EUROPE
September 6, 2003 VNN8325
Hare Krishna, Krishna Rama, Hare...
FROM THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
RUSSIA, Sep 6 (VNN) — By Greg Walters - SPECIAL TO THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
"The food here is pure," said Alexander, the disarming man with the shaved head behind the counter at Gauranga on Ligovsky Prospect. By "pure" he meant organic, vegetarian - and, most importantly, spiritually pure.
"This food has no karma," he assured me.
A comforting thought. It had never occurred to me before that eating poorly meant not only extra calories, but also spiritual additives.
"Gauranga," he explained, means "gold" in Sanskrit. And it's also the name of a pleasant Hare Krishna-run cafe not too far from Ploshchad Vosstanniya.
I must confess I have a certain soft spot in my heart for run-down, out-of-the-way, almost-Indian restaurants run by the Hare Krishna. In fact I have eaten at a number of them east of where the Iron Curtain once hung, and they are uniformly relaxed and friendly, and the food is almost always decent though rarely is it note-worthy.
And where else does a lesson in rudimentary Sanskrit come included in the price of a $10 dinner?
When I arrived at dusk on Wednesday the place was empty, although Alexander said the crowd usually comes earlier in the day. The single dining room is a rich forest-green color, ornamented with gold-colored squiggles that run all over the ceiling and walls, and it is filled with a unique and heady smell probably best described as a cross between fried bread and vegetable compost.
I ordered a smattering of dishes at the counter, and paid up front. Then I sat back to admire the portraites of a sky-blue Krishna posing with his shepherd's flute beside his consort, the sky-blue Radha. Chimes, bells and whistles filtered out over the stereo system.
If, during my 1 1/2-hour stay Guaranda, a word was sung on the PA that was not "Hare," "Krishna" or "Rama," I certainly didn't hear it.
The food arrived all at once. The avocado salad (90 rubles, $3) was a simple but tasty assemblage of avocado and tomato bits, with just a toss of what I think was dill. Avocado, of course, is not a cheap vegetable - but even so, it was probably the smallest salad I've ever eaten in my life. Quite tasty (I am partial to avocados), but probably something you could do at home for much less money and much more food.
In fact, meagerness seems to be a common theme at Gauranga - just about every dish I ordered was smaller than I had expected.
The main course, Jagannath Sabdji, was also a bit paltry for 90 rubles; although the potatos, peas, eggplant, tomatos, and mild curry sauce combined to form a pleasant whole. I quickly realized, though, that if my main course could fit entirely inside a large American coffee mug, I was going to have to go back for more.
I ordered the mango chutney (10 rubles, $0.30) as a side order - and, for the first time in St. Petersburg, I am pleased to report that my server's warning ("careful, it's spicy") was actually worth heeding.
The stuff was positively nuclear. I loved every bite of it.
The puri - a puffy, golden, somewhat greasy bread for 20 rubles ($0.60) - was fresh cooked and deliciously savory, a wonderful change from the ubiquitous brown bread so hard to escape from in this city.
Another pleasant surprise was the lassi, for 60 rubles ($2), a traditional South Asian yogurt drink. It was thick and delicious, and cut through the heat of the mango chutney brilliantly.
I went back for seconds and ordered another puri, plus a "guaranga," for 50 rubles ($1.60). Gauranga the dish turned out to be a kind of South Asian-styled eggless quiche, with thin-sliced potatos underneath, "homemade cheese" on top, and spinach bits thrown into the mix. It was, to be honest, a bit boring, as well as a bit greasy.
All in all, I liked Gauranga, and if I ever find myself hungry in that neck of the woods again, I would seriously consider going back.
"God has brought you here," Alexander told me, with a glint in his eye,
Perhaps. But if so, then there is no need for me to recommend you try Gauranga for yourself. You will simply arrive - God willing.
Gauranga. 17 Ligovsky Prospect. Tel.: 273-7723. Open daily, noon to 9 p.m. Credit cards not accepted. Dinner for one, without alcohol (not served at all): 370 rubles ($12.10).
Copyright The St. Petersburg Times 2003
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