Russian Deli Eliseevski

This is my favorite russian store. It’s very clean, has a fantastic selection of pretty much everything a russian person might want to purchase when it comes to soviet and modern food staples.

The lady behind the counter asked me what I was looking for, clearly I’m not their typical customer but I like weird things, especially Russian things because I had seen them before in my earlier years as a young child in Haerbin, which is very close to Russia, and it used to have more Russians than Chinese residents. I said to the lady behind the counter that my father is from Haerbin and that I was fascinated by the store item that I often saw as a young child in that part of the world. She said, «Oh I have Haerbin customers. They love the sausages.» In Haerbin, we made sauerkraut and stuffed our own sausages. We also drank beer in the dead of winter where there was nothing but snow and icicles outside.
Father used to bring back a lot of «Lao Mao Zi“‘s goods, Lao Mao Zi referred to the Russians who lived in Haerbin and they had their own stores and restaurants alongside of the Chinese.
Tracing further on the paternal side of the family’s blood line, you see Europeans, Koreans, Japanese mixed with Chinese. Coupled with the staple diet more akin to Russian, German and Korean than Chinese, I often find myself linger in Eastern European markets.
I bought things for father: sausages, which surprisingly tasted just like the ones we had in Haerbin; pickled mushrooms and pickles; and for myself, I get spats in oil. And I debated on which kind of cod roe I should get: there were three different brands, one Russian, one Germany and one Norwegian.
Haerbin sausage, as written in wiki: «In northeast China, especially Heilongjiang’s largest city Harbin, a popular regional specialty is smoked savory hóng cháng (红肠，red sausage) similar to Lithuanian and German sausages and mild Russian sausages with more «European» flavours than other Chinese sausages. It was first manufactured in March 1909 by Lithuanian staff in a Russian-​capitalized factory named Churin Sausage Factory, located in Harbin’s Daoli District.»
It’s not as farther down as Europa Plus, this one is actually in Inner Richmond as opposed to Richmond proper, which makes it more attractive locale for me. On top of that, father exclaimed, «this is the exact taste as I had when I was young in Haerbin, perfect with a Pilsner.» I had never seen him this happy.
A nice find — she has gained another customer who’s also of Haerbin origin. I’ll be on their frequent buyer club list.

I like trying different things, so I dropped into this Russian Deli. I don’t know the first thing about Russian cuisine, but I picked out a couple of salads I might enjoy including an unusual cheese salad that was quite tasty.
Definitely a nice place to browse, and see if something interests you.

We come here every time we visit San Francisco– this Russian Deli has quality meats, cheeses, and a little market section for imported Russian drinks, frozen dumplings, spices, candy, fruits, nuts and more! My boyfriend came from Uzbekistan and is thrilled we can get food from his childhood– and it is really phenomenal! The deli attendants speak Russian with him are very friendly. We like to try new meats and cheeses each visit and the attendants are happy to allow you a small bite if you ask– each time it is always fresh and flavorful. We will continue coming back! Thank you!

they have a nice selection of sausages, I like the smoked Polish sausage, they also had smoked fish that looked pretty good and goes well while drinking beer
they also had several types of Russian soft drinks that were interesting, I thought the lime green Russian soda in the bottle was very good
and the prices are very reasonable, it’s a nice little deli and good service, they even gave me a few samples to taste
nice people too :)