Ukrainian National Home

Charming Ukrainian restaurant serving home cooked dishes, discretely tucked away at the back of an old building. The dining room is also charming in an unpretentious style complete with panelized oak. The dining room opens up into an old world dance school, so on occasion, if you are lucky, you may be treated to some nice polka music. Food, while not «haute cuisine», is tasty in a comfort food way. Service is straight forward, polite but a bit stodgy — true to their Slavic origin.

Every time I come here I feel like I’m walking into my grandparents’ dining room in the best possible way. Never crowded, always friendly and warm. Prices are reasonable. Vegetarian options available (pierogi platter and borscht, hello). Wayy more low-​key and inviting than Veselka down the block.

I am a native Russian and I must admit that this place is the one spot I go to when I feel homesick. Their borscht and chicken Kiev are fantastic, the flavors are very authentic. The cheese blintzes are scrumptious; get one with cherry and one with cheese– you won’t regret it!

Had brunch/​lunch there this past Sunday. We fled here when the place around the corner, where we’d originally planned to go (Café Orlin), screwed us over on the wait list. We were seated almost immediately and despite the staff being slightly overwhelmed by the high volume of diners that day, the food came quickly and everything was delicious. They even let my sister plug her phone into an outlet to charge it. The place is folksy and definitely not flashy or sleek, but the food is excellent, the prices fair, and the service is prompt and pleasant.

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Friday night. 10pm. My friend and I are out at the bar, and we are getting hungry. Neither of us ate dinner. So we walk along the east village looking for sustenance. I realize where we are and confidently suggest Veselka – I had been there before, it was good, and she had never been. We go and the wait is ridiculous. I look to the right and see a shining beam of light – an answer to our prayers – The Ukranian National Home. I remembered reading previously that it was better and less touristy than Veselka and I sheepishly suggest we check it out. My friend and I head in, going through a weird hallway, and are greeted with what we can only assume is the most authentic Ukranian restaurant.
There is a huge Ukranian family already seated. There are a few older Ukranian couples. This was it.
We ordered a carafe of cab sauv, I got fried potato pierogies, cheese blintzes and mushroom barley soup. My friend got a ukranian platter that I think had kielbasa, kasha, a roll, and pierogies. We were both in awe – it was absolutely AMAZING.
We were so tired by the end of the meal that we left the restaurant without even finishing our carafe. Doesn’t matter – we were more than happy having only paid around $ 25 each with tax and tip and all that wine.
Saturday morning, 11am. I wake up and I have to go meet my family – some from out of town, some from the suburbs, some from the city. They texted me asking for lunch suggestions in the Union Square area – I suggested max brenner, spice, and «authentic Ukranian» and headed downtown to meet them. Somehow, they all agreed on Ukranian. And so, I went back to the Ukranian National Home just 14 hours after I had left.
The waitress recognized me immediately. She brought me my leftover wine. We laughed, we cried, everyone loved their food, and I swore that this is the only place I will ever eat for the rest of my life. This ended up being a lie approx 5 hours later, but whatever, girls gotta eat.
I hope that me writing this review does not lead to more people going because it is so nice and authentic and not busy and hot hip and I love it so much so please only go if you promise not to ruin it.
THAT MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP THO

I love eating here. The food is great, the portions are big.
The atmosphere is not hip or cool or updated, which is actually feels kind of relaxing in NYC where everything is updated every 3 years. Everyone in the EV should stop by at least once.
If you’re feeling brave get the tripe it is delicious. You can’t go wrong with their varenykys/​pierogis.
The only complaint is there is a doorbell when people come into the restaurant which got kind of annoying.

Do yourself a favor — skip Veselka and get seated here immediately for delicious, high quality food with good service. Sure, Ukranian National Home may be a bit hidden and dark, but you’ll always be seated right away with friendly and attentive service.
In terms of food recommendations: the vegetarian schnitzel, potato/​cheese/​sauerkraut pierogi, and hot borscht served with brioche and wheat bread are all delicious. They also have classic sides like mashed potatoes, steamed fresh vegetables, and small house salads to accompany whatever dish you choose. REALLY good and reasonably priced!

Great restaurant for eatting Ukrainian food. The halukis is very good and the varenykys are delicious with many fillings to choose from (spinach, kapusta, mushrooms, farmers cheese, potatos and more). :)

I love this place. They have good food for good price. The pierogies are amazing. much better than Veselka which is over crowded and the prices are expensive.

One of my favorite restaurants in the city. Just great, honest food for a reasonable price. Never overcrowded like Veselka, which is its hipster, yuppie neighbor.

This place is a hidden gem. Skip Veselka. The food is amazing, the atmosphere is such a nice change of pace, and our server, Magda, is the best. Schnitzel, stroganoff, kielbasa, and latkes. everything is wonderful. Highly recommended.

Consistently good… Lunch Specials an Unbelievable bargain…
Simple, Quiet, Grandma’s dining room atmosphere…
For those interested, they have very cold Ukranian Beer
Highly Recomended

Cozy, comfortable, great home-​like ambiance
Nestled away from the street by a separating corridor, this restaurant is a real gem. With various East-​European inspired decorations adorning the walls and tables, the restaurant really makes you feel like you are in somebody’s home.
The food too is amazing. Keep an eye (or tongue) out for the stuffed cabbage dish. The combination of rice, cabbage, meats and potatoes, doused with amazing gravy may seem simple at first, but like its many other dishes and the restaurant’s overall feel, it’s a combination that really goes well together.

