Rus Uz

Nice cozy restaurant with great service and really bad, flavor free food. Had the borsch and lamb shanks. Not worth the price at all. Very disappointed, and will not return.

Delightful experience! The food, welcoming atmosphere, and hospitable service took me back to my trip to Uzbekistan. The plov was very good and a safe choice for non-​adventurous diners. The manti were outstanding!!! Surprisingly, the dessert cakes were excellent — moist, fresh, light, and not too sweet.

I have been looking forward to trying Rus Uz for a while, because I walk by it on my way home, and it always smells great. From the outside, Rus Uz looks pretty fancy (white tableclothes), but it’s actually fairly casual on the inside.
The food felt hit or miss. I ordered the Plov, sans raisins, but, of course got a bunch of raisins. Luckily I was able to pick them out. The lamb in the plov was really tender, but most of my dish was bland, except the carrots. My friends got stuffed cabbage and stroganoff and loved it.
It seems like the other reviews all praise the service, but my table was fairly neglected. The waiter came by, took the order, brought the food, and brang the check. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special.
Overall, I was let down, but i’m hoping I just came on a bad night.

Great food. Had a delicious bowl of borscht followed by a bowl of pelmeni. The borscht was very flavorful, not heavy at all, and seasoned well. This is a dish that I’ve had a various restaurants, as well as at a Russian friend’s house growing up. The Kiev is also delicious. The blini and samsa as appetizers also left a good impression.
I’m taking away a star because I didn’t think the food was priced right. The borscht (small-​medium bowl) was $ 7, and the pelmeni (again in small-​medium bowl) was $ 14. Add an appetizer and a drink and we’re in the $ 30 range for food really «peasant» food in the motherland. But I will return to try the other dishes, mostly because it tastes really good.

By far one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve had in a long time. I highly advise you seek out another establishment if you’re desiring Russian cuisine. I really wanted to like this place, but after having to send back two different chicken dishes because the meat was too RAW to consume, I changed my mind about this place. Yes, they didn’t make us pay for the mess up, but come on now… two times? They got two chances to cook chicken skewers/​cutlet well enough to consume. The rubbery texture in my mouth is still making me nauseous. No way will I ever return here again. Wow.

This is one of very few Russian restaurants in all of Arlington and DC. For the ethnic atmosphere and polite service, I have given it three stars. However, the food is hit or miss. I went with a party of 5 and two had great meals, the other 3 of us were dissatisfied.
Pros — the Borsch soup starter was delicious and is a traditional soup. Not too heavy and definitely worth the order.
Manti — this was the best dish any of us ordered. staple in Uzbek cuisine. Large steamed dumplings with lamb and onions.
Beef stroganoff– great dish.
Cons — they recommend the Plov as the transitional Uzbek dish. It is very dry and tasteless. Even if it is traditional, it is not worth an order.
Chicken Kiev– again, very dry chicken and not much taste.
also, the wine glasses tasted like pure dishwater detergent to the point where we could not drink the wine.
Overall, this can be a positive experience if you know what to order. It is either great, or not so great at all.

I really enjoyed my meal at Rus Uz but it’s more accurate to say it was a 4.5 meal instead of a 5. I went with a group of people on Christmas Eve and so I was able to try a lot of different menu items and different infused vodkas. Overall, I lean more towards a 5 star rating than a 4 rating.
The infused vodka was on the whole a disappointment and this is the main reason why I wouldn’t give this restaurant 5 stars but 4.5 instead. We ordered the vodka tray which gave us a selection of 6 vodkas. I personally ordered the cucumber and dill infused vodka and it was bad. I didn’t taste any cucumber and the dill was just overwhelming that I hardly even tasted the vodka either! None of the people in our party liked the cucumber-​dill but the waiter was nice enough to give us a different one when we told him it was bad so that was a class act! We did enjoy the green apple, the ginger and mint and the apricot more but none really impressed us much. I was just disappointed since, based on Unilocal reviews, apparently some other customers really enjoyed the cucumber and dill. Maybe it was just a bad batch.
We started off with various appetizers — blini, meat pirozhki, chebureki, samsa, and a smoked fish tray. All except the smoked fish tray were excellent and everyone at the table enjoyed the array of appetizers. I wouldn’t say the smoked fish tray was bad but it was neutral at best. The meat pirozhki was especially incredible with a flaky filo sort of dough. The blini, pirozhki, chebureki, and samsa are all very similar in that they all are pie-​like doughs filled with meat. The samsa is filled with very tasty lamb but the others are filled with beef, but the main difference between the 4 appetizers is the type of dough, with all being excellently baked.
As for the main course, I ordered the plov and it was excellent! The lamb in the plov was very tender and flavorful and the rice was very tasty as well. I tried the pelmeni and goluptsi as well and they were both fantastic! The chicken shashlyk was good but didn’t impress me much. I think this dish would be better if we ordered the lamb option instead of the chicken though as all their lamb was excellent.
The customer service was excellent and as I stated, it was a class act for the waiter to offer us a different type of vodka since we didn’t like the cucumber dill. Also, for the quality of food and the good customer service, the prices are very good for the DC area. Appetizers are about $ 6.00 and main courses are about $ 15. We were showed the tasty display of deserts but we were stuffed since we went heavy on appetizers, so we opted for no dessert.
Overall, we really enjoyed this restaurant and it has a nice atmosphere which seems very Uzbeki, although I’ve never been to Uzbekistan so I can’t say for sure. This place is a gem, especially with it being affordable. I’m looking forward to going back!

