Traditional Russian Food at Russian Castle Restaurant

In all of the time we’ve spent searching for interesting restaurants in Taipei, it’s embarrassing to admit that we’d never discovered Russian Castle Restaurant until now. Tucked away in an alley in Gongguan, this quaint eatery is beautifully decorated with antiques, giving it a cosy, vintage charm. The moment we walked in, it felt like we were transported out of Taipei and straight into Russia, surrounded by cute decorations, traditional clothing, and bottles and bottles of vodka. A friendly Russian waitress explained the menu and took our orders as we marvelled at our surroundings.

As we waited for our food, we struck up a conversation with the waitress, discovering that the restaurant is actually owned and run by a Russian man, who is also the chef. The restaurant has been around for over ten years, making it even more embarrassing that we only discovered it recently, and by accident. As we chatted, we also perused a corner of the restaurant that serves as a store, with Russian vodka and foodstuffs like pickles, jams and coffees for sale at reasonable prices.

Ordering at Russian Castle was simple, as they only do a set menu — one priced at $399, and another at $599 that includes an extra course. You just choose which drink, entree, and dessert you’d like, and then sit back and let the dishes be delivered. To start with, we got a shot of vodka (for an additional $100) and a glass of apple champagne. The vodka was pretty standard, but we loved the apple champagne — it was fizzy and slightly fermented, which was both interesting and delicious. We’d most certainly choose it again.

Next was the salad course, which was a beet salad made with onion and (you guessed it) beets. This was actually really delicious, and a great start to the meal.

Next was the soup course, which was borscht, an Eastern European soup that is typically made with beets and cabbage and is slightly sour. The borscht here was flavourful and well-balanced, easily one of the best we’ve eaten in our lives.

The extra course included in the $599 set menu was an appetizer, and we chose the smoked duck. This came thinly sliced and served with bread and salad, drizzled with a little bit of mustard. It was fantastic, although we suspected it had suffered from a tad or freezer burn in the back of the fridge.

Next up were our main meals. The first to arrive was the goulash, a hearty beef stew in a sauce of tomatoes, red wine, and sour cream served with pickles, salad, and mashed potatoes. This was delicious. The meat was tender, the sauce was thick and flavourful, and the balance of textures that the mashed potato and pickles offered helped to keep the dish from becoming boring. We were big fans.

The next main meal to arrive was the baked chicken with apple, served with the same trimmings as the goulash. We like this dish even more than the first — the chicken fell apart in our mouths, and the slightly sweet, tangy sauce had a hint of mustard that paired beautifully with the meat. We would come back just for this!

The last of the main meals was sour cream chicken, which was also very nice but didn’t quite compare to the first two in terms of flavour. The chicken was soft and the sauce was nice and creamy, and we almost wished we’d started with this so that it would have had a fairer chance of impressing us. It really was good, but it didn’t quite pack the same punch that the goulash and chicken baked with apple did as it was a little less flavourful, but we enjoyed it and appreciated that it was well-prepared.

After our main meals were taken away, it was time for the dessert course. We had ordered Siberian milk tea as part of our set meals, and they had thoughtfully saved these to be served with dessert, which was a great idea. The cold milk tea (left) tasted a lot like a Japanese milk tea that you’d buy in 7-Eleven, in the best possible way imaginable. The hot milk tea was even stronger, and a little less milky. They were both phenomenal and left us feeling deeply impressed with Russian tea.

For our desserts, we had chosen kefir with brown sugar (pictured on the left) pancakes with apple and ice cream (pictured in the middle). The kefir was interesting — a home-made yoghurt sprinkled with brown sugar. It was a nice option if you don’t like sweet desserts or really love yoghurt, but we will admit that we rather preferred the pancakes, which were pretty standard but very tasty.

We also got the olate, which are sour cream fritters. These tasted like a doughnut topped with sour cream and were really fresh and really good. Everything tasted great washed down with the milk tea.

Check out their menu down below:

Overall, we had a fantastic dining experience at Russian Castle. The ambience, service, and food were all great, far exceeding our expectations from a relatively unknown Russian restaurant we had stumbled across by chance on Google Maps. We had all tried Russian food before (either in Russia or in a Russian-influenced city in Mongolia) and every one of us agreed that the food we had here was comparable — if not better — to what we’d had in the past. Whether or not you’ve tried Russian food before, this is a great spot for an interesting, tasty meal in a restaurant that will make you feel like you’re a million miles away from Taipei. We highly recommend checking it out!

What’s the vibe?

Cosy Russian restaurant that 100% looks the part. When we visited, customers were mostly Taiwanese couples.

Worth it?

Extremely so! $399 for a four-course meal plus a beverage is a steal, and the food was all delicious.

Would you go back?

Definitely! We really enjoyed our meal, and the service was great too.

Russian Castle Restaurant

Chinese Name: 俄羅斯城堡

Hours: 12–3PM, 5–9:30PM

Phone: 02 8369 5899

English Address: No. 14, Lane 333, Section 3, Luosifu Road, Da’an District, Taipei City

Chinese Address: 台北市大安區羅斯福路三段333巷14號