If you’re stuck waiting for Veselka, you might as well give up and head next door. It’s much quieter and has a warm home feel to it. As soon as my friends and I sat down, we were given water and a basket of bread, a mix of pumpernickel and heavenly challah.
I knew I had to order a cold borscht soup. I’ve been craving it for several months and I regret going with the small cup. It was so refreshing and the egg was quartered. Please, if you order the borscht, make it a bowl. Get the whole egg in there!
My friends ordered the platter#1 and some veal on pasta dish, and I got platter# 2. Platter#1 — from what I sampled — is absolutely delicious. The stuffed cabbage and slaw at other places are sometimes a little bland but this place has it right. Great balance of sweet, sour, and savory.
My platter was a little smaller but fantastic in its own way. The sauerkraut and mushroom pierogies were juicy, and paired nicely with a generous dollop of sour cream. The potato pancake was fluffy and not starchy. The cheese blintze melted in my mouth. I might have cried a little.
To finish off the night, we all had a blueberry blintz — lightly fried and sweet.
I’m looking forward to my start in many many returns to UNH.

Excellent! Very filling and not too expensive. Growing up in a Polish neighborhood this was like back home good. Large portions and not overly priced. Definitely recommend. I had the Ukrainian platter and it was enough for 2. Fresh bread too! The schnitzel was tender. Great find!

The Ukrainian National Home is unlike any restaurant I’ve been to in Manhattan. You walk down a hall feeling like you’re in a retirement home (which, if you were headed upstairs, you sort of would be) and enter a restaurant that offers no views of the street and is 100% its own world. The food is authentic, filling, excellent and affordable. The staff is friendly and solid. You are in a different country at The Ukrainian National Home, and it’s nearly impossible to believe that it’s in a neighborhood that is essentially Mardi Gras three nights a week. This place is unique, and it’s especially great to eat there when the ballroom just beyond the restaurant is full of young (and older) couples taking classical/​traditional dance classes. The Ukrainian National Home offers genuine respite.

So my friend, who’s family owns a restaurant, singled this place out as one of his top places. So taking his word, we both went down to the Ukrainian National Home to give it a shot, and what a shot it was.
I ordered the pie-​rogues (cheesy, spinachy, oh my god); they were magnificent. Super delicious. The atmosphere was so… Ukrainian. It felt as authentic as one might come to expect from a place deemed a «National Home».
Now, literally 3 months after I had eaten there, being a film student in the New York area, I was reading famous director Sidney Lumet’s book «Making Movies.» On the first page he describes how he would set up rehearsals in the Ukrainian National Home. I immediately messaged my old friend asking him if that was the same restaurant we had gone to 3 months earlier. He said yes. What a history this restaurant has. Holding host to Lumet and his actors; it was also a communal centerpiece. Ukrainians would come here to discuss and argue against the Soviet Union. This place is certainly an icon in the city.
Good food, good history, nice neighborhood, give it a shot!

We came here based off the reviews and were disappointed that the food was terribly bland and flavorless. No other way to describe it
borscht was fantastic, pierogies really great. Entrees were bland and flavorless. Kielbasa was okay but I’ve had better. Reviews on Unilocal were extremely overrated

When it’s 10 degrees outside, it makes sense that you head for a cuisine of people who are in a constant struggle to stay warm right? Well, it made sense in my mind and being in the neighborhood, why not go for some Ukrainian? This place is set back from the street, but definitely worth finding.
Things to get, the potato pancakes with applesauce, definite winner of the night. Stuffed cabbage and the sausage are also must gets, and both come in their combination plate along with pierogies (or varenyky in Ukraine) and other goodies.
As a warning, the portions are huge here, you can easily split an entrée and a side or two with someone else and be filled up.

For my 100^th review I have carefully selected one of my favorite places to eat the food of my people in the city, The Ukrainian National Home. As you walk towards the establishment on 2^nd avenue an awning looms, as you approach closer to the doors you will see a chalkboard of specials. You must walk into a hallway through the glass and metal doors that one would consider more suited for a pharmacy or perhaps another bank. But just a short 10 or 12 step down a slight incline you will be ensconced in the warm glow of neon and at the doors of the best eastern European food around. Walk in and wait only a moment to be greeted and seated .
Take in the shiny clean wood paneling walls and floor, the pleasant looking art hung every few eye movements apart, the artistic plates above the wooden cross beam and the festive clothing behind glass of this cozy institution. The restaurant has about 10 to 20 tables and in the back has a nice sized banquet room with plenty of space for celebrating, dancing to a live polka band or listening to some Solomiya Krushelnytska.
My heritage and family history was cultivated in this area and the home is a place I go to remember it at its best. Eastern European stick to your ribs fare so you can satisfy a «plow the fields» hunger, made by loving hands, served in a place much like my baba’s dining room.
The pierogi (perogies, we were taught to pronounce it «Pirohi»), soft medium sized pillows of dough come your choice boiled or fried (Perozshki) with fried onions, stuffed with either, cheese, potato, kapusta (sauerkraut) or meat and even a fruit filling if you like. With a side of sour cream you will find yourself very satisfied. I always order potato and no other. The holubtsi (stuffed cabbage) is with a brown sauce, so delicious, tender and flavorful. The kovbasa or kiełbasa is good and flavorful. The nalensnyky (blintzes) are pretty good. The borsch is served either cold or Ukrainian hot. Oh, and the gigantic potato pancakes are also so very crispy, hot and just wonderful. Served with apple sauce or sour cream, I get both. Thats what I order! Every time I go there. Yes, they have a more extensive menu and I really want to delve in to explore the halusky, Ukrainian Goulash, stuffed peppers, beef stroganoff and more, but I always end up yearning for the simple dishes I remember the most served at my baba’s table as a young one. Come have a visit for a taste of Ukrainian heritage, leave satisfied, stuffed to the gills with a package of leftovers for the next day. Enjoy!