Kobzar Ukrainian Food

🇺🇦 UKRAINE

📍 8925 Los Altos Drive, Cypress, Orange County

EDITOR'S NOTE: This business is no longer operating in this location and has moved to a ghost kitchen in Irvine. Please check their website for more info.

Turning off Cypress's main drag of Lincoln Avenue onto the residential street that Kobzar lives on, you can see the Ukrainian flag flying from a garage halfway down the block. Rather than looking for house numbers, this is the easy way to find this three month old home business since almost everyone is familiar with those horizontal bands of blue and yellow nowadays.

For now the business is offering five items, all Ukrainian classics, and doing each with high quality organic ingredients and an obvious skill coming from the kitchen. You can order from their website and get a callback about setting up a time or just call directly. Apparently they are already looking for a permanent space in Irvine for a restaurant, but for now they are on the northwest part of Orange County close to the Los Angeles County border.

If you are picking up your order in the morning, go ahead and eat the deruny ($9.50, above) first, potato pancakes that are served topped with bacon and scallions. These are not just mashed potatoes grilled up, they are classically made in Ukrainian style with finely grated potato and onion and plenty of egg to make them creamy. They come with and are usually eaten with sour cream, but are just as delicious without if that is not your thing.

The borscht ($9.50, below) does not come as beet-colored as the photo on their website, but is still delicious. Kobzar's version is filled with tender chunks of beef and plenty of spices, garlic, and onions. It is further fortified with cabbage and carrots and probably has almost a day's worth of nutrients.

You can enjoy more cabbage, this time stuffed with rice and ground beef and turkey with an order of golubsti ($9.50, above). Four rolls come per order and are coated with a slightly sweet and tart tomato sauce. These may seem simple, but are one of the most time consuming dishes to make and are almost essential for big families and are made in big batches. Like anything else, feel free to work with the sour cream as desired.

The most filling dish of the bunch is probably the buckwheat kasha with stewed beef ($9.50, below), almost like a plov that substitutes buckwheat for rice. This might not be for everyone, especially those that have not grown up with the grain in their lives, but the simple preparation is done well here and very satisfying.

Definitely finish an order off with mlyntsi ($9.50, above), thin crepes that are filled with cheese and raisins. They call this sweet cheese, but do not expect something like cream cheese fit for a bagel. This is more like slightly sweetened cottage cheese, and with the raisins and maybe a bit of honey is just the perfect sweetness for people that do not want a sugar bomb.

If Kobzar adds any menu items or makes the move to Irvine, this page will be updated, but until then take advantage of the home chef in their natural environment and grab some Ukrainian food in Cypress.

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