Troyka Restaurant

I always give a place twice before I say something about it but I definitely don’t like this kind of food

Never again, I was made to feel like I didn’t belong in here. I’m not Russian, all eyes staring and not in a good way. Asked for description of some items, was practically snarled at. Of yeah, parking is a nightmare… Stay away

If David Lynch was a Russian this restaurant would certainly be in his film. I could see people loving or hating this place.
First, the food was good. I had the red borscht and the beed stew with buckwheat. It was tasty.
The atmosphere however was crazy. A «B» rating met me before I even opened the door and the fact this place isn’t «A» rated caused me to think twice about eating here, but we were in a hurry and were tired so we risked it.
The inside of this place looks cheap and they clearly don’t care about the interior. The tables had plastic table cloths and there was no real décor to speak of. The furniture might have been plastic, but not sure… memory hazy on that detail. They have an old TV on the wall that was playing Russian movies or TV (in Russian of course) and the volume was loud and the TV kept skipping every 20 seconds. Nothing delivers on ambiance like hearing people yell at each other in Russian only to be interrupted by shoddy equipment from the Cold War era.
There were some old Russian men hanging out in a corner talking amongst themselves and staring at us like we didn’t belong. Then some old hairy guy with an ancient wrinkled dress shirt you could almost see through and that was unbuttoned revealing his sweaty hair body came in from the kitchen and sat down with those old guys.
The woman who served us was nice enough, but creepy. She was rather intense in an awkward way. Kind of like she wanted to cut out my spleen and add it to the menu. Her eyes were intense and bothersome.
The food was good, and I appreciated the bizarre atmosphere to a certain extent, but all in all i was glad to leave that place and happy to know I did not get food poisoning. So again, food is fine, but people and place are creepy.

That is Russian restaurant. As most of Russian restaurants are known for good food and bad service this one was not an exception.
The waitress looked like she was forced to work there, therefore her attitude and looks projected passive aggression and resistance. I think that is part of Russian culture and attitude to service.
Other than that the food was very tasty and the prices were amazing.

I came here with my Belorussian fiancé and his Russian mother on a weekend around 1pm… there was no one else in the entire place. The restaurant was deserted and, I swear to god, there was dust on my chair. We were ‘greeted’ by an angry middle aged Russian man who seemed rather confused as to why we were there. The only other person working in the place was our waitress and an older Russian woman who just sat in a chair and watched TV. It was very very odd service.
I may not be Russian myself, but I have had enough Russian food in my life to tell you that the food here was not that good. I cook better pelmeni than the pelmeni that was floating in my soup… My fiancé and his mom were not pleased with the food either and we happily left quickly. Also, the prices were pretty high considering the quality of the food.
As we walked out, I was wondering how this place is in business… then my fiancé nudged me and pointed out 2 black Mercedes parked out front. There were a few big tough-​looking Russian men hanging out around the cars and one woman. My fiancé whispered «Russian mobsters» and after I whacked him and said «not funny», he gave me that look that says he wasn’t kidding… Guess I know how this place is in business!

I made mystake of going there month ago, and i still feel bad about it.

I will never go to this freaking restaurant. I’m Russian and my husband is Russian as well, but he was a child when he came to USA, so he has a little bit Russian left. It was our anniversary, so we drove from Orange County to LA to go to Troika to enjoy a meal. When we came inside of the restaurant, we’ve been waiting for 10 minutes for somebody to come over and seat us. Then a man, I believe he was the owner, came and looked at us as we were homeless or something, and said «What?» I thought to myself; «WTF???» I said we had made a reservation for 3, and he looked at my husband and our son (6 year old) as they were bums and said «We have a dress code». My husband was wearing shorts with flip flops (shirt obviously)… He was so rude and just kicked us out, asked us to leave. I WILL NEVER GO TO THIS PLACE AGAIN!!! And my advise to the operators of this restaurant: Watch your customer service! (which actually you don’t know what it is, because you still live in USSR or Communism). Good luck with your business. The funny part is that the place was empty, no people… I guess they don’t like to make $.

Personally, I do like food there, try, «Bitochki po Odesski» the best with bakweet. Servise– it is Russian, what to expect. this is old type Russian cusine with a perfect choises of food, Yes they do mostly events, and I am personally spend last New Year selebration there, Just pay 150 $ But it was the best food, and a lot of it. My Gf was really happy there.

The foods not bad… that’s where the good part ends.
Maybe this place isn’t bad if you have an event here. But DO NOT come here just for a meal. They’ll let you in, they’ll take your order, they’ll wait 5 minutes, they’ll come back, they’ll tell you they aint got nothin.
But wait, it doesn’t stop there… You order something else, they come back another 5 minutes later, and still don’t have what you ordered.
Oh and never sit by the door, where the plants are, there are lots of bugs and flies.
They won’t charge tax if you pay cash…

for sure I will go there again! the food is great… If you want real Russian food!!!

