I had a Groupon for this place for $40 value for the price of $25. It could only be used on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. We decided to go on a Friday night. I was really excited to try it because it had gotten pretty good reviews on Yelp and I had never had Russian food before. It was a little difficult to find on Orchard Lake. It was kind of hidden on the back-side of Crispelli's. Any way, we finally found it. Upon entering, my first impression was that it appeared to resemble an 80's banquet hall. There were disco lights everywhere and loud, Russian music was being played. Some people were up dancing. In general, it looked like people were having fun, eating, drinking, and being merry. I had to ask the waiter if this was the correct area because it seemed like a private party was going on more so than the general public restaurant area. It was pretty crowded and my friend and I felt a bit out of place. We were seated over to the side by the window.I already knew what I wanted to order because I read the Yelp reviews and looked at the menu. Yelp also had an offer where you got a free glass of wine with your check-in. I showed the waiter and he said that offer was only good on a certain day or time and so I couldn't get it at the time. I explained that I didn't see that listed anywhere. He said he'd have to check with his manager. He came back and said I was able to get it. So, I ordered a glass of Riesling...can never really go wrong with a glass of Riesling. For the appetizers, we went with the borscht and pirogies with meat. I didn't care much for the borscht. It was okay, a bit on the sweet side for me. I ate about two spoonfuls and was done. I cared for the pirogies even less...so much so that I asked the waiter if we could get the meat blintzes instead. Again, he needed to go check with the waiter. He came back and said that it was okay for us to get the blintzes instead. I didn't care for those either although they were better than the pirogies to me. I took a couple of bites and was done. My eating companion said they weren't bad and continued to consume them. For our entrees, I went with the sturgeon. My companion was having a hard time deciding so I suggested the classic beef stroganoff. I mean, you can't really go wrong with that, right? Wrong! It did not taste like traditional stroganoff to me . It was simply not good. I was also disappointed with the sturgeon. It did not resemble the picture on the menu and had a weird aftertaste. It was my first time ever tasting the fish so I don't have much to compare it to but it was not good to me. The salad that came with our entrees had an overly sweet dressing. The bread was basic but edible. So, needless to say, I ate bread and butter and drank my glass of Riesling for dinner. We did end up taking our food to go and dropping it off to some friends. Just because we didn't like it didn't mean it should go to waste. In all fairness, it was my first time tasting Russian food so I'm not sure how it's supposed to taste. I can say that I did not enjoy what I tasted. I'm sorry, I really wanted to like it but I just did not enjoy it. The service wasn't bad. Although our waiter had to "check with the manager" for everything, he did a pretty good job. But I don't see myself returning to The Fiddler again.
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