Sweet! Step inside and you're a world away. I feel like I just had lunch in a small city on the Black Sea. Get the okroshka.

This place is like a friendly mix between a cafe and a restaurant and the food is actually superb. Phenomenal. Probably the only reason I most likely WILL go back. So I go in with my mom and her best friend - mind you, we go there usually once every month or two so this certainly wasn't our first rodeo. We're seated by this mousy girl in flip flops and about 10 minutes later this waiter with slicked back hair and a receding hairline and an giant attitude finally comes. My mom wanted smoked white wish, my mom's friend had something with liver and I opted for a Caeser Salad with grilled chicken and I asked if they can leave the croutons off (I hate when they get soggy in the dressing) and if they can put some tomatoes on it instead of the croutons. He says "But it's in the menu! And the tomatoes don't come with it. That's a whole different thing!"...it's not like I asked for beef souvlaki and then told him to put it in bread crumbs and fry it. THAT would be a whole different thing. And it's not like I wouldn't take the extra dollar fee or whatever he'd come up with. I tell him to not put croutons on it then and to not worry about the tomatoes. My mom gets up to look at the dessert which is by their bar where all the waiters are standing. Our nasty waiter said to the others in Russian "I've never met with people like these" (my mom speaks Russian). Out of embarrassment, she didn't even look at the dessert and came back down and told us. Part of me already thought at that moment, alright, let's go. He's just going to ruin the day for us. Food comes later, looks good and my mom ends up giving me her tomatoes because she actually hates tomatoes and he stares us down as I took a bite of the tomato as if it's a sin or an abomination. We finish the food and we all decide to have dessert - my mom will have Tiramisu, and my mom's friend and I were going to have a slice of cheesecake with a scoop of ice cream. I never perceived this to be an issue - we've had it at their place before (granted we had a friendlier waiter with flexible views on food and a clear understanding of "the customer is always right"). So we tell him and he says ok. Then before he even brings out the cheesecake or the tiramisu, we see him getting ready to bring out our ice cream - it was about 4 scoops for each of us. So when the other waiter brings it out, I tell him "I'm sorry but that is not what I ordered; I asked for ONE scoop of ice cream with our cheesecake". Poor guy brings it back and tells our waiter who then storms over with the menu in his hand and he goes "I don't understand? You wanted ice cream with cheesecake, no?" I tell him that we wanted one scoop of it with the cheesecake like I said earlier. He points to the menu and says "they don't do that, that's not on the menu". I'm sorry, but if I want a smaller or different portion, how is that impossible to do? So I tell him I've been here before and I even point to our former waiter who has been a lot friendlier before and never minded giving us just one scoop. He mumbles something that it's him right now, we're dealing with him not the other waiter. I get so enraged - and honestly, up until this moment, I handled myself with dignity and politeness - that I say to him with a raised voice while pointing to the nice waiter: "He's not a waiter here? He doesn't work here? He's a lower being than you? Because he's certainly a better waiter than you!" I took a big breath and I said, "just bring the check; I don't want anything else from you". He brings the check which is barely legible and of the $53.80 we see a $4.50 that we can't figure out what it's for. By now, we don't care, we pay the whole bill (he gave us change out of his pocket right in front of us and slams it lightly on the table) and we left without tipping him. I still wanted to inspect the check but he grabbed it quickly and left. So we did too. In all honesty, I will go back because like I said, the food is phenomenal. But I will never let them pair me up with this fool. He may have been the head waiter and in that case, this should even be a bigger embarrassment for them - I expect petty behavior like this from a newbie waiter who hasn't learned yet to control their mood. I've never been told no about a minor change (like adding tomatoes or taking out croutons - I mean, what if I wanted something out because of an allergy?) or a portion change (like asking for one scoop of ice cream instead of four) ANYWHERE, big, small, cheap and fancy places included. I also believe that he disliked us from the beginning partially because we were non-Russians. So...if you ever go there, try to avoid the jerk with the slicked back hair and glasses and receding hairline but if you are forced to have him as your waiter, do me a favor; order a slice of cheesecake and a scoop of ice cream ;) I gave them 2 stars because the food was a good 5 star thing but his behavior took 3 stars away from it for me. read more