Sameer’s interrogation story is classic. Only went there once as I wanted to take my husband to Russian restaurant. The classy Russian dining spot we wanted to go to had the doors boarded up. So. I Unilocal’d another…
Here we are at Troyka… The small hostess greeter spoke Russian at the door, and continued to even though we all knew another Slavic language and English. The food was not that glam, but the dancing was a wee bit too something else for me. Girls with girls, and the outfits were short, tight and straight from Vogue. Older fellows with girls. Excellent dancers at least, so not one foot of me was going on that floor! Great entertainment, like, if you were at a low end Vegas Cirque de Sol show in a sunken dance floor. The singers doing American knock offs in Russian were honestly very good. Vodka written all over everyone there. Desserts were from the café next door, and were excellent.
I was a bit concerned with the bill, as we dropped our credit card on the tray, and I thought we had broken fine crystal or something. The jovial waiter who spoke in the Slavic language of choice turned sour and expressed his «CASH ONLY» attitude and odd reasoning. He went back and forth from the cooking area to talk to the «manager» to our table. Again he would ask — got cash? We then decided to throw money on the table — $ 2.00 or something. I thought they were going to drag us into the back room with some seriously hostile advice. «Who are you?» even the waiter asked. The waiter warned us, if you come back again «BRING CASH». I was like, so American, «it is not written on the menu. Leave your mouth and logic at home.» That didn’t help either. If you get brave and go, bring cash, 911, passport, and leave your fear at the door. You have enter the former Soviet Union… once you pass through the double doors. Maybe it is a sign or something?

Gross.
The worst Russian restaurant Ive ever been to in my life.
Service is bad. Food is bad too.
They gave us «holodets» which had weird pink color. «Compot» tasted like pickles! Mashed potatoes from a box, not cool.

I grew up on Borscht and vareniki and while I still think my mother makes the best, this place is pretty close. The formal side of Troyka is open at night and serves up a great dinner — but I’m really a fan of the casual café where you can get take out or sit down for a quick lunch. They have two varieties of borchst — red and green — both are hearty and the portions are huge. Get a large take out container for only $ 5! It’s vegetarian too… The vareniki [potato filled dumplings] are best served with carmelized onions and sour cream. You might think this combination would be heavy but it’s actually very light and oh-​so-​tasty. They have lots of wonderful pickled things too — tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, beets, mushrooms — all really fresh. They also carry a small variety of Russian teas and soft drinks. And they stock the fridge with plenty of homemade goods, salads, entrees, ready to be taken home.

My visit to Troyka is a story of its own… forgive me for the long narrative, but I think it might be helpful for new visitors to the restaurant!
So I had heard from a friend that only Russians ever venture into Troyka Restaurant, tucked away in an uninteresting strip mall off Sunset Boulevard. I figured this must mean that the food is relatively authentic, and that I must give it a try. However, when I opened the door of the restaurant, I was shocked to see the place was totally devoid of customers. All the chairs and tables were draped in heavy white sheets, and bright lights shone from above, but the sounds of clinking forks and muffled conversations were absent. Suddenly, I am approached by a gruff-​looking man who bluntly asks me «What are you doing here?». When I explained that I wanted to get a table to eat, he told me to get out, and to go next door to the Indian restaurant. I once again tried to explain that I wanted to eat at Troyka, but the man continued to ask me about my ethnic background and why I had entered his restaurant. I was starting to get frustrated and mildly annoyed that the man had not only assumed that I was Indian, but had also decided that «people like me» could not appreciate the food at Troyka. Finally, after repeated requests to get a table, the man asked me if I had ever had Russian food. When I admitted that I had not had Russian food but that I had tried (and very much enjoyed) Polish food, the man responded «Wait here. DON’T GO!» and briskly walked out of the restaurant. At first I was afraid that I may have insulted the man… but when he returned, he kindly led me to a table, brought me a menu, and then very patiently and thoroughly described every item listed, giving me recommendations along the way. Assuming I wanted Polish food, he recommended the Ukrainian borscht (apparently the Ukrainian and Polish recipes are similar), and after I expressed my love of fresh cheese, he recommended the farmer’s cheese dumplings.
Since I was the only customer, I had the pleasure of watching my waiter friend walk over and tell my order to the only other employee at the restaurant (a woman watching Russian TV), who then slowly got up and walked to the kitchen, and proceeded to quite audibly chop the vegetables for the fantastic Ukrainian borscht. I had expected a simple beet soup, but was happily surprised to encounter a hearty stew of beets, cabbage, potatoes, and fresh dill, served with a dollop of sour cream. Within minutes, I had inhaled the entire bowl of soup as well as the dark brown bread that came as an appetizer. Next came the farmer’s cheese dumplings – TWENTY of them! – drizzled with a light citrusy oil. Had I ordered just that, I could’ve easily finished them all, but since I had just had a huge bowl of soup and four slices of bread, I had to take seven of the dumplings home with me.
I would definitely recommend the Ukrainian borscht and the farmer’s cheese dumplings. Both are vegetarian (as far as I could tell), and the sour cream comes on the side, so the borscht can be vegan as well (once again, as far as I could tell).
Once I’d finished, my waiter friend returned with a pocket calculator with the total displayed on it, as a sort of eco-​friendly paperless bill, and then proceeded to tell me his life story, and about how happy he was that a non-​Russian had come into the restaurant. He told me I should come back on a Friday or Saturday night, when there is live music and dancing. I told him I was very happy with the food, and that I would bring a friend next time… although I think I’ll have to warn them about the interrogation at the door…