Tschanachi - Lunch at "Gruene Lampe"

Russian beauties come to this place. They check, all model-sized, the contents of different platters and heating containers at the buffet, find a table to put down their purses, and then fill up a plate with little canapees for lunch. Then a bowl of Soljanka. A little bit of that beef stew. And, oh, yes, some blini for dessert of course. How do they keep these figures if they eat lunch like this? Clearly, the local russian community feels at home here.

I order from the menu – Herring in a furcoat is, unfortunately, out, I was looking forward to that pie-shaped dish from herring, potato, hard-boiled egg and red beets; I remember it as being almost sweet, with earthy and fresh fish flavors, a very unusual, yet incredibly delicious combination. But they have Tschanachi, a georgian stew which, served in a little clay pot, is simply wonderful: you open the lid, and the fragrant smell of fresh tomatoes and cilantro comes steaming at you. Underneath this summer sunshine layer you find the lamb stew with carrots, potatoes, eggplants, zucchini, just like your georgian uncle used the onset of harvest season to create the culinary incarnation of the last warm days of autumn.

Have some Kwas with it, an old russian fermented drink with very low alcohol content. And then go later to have some Fassbrause at some other, more berlinian place, and compare flavor notes and let me know if it's only me finding these two similar...

- 'Gruene Lampe', Uhlandstrasse, in Berlin Mitte/Charlottenburg -