This place is a gem. I came here with my two sisters to unwind. The food was pure comfort and the service was warm and welcoming. I highly recommend the smoked whitefish and potato appetizer, all the palmeni, and the tea and preserves. read more

Horrible for 3 orders of sheshlik which tasted horrible they charged $85.00 what we got was 18 sheshliks and alot of french fries for $85.00!! Dont ever order out from them, it is a real rip off! read more

I came here craving a good lunch after having my fill of sitting on the boardwalk. I'm so glad that I strolled into this place. I'm terribly fond of Ukrainian borscht and the rendition that I had at Oceanview was excellent. Rich, full of meat and beans. We also ordered a lamb soup that was amazing! Tasty, rich and very lamb-y. Each meal is also served with a basket of fresh warm bread. There are two TV monitors that were on a Russian language music channel. Lots of fun to watch the music videos while chowing down. Thumbs up for Ocean View, I'll definitely be returning! read more

What a nice place. We went there for dessert, enjoyed cappucino, crepe with fruit & chocolate sauce, berry cheese cake, espresso. Good service, prices, pleasant warm atmosphere. Nice menu, would like to come back for lunch and check out the herring with potatoes :) read more

Delicious Russian price at 30% cheaper than its competitors. Plate of pelmeni for only $5! You can buy them frozen here too, 50 for $5! No frills eatery with great selection and very Russian service(meaning no water refills unless you get up and get some yourself :) read more

I go to Brighton Beach specifically to eat at this restaurant. Food is excellent with a wide range of dishes. The quality of the food is consistently good. Service is also excellent- they're attentive without hovering. If you need something you'll get it fast. I get the Stuffed Cabbage, Pelmeni, Olivia potato salad, mixed smoked fish platter, Borsht, and Georgian style Lamb stew. Russian and Ukrainian beer is available. They're very friendly and welcoming, it's not a stuffy place. read more

Very poor service! My friend and I came in for lunch and there were two large groups being served already. We were ignored entirely as we walked in and just took our own table... waited almost long enough to just get up and leave until someone paid attention.. Mind you this is a tiny little cafe. The food took a little, but when it came out I asked the waiter to bring me a side of sour cream which was supposed to accompany the meat vareniky, but that never came... My vareniki very horrible. Soggy. My friend ordered the cherry vareniki which she seemed to enjoy, but she is not picky eater at all. read more

Visiting from California and wanted some good Russian food - amazingly tasty! Great selection and everything we ordered tasted phenomenally good. read more

Brought my son to the beach to give him a taste of authentic Russian experience and have a Russian tavarnia feel. We were not let down. Are just a bowl of vareniki and pelmeni. Amazing! Got to listen to Russian expat men talk big while consuming vodka. Awesome! read more

Terrific Russian food. Everything on the menu has been excellent. Cheap, simple and unpretentious spot with great food.

Go where the Russians go. Whenever I'm in Brighton Beach I try to stop here for a meal. The fried potatoes and mushrooms are phenomenal. You might have to wait a bit for a table, and the service isn't that great, but it's worth it because the food is delicious! read more

always on point, solid home style cooking, its a small basic cafe with delicious food, personal favorites are soups (green borscht) pelmeni or vareniki ( variety of dumplings) great stuffed cabbage and don't forget kompot aka fruit punch :) read more

I am always happy to come back to this place. This food is soooo delicious!!! Always happy to bring friends there, so they could try authentic Russian food. My advice try their borscht, vareniki and golubtsi. The best! I font know who is a chef their, but he does a great job. Service is great, very polite. read more

Delicious and tasty Russian food in Brighton Beach. Casually decided to eat here and I was extremely impressed. The food is fresh and very tasty and the service is excellent. The Russian salad is amazing as well as the soup. read more

The clean, fresh, euro, vibe perfect for after the beach. The beet soup and slaw were the best. The smoked meat plate should be skipped get soup or Greek salad. The Tarragon drink is amazingly different and refreshingly green! I had the pot pie delicious, flaky golden crust. Beef stroganoff insanely good!! Skip the tea it's just Lipton. Get the berry cheese cake wonderful! Get a view of great food, but no English in this place. Only for the adventurous at heart!!! read more

