seasoned at all! The entrée that I got was the shrimp in a white sauce with mashed potatoes. The sauce came to me and it was starting to congeal and had oil sitting on top of it. When I tried it the food had no flavor and the shrimp was overcooked!!! The mashed potatoes were cold and tasted like they were made out of a box! I left hungry and severely disappointed. Never going again!

Brilliant Russian food. I think it’s as simple as that. I have been here with some Russian friends on several occasions. They play Tom & Jerry ALL THE TIME, they have fantastic food. What’s not to like? I think it could be slightly cheaper — like 10−15% less, but whatevs. Russian food is different, varied, and interesting. There’s no point even explaining it, because it’s so different to typical American cuisine. Just hammer it.

So when in sheepshead bay you need to get some good down to earth middle european (russian food). Café Glechik offers all of that in a fancy atmosphere. We decided to go here for dinner. I brought my two kids my wife and my mother.
Hostess was very nice and seated us promptly. For a Friday night it was empty and there were only a few tables occupied time was around 6 PM. He ordered an appetizer the avocado with lox salad. At $ 14 it was very expensive and felt like it wasn’t worth the price entrées ordered were lamb shanks for $ 14 a chicken patty of sorts entrée which was around $ 14 as well and grilled pork chops at $ 14 the most expensive thing was the compote which is a fruit-​based drink served by the picture or glass and that was also $ 14 which I found to be extremely expensive.
The service was very good the waiter was attentive explain to us the menu items and made suggestions based on what we wanted to eat the food took quite a while more than 25 minutes to come out but we realized it might have been the lamb shanks cooking from scratch. I would recommend coming here with someone that’s been here before or that knows the food in the menus are not very descriptive and don’t really explain what each dish is there are the usual fare such as kebabsRussian style salads, and dishes such a steak grilled chicken grilled beef and other various items. But if you really want to venture out and try something new you should ask the waiter or look to see what other tables are ordering. Russian style salads common dishes such a steak grilled chicken grilled beef and other various items. But if you really want to venture out and try something new you should ask the waiter or look to see what other tables are ordering. The entrées were very well priced around $ 14-​$ 25 at most. and the portions are large. food really is on point but the amount of time it took to prepare our meals was long.
Value can’t be beat and the atmosphere is absolutely welcoming. id highly recommend eating here if you are in the neighborhood and want some Russian style cuisine.

I am never ever ever coming back here! I was not just disappointed, I was disgusted! And I love Ukrainian food soooo much, but this place just worsened it all for me!
First of all, the moment we sat down, I realized its gonna be bad. We waited 10 minutes for the waiter to take our order. When they brought food, I just wished I never ordered it– everything was bad. Salo was too spicy, Solyanka was oversalted, Pelmemi were watery. Almost everything that I got I send back to the kitchen.
And every time I called the waiter, she gave me this signature Russian look– as if she is looking at a piece of you know what and it stinks really bad. I was very angry and was left hungry!
I do not recommend this place!

The food is good, every time I’m here, I want to go in, but stop myself after eye rolling every possible service scenario expected.

Russian comfort food… the location in Sheepshead bay has awesome chairs.

I was born in Kiev, Ukraine and came to New York in the 90’s. I live on Brighton Beach, I am surrounded by Russian and Ukranian food. During my many years of feasting on this type of food, I only have 1 favorite place that I have been going to as a kid. GLECHIK.
Their superior service has earned my patronage to their establishment and their food keeps my family and I coming back for more for all of our special occasions.
The siberian pelmeni are to die for, the right amount of spices and always cooked to perfection in an authentic Ukranian pot. Their home made drink (kompot) is always refreshing no matter what season we have it.
The desert which includes Napoleon and sweet apple crepes is the final treat that makes us leave with a smile.
One of the other major reasons we enjoy coming back is the cleanliness of their café. Both of the floors are free of dust, dirt and any unwanted friends if you know what I mean.
I would recommend this place to my friends and always do. and they are always pleased with the service and food.
Good job guys, you always make me feel like I am home and never left Kiev every time I step foot into Glechik.

The beef tongue is good ⁹⁄₁₀ times, the liver with mashed potatoes is delicious. They have a full bar so you can have some shots/​drinks at dinner. Olivje there is not good at all, but that’s the only disappointing dish. Everything else tried thus far has been good.

Awesome Russian Caffe with full bar and full Russian food menu. I recently had their chicken shish kebabs and they were amazing. Although their French fries seemed less than fresh: they were frozen and undercooked. Their fruit juice compot was good but lightly sweeter than my own preferred taste. The plate of Sours I ordered was really yummy too and totally worth 9 $. It was huge. I will definitely come back to this place. Not for dinner but for lunch or weekend brunch it’s great. Their upstairs room is also nice for events

It’s funny because I dub my family as «Russian» but we’re technically Ukrainian. This being a Ukrainian restaurant, I now see where all my dad’s favorite foods came from. I’ve been to a lot of Russian restaurants but none with food quite like Glechik’s.
There were about 10 of us with we split a bunch of zakuski (Russian words for appetizers) and a few entrees (although we were all VERY full after apps)
Smoked Mackerel
Smoked Salmon
Spring Salad
Tongue Salad
Potatoes with mushrooms
Mushroom Julienne
Vareniki With Mushrooms & Onions
Pork Schnitzel with egg on top
Crepes With Apples
Napoleon
Some things were great like the julienne and pork schnitzel (which was more like a pork meatball, deep fried) but some were not good (like the Napoleon, which tasted frozen).
Service was subpar. They also didn’t have basic items like coke.
As with most Russian restaurants, it’s BYOB, which is great. This made the meal very reasonably priced… about $ 265 with tax and tip for 10 people.
It was nice to try different foods but I definitely wouldn’t rush back.

