It's always a pleasure to drop in on old friends in their new home.
It was no surprise then, that our trip to Koreisky Domik was such a culinary and social success.
Once known as the Koreisky Dom (Korea House), Koreisky Domik (Korea Cottage?!) has moved about a 25-minute walk down the Fontanka River to the corner of said river and Izmailovsky Prospect.
The move has brought an expanded dining room and an expanded menu, though the basics of hearty food and smiling service remain.
My partner and I visited the restaurant on a suddenly chilly spring evening, accompanied by two ravenous appetites.
The Koreisky Domik's menu is built around a number of marinated dishes which can be used as appetizers, accompaniments to the main meal, or even the main meal itself if you order a sufficient variety.
Our extra appetites were probably what led us to go for some of the accompaniments as appetizers, plus soup and then the main course.
Our visits to the Koreisky Domik's previous incarnation made us confident we could not overlook the marinated mushrooms (15,000 roubles) -- though we now had a choice between Russian veshenka mushrooms and the more oriental oyster mushrooms.
We stuck with the Russian variety, which were subtle and succulent. Spicy carrots (15,000) and the "boby," or bean sprouts (16,000) which came in a fiery chili marinade, plus steamed rice (5,000), rounded out the first part of our meal.
The carrots were a touch oily and very strongly flavored, which made me happy but had my companion concentrating her attentions on the bean sprouts and the mushrooms.
Our waitress had promised us that the bean sprouts were something special and they were, with just the right amount of chili and other spices to complement the sprouts tangy and crisp flavor and texture.
We had hardly polished off all the above dainty morsels when the waitress brought our soups. My soup -- the vegetable variety for 12,000 roubles -- was a savory but unexciting brown soup with soybean curd cubes which came in a medium-sized bowl.
But my partner's chicken lapsha, or Asian noodle soup (22,500), was an almost overwhelming revelation. In a large bowl, the soup was a steaming concoction of noodles, chicken pieces, vegetables spices both delicate and sharp, and noodles, and again noodles.
My partner found herself wishing she had eschewed all other Koreisky Domik offerings because she was utterly unable to finish the soup despite the dejected protests of her tastebuds -- they just didn't want her to stop no matter how hard her stomach complained about food overload.
Fortunately, I came to her rescue after I'd slurped my soup down to the last drop.
We paused, replete, quaffed beer and white wine respectively and concentrated on digesting and relaxing.
It was a surprise to both of us that we ended up ordering another course in what was turning into a veritable feast.
I was unable to resist ordering some meat slices (30,000) and some more rice to grill myself on the hot plate provided, while my companion decided that an assorted platter of cold seafood (24,000) would go perfectly with her white wine (8,000 a glass). And it did.
Calamari, baby octopus and various other maritime delicacies were simply and elegantly presented. They were also delicious -- or at least that's what I was told.
I did not begrudge my partner her appetizing seafood collage because I was too busy tucking into the savory splendor of my meat.
We polished off a delightful dinner with some fine coffee (5,000 for plain, 6,000 with cream) before heading home full of the joy that good food well-presented brings.