It’s a very unique restaurant! I love the caviar tart and the pirozhki that crispy pastry is always my favorite. Lagmon is also very special.
Plov, the national dish of Uzbekistan, is a MUST TRY!!! Even it looks ugly, but it was super delicious!!! The rice was a little sweet and bumpy, and the lamb meat was juicy and tender.
The beer was also very good.

Fantastic food beautiful prepared and presented! I spotted Rus Uz a while ago in passing and have been meaning to try it for some time. When a Russian friend of mine told me how great it was I ran over as soon as I could. My friends and I started with some Blenni and other appetizers. Of course I had to have the Pelmeni (which I only previously tried at my Russian friend’s house). Absolutely prefect! All the food was prepared with care and served with a nice presentation on the plate. We each had a different cake for desert, and it was difficult to decide which one was best. Naturally they have a great selection of Russian beers and vodkas. If you like a good, malty-​sweet brew, I highly recommend the Baltika #4. I am looking forward to going back as soon as possible! Spaciba comerades!
P. S. I should mention that they are also quite generous with the portion sizes!

What an excellent find. More like a 4.5 but I am pretty stingy giving out 5 stars… We wanted to try something different in the area. I recently visited Beijing and was introduced to «uyghur» pronounced «weeger“cuisine and loved it. So when I came home and typed that cuisine on Unilocal,this restaurant came up as the closest possible option. We loved it! If they keep up their service and quality, I see this place going far…
The restaurant is clean and well lit. It has their own market next door. The servers are friendly and very helpful in explaining their dishes.
We ordered the potato and mushroom piroshki, delicious but filling. One order is 2 pieces… mmm, nice and flaky. We shared that. I had the lamb kabob and my cousin had the beef stroganoff. Food came out hot and delicious. The meat was lean and tender.
There were so many entrees and appetizers on that menu we wanted to try. This just means we would need to frequent this place more!

I just had to check out this place since I love Russian cuisine.
We had a big company of 10, we tried literally everything on the menu. It was delicious.
Hands down the best in the area.
Though there were many options, my suggestions will go for Olivier salad, pelmeni (dumplings), chebureki, manti and lamb shank.

Came here for a work lunch and was extremely pleased with the food.
I ordered the Manti, a dumpling of lamb and onions. The dumpling was wonderfully tender and filled with a respectable amount of lamb. That said, I needed more food than just the lunch serving of these.
A colleague ordered the lamb kebab. The meat was cooked longer than I’d personally like, but the seasoning was excellent. Another college ordered the Russian ground beef dumplings, which were smaller in size, but came with more of them, making it a more filling dish.
I also tried the yogurt drink. It tasted like a thinned out plain greek yogurt. I personally liked it, but if you’re hoping for a sweet drink, I wouldn’t recommend it. I *would* recommend Rus Uz though.

Delicious food and very nice service! Rus Uz is very homey and welcoming and it’s conveniently located just a couple blocks away from the Ballston metro station. The restaurant combines Russian and Uzbek cuisine seamlessly. The décor inside is so charming, quaint, and reminiscent of a faraway time and place. The service is warm and caring. I could tell this place was authentic and lovely. I don’t know what it is — maybe it’s because I’m part Russian and that part of me felt connected to the food and atmosphere. But I felt really at home in this restaurant.
I visited for lunch recently and ordered the Olivier Salad (a Russian potato salad with boiled potatoes, veggies, meat, and mayonnaise). I loved this salad. It was very reminiscent of West Asian /​Middle Eastern salads I’ve eaten in the past and it brought tears to my eyes because it induced a lot of nostalgia. I also ordered the Borsch (Rich Russian Style beet and cabbage soup, with chunks of beef). I liked the soup, but it was a little too strong and pungent for my taste. I think I’m not used to that taste, but it was still very nice to try. On the whole, my meal was tasty and very reasonably priced.
I would absolutely recommend Rus Uz and will certainly visit again in the future!

Very cozy and home-​like feel with some great authentic food from Russia and Uzbekistan. The samsa starter was very warm, flaky, and satisfying and the traditional Uzbek dish «plov,» or pilaf, had some great flavor and spices, sweet and savory.

Rus Uz is fun and unique — something refreshing in a sea of generic New American restaurants.
Rus Uz is a Russian and Uzbekistani restaurant in Arlington. It’s not terribly huge or particularly fancy, but efforts seem to be made to keep it nice for dinner. Prices are average for the area.
The Plov here is itself worth the price of admission. It’s basically a meat-​topped rice pilaf, but happens to be so well seasoned and tender that it transcends the crappy pilaf we have all had before. Their other dishes — particularly their dumplings — are equally good, though perhaps not quite as exciting.
I’d highly recommend this place over the other more generic restaurants in the area!

