A Good Dinner

Lately I've been very impressed with my own cooking, despite the lack of ingredients available here. Last night, though, I questioned the definition of "good cooking". It was Alex's birthday and my mom gave us money to go out to a nice dinner. What she gave us would have gotten us a decent meal in America... but here it got us dinner at the nicest restaurant in Chernigov, taxis there and back and then a bottle of wine and a cake afterward. I'm not sure where Alex got the name of the restaurant we went to, but it turns out it is mostly frequented by politicians and Mafiosos... the only ones around here who can afford a 300 Grieven meal. We walked in and checked our coats and then stepped into the mostly-empty dining room. The restaurant, called a word I can't translate that basically means "paradise under the sea", was under-the-sea themed... but in a classy way. The booths were clam-shaped and the ceiling was cut out in places and painted an iridescent blue.  It wasn't the design I would have chosen, but it was pretty and the guy playing the clarinet in the corner was a nice touch. But here's the point of this post... the food was DELICIOUS. To-die-for. Mmm mmm. We started with seafood salads with soy ginger dressing, raw tuna, clams, muscles, shrimp and calamari. It was amazing. Then I had baked fish with vegetables which was creamy and flavorful and delicious. Alex had veal with cherry sauce which was delicious. We also had wine and potatoes in a garlic sauce. It was the first time I've eaten such good food since the last time I was in France with my grandparents. 

Oh, AND the menu had English subtitles! to-die-for.