Cute little Brighton Beach spot with good Russian food. Note, there is no view of the ocean at all! It's on Brighton Beach Ave, under the load trains! Very small place so it may be hard to get a large group in. read more

best pelmeni in america.(period) everything else is great too. i took my grandparents here once. my grandfather ordered vareniki w/ potatoes. he said it was just the way his grandma used to make them in ukraine. not a fancy place, but very inexpensive for the quality of the food. read more

After dipping in the ocean with the Polar Bear Club on New Years Day, we headed to Brighton Beach for lunch and this was one of the only Russian places open. Luckily we immediately got a seat just before a huge crowd headed in. Everyone liked what they ordered and I especially enjoyed the chicken soup (just a broth with dill which was delicious and just what I needed) and it came with what they called pierogi, but were different from the ones I'm used to in the Polish restaurants. These 2 pierogies were filled with delicious chicken and encased in a puffy filo pastry and so tasty that I ordered two additional pieroges! All of this for $8 ($6 for the soup and 2 pierogies and $2 for the extra). Nice way to start the New Year. I would definitely return to this restaurant when I am next in Brighton Beach! read more

On my first visit to Brighton Beach, I asked a store owner where to eat and he pointed across the street to this remarkable place. I asked what he liked and he said the beef kabob. I may add to this later, but for now let me just say that it is incredibly flavored, tender, and delicious. I'm kind of blown away by the entire meal. You owe it to yourself to eat here. read more

Like the place. Could be very crowded at times especially in the summer.

Food very good I wish there where 2 chebureki for the price. Compote was awesome and so where pelemeni you get greeted right away and service is very good and fast. read more

After our first visit to Brighton Beach, we decided to try a local restaurant, and we were skeptical of the restaurants that were on the boardwalk. We decided to try Oceanview Cafe, which was located on the way to the train station, and we were glad we did. Being a family of four (two of which are young children), it is hard to have a positive experience at any restaurant. The service at this restaurant was really above average... the waiters were extremely friendly and attentive to our needs -- whenever one of the kids dropped an utensil on the floor, the waiter would immediately bring a new one (even without us asking him). The service here made all the difference. The food itself was also really good. We ordered the chicken, lamb and beef kebab dishes. Everything was very flavorful. We ended up spending $65 (including tips) for a family of four. We would definitely come back for our next visit to Brighton Beach and try some of the more authentic dishes. read more

Very delicious. Very good customer sercice. It is good place for lunch and is much better that places at the boardwalk. The big plus is that you can buy hand made raviolli. From food I definitely recommend seabus. read more

Nice cozy place with a reasonable price. Good portion sizes. Friendly server. Typical russian food.

4 stars for food and 5 stars for service, which is truly impeccable. The waiters are so nice and helpful, they really accommodate and give honest suggestions about the menu. Best things tried: home fries, pelmeni, fried cubed liver, salad Olivie, most soups, avocado salad with sesame dressing, fried tilapia fillet, and surprisingly...omelette (it's crispy and fluffy with the add-ons inside). We are regulars at this point. read more

Really good, really Russian food. Try to park there a little before 7PM - the muni-meters run until that time and the regulars fill the place by 8. You can start with a bottle of Baltica beer, a good 17 ounces. Wine is also available, but we didn't sample it. If you have a big enough crowd, order a bottle of vodka, as the locals do. The meal begins with a basket of Russian rye and white bread, which were probably baked at one of the bakeries across the street. Very good, but don't stuff yourself - there's a lot more food to come. All plates are big enough to share, including the appetizers, so double your fun. We started with the herring and potatoes, six tender herring portions and very garlicky spuds. Good start. We shared the cold beet soup, with plenty of cabbage, beets and dill. If hot, it's called borscht, cold it's just soup. Plenty of choices on the menu, and they give you an extra bowl for the sharing. We ordered the vareniki, which turn out to be like tortellini (in butter instead of broth). Four different varieties, we got the cheese. They were served as a side to our Cornish Hen Tabaka, which was flattened, crisp, garlicky and better than the ones I had in Moscow. No room for any of the desserts, which were displayed in a diner-type glass case, so I don't think I missed much. Everybody else was speaking Russian, but the menu translates most of the items into English. The waiter was very helpful in explaining the dishes. A very good experience. We'll be back to report on the rest of the menu soon. read more

