Ukrainian National Home

On Saturday, after seeing the funny and charming Wallace and Gromit movie, my friends and I found ourselves in a typical weekend night in the East Village dilemma. We were starving, but every restaurant we walked by had a huge line. The Italian place we had hoped to go to told us it would be at least 40 minutes. The idea of the always-tasty Veselka was tossed around, but that too would be a very long wait. One person in our group doesn't like Indian, so 6th street was out. As our tummies were grumbling and one person had to get home early to his very pregnant wife, it was looking dire. Then someone remembered the Ukrainian National Home, located at 140 Second Avenue. I believe it is some type of community center, but there is a good, cheap restaurant serving hearty Eastern European food to the public on the first floor. We walked right in to sit down in a space that looked like a dining room set up for a big family holiday. In the room next to us, there was a benefit going on for Bid-a-wee, an animal shelter, so we were serenaded by a very loud cover band, but apparently it is usually very quiet. I had a satisfying meal of potato pieorgies with sautéed onions ($5.95), an enormous Slovakian beer ($5.00) and, apparently inspired by the pro-vegetable theme of Wallace and Gromit, cooked carrots ($1.95). Everyone else's plate was filled with equally filling and economical fare, including kielbasa and schnitzel. The Ukrainian National Home is also excellent to keep in mind if you are in the neighborhood and hear nature calling; the bathrooms are located down a staircase to your right before you get to the restaurant.