I had it a few times. It wasn’t bad, nothing like galerts. I shudder just typing it.
307 East 5th Street.
I once went with a group to a Russian restaurant in the SF Valley years ago. It was a restaurant/cabaret (fairly cheesy, but fun if you got into the spirit). We were seated at a long table, and they began to bring out dishes to share. It seemed a little light, so we were trying to eat enough to get satisfied. But, it turns out, those were only the first courses. We had Chicken Kiev (or is that Kyiv now?) with a full set of side dishes after, and we ended up stuffed.
The only other dish I remember was the sour cherry dumplings. Yummy.
Yes, appetizers/starters are called zakuski, and there are lots of them. My favorites are deviled eggs with caviar or smoked salmon.
Aspics were indeed considered fancy in English cuisines in particular because before the availability of gelatin, they were complicated to make. I seem to recall aspics on the first-class Titanic menu. But I still think this stuff would be regarded as rustic country food. It is, after all, typically made with pigs feet, which is what contributes the stuff that causes it to gel.
Holodets (aspic), according to locals I spoke to, originated in Siberia. Long, harsh winters and nutritious food hard to come by, it gave people enough sustenance to survive into a season where they can eat more pleasant food. To me holodets tastes like refrigerated mucous flecked with crunchy little blood clots. Not a fan, personally.
I tried many varieties of kvas and to me, all of them are horrible. Like mixing beer and fruit juice in the one glass. One type in particular reminded me of wearing socks for a month straight, walking through rain and dirty puddles, then wringing them out into a glass. Oof.
Now onto the tasty stuff! Russians are experts at soups! A Russian soup isn’t a snack or a starter, it’s a meal. I recommend to try all of them because they are all great in different ways. I make a chunky version of borscht. Very easy and so delicious!
Bear meat has a bit of an oily smell and taste, but I really like it. I recommend the jerky with a nice cold Russian beer. Very more-ish. I had reindeer sausage and that was also amazing.
Blini are versatile and delicious and it’s fun to call them crêpes to a Russian 
Each Russian region is fiercely proud of their local cheese. I like Russian cheeses much more than French ones. The Russians I met were horrified by the plastic squares of “cheese” westerners are so fond of. Russian cheeses taste so clean and flavorsome and each regional variety has a fascinating history lesson attached to it.
Russian breads are also very diverse tasty. There’s a type of bread for any meal.
I tried pine cone jello and it makes for an interesting sandwich experience. Hopefully a restaurant would do better than that, though.
Oh! The bacon! OMG! It’s so crispy and salty! I always asked for extra bacon and would often get an extra plate of just bacon. Magical!
Manti are a type of dumpling which are dangerous because you can keep eating them until you explode. So simple but really good. Not strictly Russian but very popular there. Pelmeni are also very simple and effective dumpling. Many different variations.
Syrniki are fritters but very Russian. Lots of delicious goop to pour on them or dunk them into.
They’re the main ones I can think of at the moment. Enjoy your restaurant experience!
Syrki are tangy cream cheese snacks often filled with jam and coated in dark chocolate. (Some Canadians call them “Russian cheesecake,” but they’re not.)
Sloiki are puff pastries that have a variety of fillings, sweet and savory. They’re common street food you can buy from kiosks.
When she was little, my daughter always asked me to buy syrki and sloiki whenever we went out.
I disagree about kvas. It might be an acquired taste, but I’ve never had any that was bad. It’s basically near beer made from scraps of rye bread. It’s lightly carbonated and simultaneously sweet and tangy. It’s sold on the street in the summertime and very refreshing. It’s available at my local supermarket (in Canada), and I always buy a cold bottle to drink when I go shopping there in hot weather.
Speaking of rye products, there’s a wonderful Latvian rye pudding that I love. I always buy some bags of rye pudding mix when I visit Riga.
I don’t dislike Russian cheeses, but all of the ones I’ve tried are uniformly sweet and creamy (though some varieties are also smoked). I’ve never had any I can compare to (for example) a sharp Cheddar or tangy Gorgonzola.
It’s definitely an acquired taste. My ex-roommate was a huge Russophile, fluent, lived there, raised a family there, because a Russian scholar, and he absolutely loathes the stuff, along with kholodets. Both made him want to wretch.
I’m the same with Russian cheeses – I haven’t sampled a huge variety of them, but the ones that I have have been rather … average. Same with pretty much all Eastern European cheese I’ve tried (OK, oscypek is pretty interesting, from Poland, but not my favorite). Then again, my tastes tend towards blues and very distinctive cheeses. But Russia’s a big place, so I don’t know what I’m missing.
