Continuing on with my birthmonth festivities, my mom and her husband took us to dinner last night at a tiny, but mighty place in north/central Arlington off Pioneer Parkway that was featured on Guy Fieri’s show ‘Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives‘.

What can be said about Taste of Europe other than, it completed exceeded my expectations! I’m generally a pretty adventurous eater, so when I googled “Russian food local” many months back and this place came up and I saw how close it was, I knew I had to try it someday! Last night was my lucky day!

I had seen many reviews extolling the praises of this tiny mom-and-pop-style place, so I knew the food would be good, but I was completely unprepared with how good and how authentic. The entire staff is Eastern European with heavy accents to boot! Everyone had something different and nothing was a dud. I enjoyed the program-featured dish of kolduny. Kolduny is a delicious patty of combination beef and chicken enrobed in potato and grilled. While the outside remains crispy, the inside is gravy-moist and delicious. You get three generous potato cakes in an order with a side of sour cream.

The tiny place pretty much has every square inch of wall space (and windows) swathed in Eastern European clothing, linens, memorabilia and decor. However, the place was well-lit and they managed to carve out a little space in the tiny dining room for a little market of Russian goods for purchase. We couldn’t resist after dinner sticking around to walk through the market. I wanted to buy everything! I didn’t need anything at the moment, but made a mental note for when I plan to make my next batch of borscht.

The staff was so attentive and assisted each other in every way possible. We even enjoyed looking over at the little babushkas in the kitchen cooking away with vigor. This is one place I recommend for the adventurous eater if one should ever find oneself in the area.

What is one of your favorite little spots to eat?