Cafe Russia (Luciya) - Harbin Restaurant Review

I was looking forward to returning to Harbin, not only to see the amazing Snow and Ice World, but to eat some delicious Russian food.  Harbin's unique history has left behind numerous Russian restaurants, some of which are still run by Russian families. I happened to find an amazing Russian restaurant last time I visited the city, and I sure wish that I would have grabbed a business card before I left.

Cafe Russia, Luciya 露西亚西餐厅 (located near the old Flood Control Monument off of Zhongyang Dajie), was the worst part of our recent trip to Harbin. I've grown accustomed to poor service in restaurants in China, but this place set a new record for poor service and incompetence, and I must be a glutton for punishment since I went two days in a row.

My first visit to the restaurant was the better of the two trips. The staff seemed friendly enough and they took our order as soon as we got in. The restaurant didn't seem too busy at the time we got there but it took over 90 minutes to get all of our food.  The dishes we ordered came out one at a time (not unusual in China as Chinese people typically share every dish family style) but one of the people I was with didn't get her food until the end.

None of the dishes we ordered were anything to write home about, but at least they were warm.  Our second visit, however, was absolutely terrible. The only reason we stopped there again was that half of our group was heading back to the airport to catch a flight back to Shanghai, and the restaurant was right next to where we happened to be.

We told the staff that we wanted the food for our friends that were going to be heading to the airport, and to bring the other half of the group's last.  They did the opposite. Our food also took much, much longer to come.  One of my friends ordered a pasta dish, and after about an hour and a half, they told us that thy didn't have the ingredients to make it.  She then had to order a soup instead, which took another 45 minutes to show up. 45 minutes!!! For soup!!! There were loads of people that came in after us, got their food, and left. Maybe this place doesn't like foreigners.

Regarding the food, I figured I'd share a few of the dishes that we ordered, and what we actually got:

What we ordered                                                                                       What we received
Russian Black Bread                                                                                 Regular wheat bread
"Traditional Caesar Salad"                                               Plate with shrimp, sliced bread, and coleslaw
Vegetable Salad                                                                                         Coleslaw 

When we complained to the manager at the end he said they were too busy and the best he could do was offer us a 5% discount. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place at all costs!! Sorry there aren't any pictures to accompany this post. Was too upset to think about it.

Rating:

Price: $$

Value: 1/5
Taste: 1/5

Service: 0.5/5

Selection: 1/5