Last night my girlfriend and I decided to get dinner here and it was really great. It was busy when we got there but we didn't have to wait long to be seated. They have a pretty big menu so there's a lot to choose from. We ordered a tuna salad, Greek salad, chicken tabaka, Bronzino and cherry vareniki. Our order came pretty quickly and everything was delicious my girlfriend and I cleared our plates. My girlfriend liked their vareniki so much she that she ordered their frozen cheese and potato vareniki to try at home. Overall the staff was friendly, food was great, we'll be coming back. read more

This is a great Russian diner. They have a wonderful selection, great food and great service. The prices are very reasonable too. The only reason I'm taking off a star is due to limited space and poor decor. If they would only get a larger, freshly renovated room they would be a solid 5 stars! read more

The rudest most insulting treatment of customer possible, by a waiter claiming to be the owner. If you're looking for the authentic Russian insulting treatment, this is the perfect place. read more

the vareniki here are delicious, filling and cheap. just a few steps from the beach!

I liked this place. The food is great - very tasty and fresh. We liked everything we ordered, especially the ukrainian borscht. The service is friendly. And the prices are not high at all. read more

My friend and I had dinner recently at Ocean View Cafe, the food was simply amazing and well presented. Although the restaurant is small, the atmosphere is relaxed. The server was very friendly and informative of the menu. The food came surprisingly quickly and was very well presented. The food was delicious - the chicken was tender and very flavorful, the mashed potatoes tasted perfect, and the vegetables were crisp. My friend's Pork Chops were absolutely sensational, however. They looked so good I had to try some of his. The pork chops were very tender and flavorful, cooked and seasoned just right. The caramelized sweet apples (I thought they were potatoes) strike a perfect contrast with the meat, and the string beans were well seasoned as well. He and I both agree that it deserves a 10. Overall, it was well worth the money and will definitely visit again soon. read more

I tried authentic Russian food from my friends' mother and after that I've been looking for a place that can compare to a home cooked meal like that. I went to a couple of different places and they were okay but they didn't stand close to what I tried before. A couple of my European friends recommended coming here but since it's kinda far from where I live I was determinded to find something local. BUT I finally caved and decided to come to Brighton Beach with a friend and boy was I missing out. I ordered their Ukrainian borscht, cornished hen and vareniki with cherries and my friend ordered their pilav and blintzes with cheese. We were both so stuffed but we kept eating because it was so delicious! I wasn't able to finish my whole meal and took some home to finish the next day. This was for sure the best Russian food I've had in a while. What I also enjoyed was that they have little TVs near every table that display the dishes they offer. And it's actually their food that they cook, not something they found on google. That was really nice to see in my opinion because it shows they're not trying to sell you a pretty HD picture like other places I have think of. I have to say the trip the Brighton is definitely worth it for food like that. I'll definitely be back when I have my cravings. read more

this is one of my favorite cafe in New York, I am from Maine , but almost every week I come to New York ( Brooklyn) and I go to this cafe .... The menu here is simply magical , especially kebabs - one of the best in Brooklyn ... Cleanliness in high level . I already go to this restaurant for 5 years , but always see the same thing. , Do not know why there work waiters aged . I have nothing against them , or against their age, but I am feeling uncomfortable when they take me order .... at this age they should stay home and play with the grandkids , not work as waiter .. Especially that old waiter with glasses that almost kick out the client from the restaurant in my eyes , telling him that: U do not like here , go to another restaurant , and it was rude of him to behave this way , because the client is always right .. But last week I was there with friends and i didnt see him , and I hope that he realized already that he is too old for this job .. . but otherwise the cafe is really good and kitchen too. read more