Excellent authentic Russian cuisine. The veal dumplings are incredible — I could eat them like popcorn. The server was very sweet. Our wine glasses were poured generously and they even (wisely) had Tom and Jerry cartoons playing on their TV while we dined.

Great Authentic Russian Food!
I mostly order out from here as I did yesterday in the evening or I am usually invited here for a small casual occasion. The food is always on the money. If I would have to rate the food from a scale of 1 – 10 they would get a whopping 8!
When ordering for take out and delivery it does seem pricey. Bill was $ 135 for 4 people. But when dining in and eating family style its very fair & to top things off it even more fair is the price they charge for the banquets. You get so much food its ridiculous.
Do not forget to try their napoleon. It is out of control. For those who do not know napoleon is a famous Russian dessert flakey layered cake and can taste many different ways. Theirs is on the MONEY! They also carry very delicious Kompot.
Def recommend trying this place when you are in the Sheepshead Bay area and are in the mood for some culture variety.

Café Glechik is a unique Ukrainian restaurant experience which gives you the feel of the old country. The ambiance was amazing as you can tell when eating your food. Lots of little trinkets, wall designs, and paintings of what you would see if in Ukraine.
The restaurant has 2 locations in Brooklyn (Sheepshead Bay Road & Coney Island Avenue). Both located in the heart of little Odessa and where most Russian/​Ukrainian people migrate to when coming to NYC.
Lets get to the food. When dining at Café Glechik, I highly recommend ordering the Siberian Pelmeni, Hot Borsht, and a cup of Kampot. You will experience at mix of meat, vegetable, and fruit all in one sitting. No dessert needed after wards as you will be full to the nines. The prices are crazy cheap so get ready to get your moneys worth.
Can’t wait to come back!

This location is nicer then the other one. The decorations are a little over the top for me, but overall I think it works. Definitely creates and charm and authentic atmosphere they are going for. Also, this is not really a Russian restaurant, its more of an Ukrainian cuisine. The differences are subtle and complex, mostly its the quantity of sour-​cream that is on your plate.
I do have to say that this place has the best pelmeni with potatoes and mushrooms on this side of the pond. Just like my grandma used to make them. If I lived there, I would eat here at least once a week. They have all the comfort foods from home. Authentically made with lots of sour cream.
However, as with most of our restaurants, the service could be improved on. I had to ask for water a few times and when we got someone elses order, the waiter did not say anything, just gave us a dirty look and took away the plate. I mean, I understand its not your fault, but its not ours either. No need to be grumpy.
Also, I do not know how they would treat the local american population that is not familiar with our foods and customs. But order the pelmeni and see where that will get you.

«I wanna order things that we have no idea what they are.»
«Kay.»
And so we walked into this whimsical Russian restaurant, decorated with fake windows that look out to pictures of greenery, and dolls that reminded me of muppets and brought a smile to my face.
As I perused through all the previous Unilocal reviews, I realized that none of them were particularly helpful. The waiter saw and asked me, «So… what interested you? What did they say was good?» I didn’t have an answer other than «…everything?»
We decided NOT to have the famous Borsch soup but to order things we had never heard of instead.
«Surniki» Russian Style Cheese Cake (Pan Fried) — a cheese cake appetizer! It was delectable… crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Could be eaten for dessert.
Pelmeni «Moscow“Oven Baked with Eggs & Cheese — tasted like breakfast. I could have this for breakfast. It came in a pot covered by egg and cheese. Inside was more eggs and cheese mixed with little dumplings filled with meat. I still don’t know what this was, but I liked it.
And the SAUSAGE. Of course we had to have this. It was glorious.

Recently I had occasion to dine here for the second time. It was my mom’s birthday and they booked it in a street-​facing corner table on the second floor. It was amusing to have to take the elevator there. (My guess is that this elevator was already here before Gleichik II moved in, and the space was refurbished and re-​purposed from a medical office.)
Our waiter/​host, who resembled a 19^th-​century Ukranian serf (but plumper), was most gregarious and colorful throughout the night. The food was good as usual. I wanted to get the grilled sturgeon, but changed my mind when I found out it was bony as hell. So I went with old reliable, grilled branzino, which proved a toothsome morsel.
Everyone enjoyed themselves, though the highlight of the night was undoubtedly the presentation of a Chanel bag-​replica cake to a Russian teenage girl by her family, with the assistance of the aforementioned waiter. Check out the photo gallery for a pic.