Pretty good. The servers are very friendly, have great recommendations. Downside is no HH. The highlights of my experiences have been:
Blini — beef stuffed pancakes
Plov — Uzbek national dish — WOW! Delicious lamb on a bed of seasoned rice, veggies, and raisins
Also tried the Manti — it was alright but nothing to write home about.
Cool ambiance, feels like you’re in Europe. They have infused vodkas. I have not tried that yet but would like to. I will likely be back to try a couple other dishes.

Had to give this place a try because I had to see if it compared to home Russian cooking my family and I always make. I didn’t come here with expectations that it would all be the same because every Russian tweaks there food a little bit. Overall I was really satisfied with this place! I will definitely be making more trips out here when my Russian grandma is gone for long periods of time and I need my Russian food fix.
Food: To make the most of our experience, my mom and I did this place justice and tried a lot of things on the menu. I had the potato pirozhki, my mom had the chebureki, and we shared the Olivier salad. We were both really happy about the salad and the Chebureki, where the meat was super juicy inside. My mom was a bit disappointed that the pirozhki were not made from a more traditional dough but I had to admit, I loved the flaky pastry feel of it. For our main courses she got Plov (which she really enjoyed) and I got a massive portion of golubtsi. While yes, my grandma still might make it better, I enjoyed every bite of my meal. We finished with some nut honey cake and yes, as many of the reviewers here mentioned, it is a bit dry. You know why? Because that’s how it always is. I have grown up eating slightly dry cakes because they are supposed to be paired with tea.
Service: This is what lost this place 1 star. The people were nice here but when were some of the first dinner patrons that night. I watched our waiter get us our waters, deliver them, then go back to staring at his phone for about 5 – 8 minutes. He took a while to ask about appetizers and never brought us bread that we saw others get. The servers should just be a tad more attentive and cheerful.
Overall great experience!

Really liked this cute, unique neighborhood restaurant. The ambiance is very old-​world Europe-​meets-​Arlington, with brick walls, decorative china plates hung on the walls, and old pictures. It’s probably as close as you might get around here to feeling like you’re at a Russian family dinner table. The food was different, delicious, and fresh, albeit very heavy and hearty. This is not a place to come for a small light meal or if you’re on a diet, as all the food is rich with meats, yogurt sauce, and lots of carbs.
Food we tried (all of which was super affordable!):
–Blini: This appetizer was delicious! A thick eggy crêpe filled with spiced ground beef and a yogurt/​cream cheese sauce. It came with two blini and we finished every last bite.
–Manti: For my main course, I got the manti, which are very large dumplings filled with chopped lamb and sauteed onions covered in a tangy sauce as well as the yogurt sauce that they use in many dishes. It was very hearty and very delicious, but due to the large size of the dumplings, it required cutting to eat and thus the dumplings’ filling would always fall out a bit, making for some messier eating. Very good but next time I may try a different dumpling, like the smaller beef-​filled Pelmeni.
–Plov: This is the national Uzbekistan dish, and we ordered it due to urging from many other Unilocal reviews. I had mixed feelings about it. The lamb was not what I expected. It was cut into cubes, not fall off the bone tender lamb shank meat. It was a bit gamey at first, though that subsided more as we ate it. The rice was amazingly flavorful and soft, as if it had been boiled in a chicken stock. The dish also included some shredded carrots and sweet raisins in the rice. Hearty and tasty, but I wasn’t 100% blown away at first. It got somehow more flavorful and addicting as we ate more of it though, and by the end we finished the plate!
Service was excellent — friendly and knowledgeable. Our server, Josh, noted he had recently moved from Europe to be closer to his family here. We also noticed that most of the servers were of Uzbek descent and really knew the food– added a nice extra touch of authenticity to the whole establishment. I’ve often walked by this restaurant and noticed it was rather empty and mentally reminded myself to try it one day soon — and I’m really glad I did! And actually, maybe the few times I walked by were anomalies, because when I came at 8:30pm on a Tuesday night, it was still about half full with patrons.

It’s one of the decent russian&uzbek food I’ve been to.
They have menu in English and russian!!!
Piroshki is just awesome and the soups were amazing. I didn’t get to try other main courses as I couldn’t let myself go of being stuck on the soup and piroshki! Coming back to try more. But I wish that they would hire make servers as its really understaffed.

I felt like I was transported to a friends’ dinner table in Russia. The ambience is spot on from tableware to faux bricks and hung china plates. The food is delicious, fresh and accurate to ethnic heritage.
The service is slower and my feeling is the servers are all either family or friends of the owners (loyalty, adherence to culture). Understand that the food is delivered promptly, the slow service is in the American tradition of «eat and run» so it’s the clearing of plates and arrival of check that is slow by comparison. Relax and enjoy and just plan this time into your visit.
The one thing I don’t like is borsch with beef and am hopeful one day they will have borsch standalone. Otherwise, all plates I’ve tried and tasted were first rate amazing.