Both of the dumplings were totally delicious and we could tell they were homemade, right down to the dough. Naturally, everything was served with a healthy dollop of sour cream. The Pelmeni were stuffed with meat, more properly described as miniature meatballs of ground beef and onion, while the vereniki had a vegetarian potato filling. L and M2 ordered Pelmeni ($11) and Vereniki ($8.50). M ordered the chicken drumsticks, called Okorochka ($7.99).
To guide us through our meal, we dined with our Russian friend (M2), an expert on traditional Russian and central Asian cuisine. Not ever having had this sort of blini before, we definitely became converts. Some were familiar from our previous sojourns to Russian and other former USSR restaurants (Plov, Borscht, Pirojki, etc.), however some were distinctly Kyrgyz, like Beshbarmak ($12.00), a dish of diced, spiced lamb on top of boiled noodles. We started off with the Korean carrot salad ($4) which consisted of shaved carrot and spicy oil dressing, though the jury is still out if it is actually descended from a Korean dish. We also each ordered a plain blinchiki (an absolute steal at $1 apiece) which were amazing – sometimes blini can take on the consistency of doughy lead, but these were light, delicate and fluffy. Though we went in not knowing much about Kyrgyz cuisine, we were right in assuming it would include both Russian and trans-Soviet specialties. Located in Lincoln Square, Jibek Jolu had a pleasant and bright dining room, with Kyrgyz tapestries on the wall and Russian music videos playing in the corner. A new country checked off the list! Jibek Jolu has been on our “to try list” for ever (in fact it had even made it on to our hallowed real-life to do list whiteboard), so we were so glad to finally get there and sample Kyrgyz cuisine for the first time.
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