I guess if you don’t like rye bread, you won’t like kvas either. I like rye bread, so it was easy for me to adapt.
I don’t particularly care for Russian beer, though. But then I’m not fond of English bitter, either. I like the taste of malt, rather than hops.
That’s right, compared to tangy, sour, bitter, sharp cheeses, Russian varieties can seem bland. But it’s a subtle blandness, if that makes sense. Different ratios of sweet, creamy, savory, etc. And texture. You can really notice the texture because you’re not overwhelmed by the flavor. Of course, if you like being overwhelmed by the flavor, that’s another thing. My favorite is probably kostromskoy, from the Kostroma region. I ate myself sick on that. Goes well with bear jerky!
Totally agree re: kvas. Acquired taste. You either like it or you don’t.
There are probably a lot of different styles and variants. The stuff I had as a kid had a mild savoury aspic that was mostly enjoyable for its texture, and the pork bits tasted like … well, pork. I think there were also some veggies in it, like maybe carrots. I vaguely remember this because, as a kid, I naturally hated vegetables! The vinegar that was usually drizzled on it gave it a nice tang, similar to the way one might drizzle vinegar on French fries.
I can imagine those used to what would be regarded as traditional English-American food not liking it at first, as I don’t think there’s anything quite like it in typical English cuisine, but I loved the stuff! We didn’t have it very often, though.
I don’t recall Russian beers being particularly hoppy, but, then again, I don’t find bitter particularly hoppy. No Baltika 4 or 6 for you? Among the absolute worst beers I’ve ever had, though, was a special edition Baltika c. 2001/2002 that was flavored with basil and almonds (Baltika 10 Jubilee, I believe – I can’t find an English language site confirming that, but one in Hausa [?!] that mention Baltika 10 had basil and almonds.)
I love rye bread - as a solid foodstuff. Not in liquid form and fruitified.
Russian beer, IME, tends to be rather no frills. But I like that approach. I don’t want a hint of blackberry in my beer. Just depends what your tastes are.
Baltika haha. I drank quite a lot of it, to the consternation of the locals. Just the standard one, not the “fancy” atrocities they came out with.
I used to drink Baltika when I was living in Russia, but I don’t remember which number (3 maybe). I’ve had some other brands I thought were okay (Bochka, Staryi Melnik), but I’d rather have a cold Carlsberg or Stella Artois any day. 
My most-used cheese is probably Muenster and queso fresco, but when I want cheese, I like a whole variety of flavors at my disposal, from the nuttiness and umami of an aged Gouda or Parmesan, to the creamy, sharp bite of a Stilton, to the luxurious mouthfeel of a triple cream, to the tang of cheddar and (especially when aged), the stinky delight of brie, to the grassy milky pureness of fresh mozzarella, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I like a nice fresh tvorog, as well, for many of its uses (not too far off from my queso fresco.)
We park our cars in the same garage! 
Have you been to France? If not, I think you should probably live there haha. Every person’s home I want to in France, they brought out a platter with 20 or so different cheeses. Even some restaurants would bring out a platter. I appreciated the gesture and enjoyed some of the cheese, but it was a bit much for me.
No cheese platters in Russia. Instead, I got dragged to cheese markets. And each region I went to highlighted their local cheese. Because they’re not connoisseurs like the French. For Russians, the history and reasons why the local cheese is what it is is vitally important.
I have to been to France, but only a couple of brief stops, so no chance to really explore the country or peoples’ homes. No cheese platters for me, but rather enjoyable memories of simple things like a jambon-beurre. Actually, the most memorable food for me was a simple butter-on-baguette I had one morning at a cheap-ass inn in Paris. Probably because 1) I was not expecting anything and 2) my delight in how something so simple and pure could be so good.
That said, I do think I would very much enjoy the kind of culinary journey you describe, exploring the cheesemaking traditions and history from one village to the next and developing a very honed sense of cheesemaking in Russia.
One time in western France stands out in particular. I’d just had a cheese platter at someone’s house, along with what region each cheese came from, how the wax was colored and applied, how long the cheese was left to rot so it would smell the way it did, and so on. Then we went to another person’s house, and they asked “have you tried French cheese?”. I said “Yes, I just had a big platter of it an hour ago and my stomach is still…”. To which they jumped off their seat, made for the kitchen and said “I will show you some cheese” and came out with a big platter of it. They just casually had 20 or so different cheeses lying around haha. I thought it was hilarious.