The Fiddler

A friend of mine has been talking about this place for years. She always talked about how it was a small family business and the food is amazing. So finally while she was in town we called up to see if they were open and if we could get a reservation. We got in on a Friday and with that you can use a Groupon. When we got in the place was just in the small dining room. The tables were set far apart, so for people who do not want to be close to others this helps. We ended up ordering and getting drinks. The server was super nice and gave his recommendations. The food was amazing and so was the wine. They have authentic food. I would definitely recommend this place for their food. It is tucked away in the corner so hard to find but when you do, you will keep coming back.

I have never had a bad experience at The Fiddler!Valentine's Day. No reservation. Needed to use a prix fixe GroupOn before it expired. We expected to be turned away. The host frowned a bit, said we are full tonite, but I can make this work. Yay!Waiter was attentive, knowledgeable, professional and anticipated all of our needs.I ordered the lamb chops, medium rare. She ordered the chicken. Both were excellent. The borshch was delightful. The potatoes were perfectly cube'd and roasted. The dessert was fine; but not memorable. Frankly; I cannot remember what we shared.The restroom was spotless.Will I return? Oh, hell yes!

Have been coming here since I was a child! The food never disappoints, and there's always more than needed! With the previous owner and the present owner, the atmosphere did not change, working in the restaurant's favor. The environment is always fun, and the staff is quick with providing beverages and meals. I would definitely recommend their lamb chops. They are made by the owner, and even though I do not usually enjoy lamb chops, I would eat those for every meal. The same goes for the side dish (rice with raisins). I had many parties here and have been to many events of others, and each experience is unique and amazing!

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.

This was our 4th visit and, unfortunately, their quality has declined, both service and food. The service was so slow I could have done it 3 times the speed and I don't work in the restaurant industry. Trying to get the waiter's attention was useless. The food quality has also declined compared to earlier visits.

If you are looking for authentic Russian food with a flair of Caucasus, The Fiddler is about as close as it gets.Food is delicious, very authentic, and plentiful. There's really no meal that I had there that wasn't first grade.My personal favorites are Pozharsky cutlets with roasted potatoes, chicken or lamb kebob, or lamb chops.

Good quality Eastern European fare served in small, dated room. My guess is the restaurant part of the business is now playing "second fiddle" (pun intended) to the Supper Club business on the other side of the wall. In times past, the service in this place was god awful, and far from friendly. I made a mistake of mentioning this observation to our nice, young waiter Mike, when he'd ask had we ever been here before.I suppose he tool that cue to proceed to drop 3 courses on us virtually simultaneously. If you can get past the lack of ambience, the food is still solid and authentic.

In town for a visit. Had dinner there. Excellent food service and atmosfere. Lamb Chops, Lamb Chops - Best in town! VERY clean and friendly place. I will make a poin of returning the next time I'm in Detroit.

I was excited to go to this place already, as I love Russian culture and knew I would love the cuisine as well. That being said, this still eclipsed even my high expectations. I was fortunate enough to find a groupon for the place for 40$ in food for only 25$, a huge steal for the quality of the food and service. It started with the atmosphere. Everything is lit perfectly, with soft jazz music playing and the place is extremely clean. The waiters are all Russian and ready with good recommendations to help with the difficult decision of what to get on the menu. They have a great selection of appetizers. I went with the Cheese Blintzes and they were absolutely amazing. They serve them with a fresh fruit preserve/sauce that just goes great with the hot, perfectly baked rolls of gooey goodness. Next they brought out the house salad and bread, both of which were extremely fresh. The bread was unique from most house breads and nice and firm. It went great with the Russian import beer that the waiter had recommended to me. I truly enjoyed it and will definitely be ordering the beer again. The entree of Siberian pelmenis had extremely generous portions and were cooked to absolute perfection! I had mine with beef, but chicken and lamb were also options. They are served with sour cream, which takes them to that next level. I was completely in heaven! Then came dessert. The 7 layer Napoleon cake was so flaky and held together very nicely. It wasn't nearly as sweet as I was expecting and tasted more like pie crust with just a hint of some kind of frosting-style filling. I rather enjoyed it, but if you are trying to get your sugar fix, you might want to try something else. The Russian chocolates were very interesting and not what I was expecting. It had a wide variety of chocolates, some of which had odd fillings. Others tasted like they had coffee infused with them. It varied with milk, dark and white chocolate. It was good, but not what I would consider to be far superior to American craft chocolate. The price was fair all around and the service was extremely professional. Live jazz music was being played starting at 7pm (on saturday) and it was just one guy with his laptop and keyboard. It was not too distracting and was a nice touch to an already elegant atmosphere. I can't wait to visit again and recommend you do the same!

Horrible dinner experience. The food was not fresh, and most of the appetizer meat was not edible and tasted rotten. Made me sick. I love red caviar, but theirs was also really bad with nearly rotten fishy smell and over salted, not sure if they serve expired caviar masking the spoilage with the salt. I had to spit it out, because if I swallowed it, I thought I will throw up. The main meat coarse was so dry and tasteless, it was hard to swallow without chasing with water. We were trying to eat at least something to not be hungry, but for sure not to enjoy the food. I've been to this restaurant several times before, and thought it got better with new ownership. Unfortunately it got even worse. Much worse. Some of my friends got sick after eating there. Wherever they get there food from seems shady. Definitely avoid if you want to enjoy your dinner!