Learn Hardcore Russian: Сначала новая столовая казалась мне непривычной, но сейчас я уже знаю все любимые блюда. - At first the new cafeteria seemed unusual to me, but now I already know all my favorite dishes.

Сначала = at first, initially (time).
во‑первых = firstly, first of all (for listing arguments, not time).
вначале is close to сначала, but can sound a bit more formal or literary and is often tied to the beginning of a process, story, text, etc.

In this sentence, Сначала is natural because we are talking about how the speaker first felt in contrast to how they feel now.

Why is столовая feminine, and what exactly does it mean?

Столовая is grammatically feminine because it ends in -ая, which is a common feminine ending in Russian.

Originally, столовая was an adjective meaning something like “table-related” or “dining”, used with a noun like комната (room). Over time it turned into a noun on its own:

столовая (комната) → dining room
in modern usage, very often canteen / cafeteria (especially in schools, universities, workplaces)

In this sentence, новая столовая is best translated as “the new cafeteria” or “the new dining hall.”

Why is the verb казалась reflexive? What does казаться literally mean?

Казаться is the reflexive form of казать, but in modern Russian казаться is an independent verb meaning “to seem / to appear (to someone)”.

Она казалась непривычной = She/It seemed unusual.
Мне казалось, что… = It seemed to me that…

The reflexive ending -ся here doesn’t mean “doing something to oneself” in the literal sense. Many common verbs are reflexive in Russian simply by convention (e.g. нравиться, бояться, смеяться), and you just learn them as separate verbs. Казаться is one of those.

So казалась is just the past tense, feminine, singular form of казаться.

Why is it мне казалась and not меня казалась? What case is мне?

Мне is the dative form of я (“I”), and it corresponds to English “to me.”

The typical pattern is:

кому? (to whom?) → мне, тебе, ему, ей… (dative)
- кажется / казалось
→ что? / каким? (what / what kind?)

So:

Новая столовая казалась мне непривычной.
= The new cafeteria seemed unusual to me.

Using меня (genitive/accusative) here would be ungrammatical, because казаться always takes the experiencer (the person who has the impression) in the dative: мне кажется, ему казалось, etc.

Why is it непривычной and not непривычная? What case is this, and why is it used?

Непривычной is in the instrumental case, feminine singular. The nominative would be непривычная.

With verbs like:

быть (to be)
становиться / стать (to become)
казаться (to seem)
оказаться (to turn out to be)

Russian often uses the instrumental case for a temporary or descriptive role/quality:

Она была учительницей. – She was (worked as) a teacher.
Он стал директором. – He became a director.
Новая столовая казалась мне непривычной. – The new cafeteria seemed unusual (to me).

So непривычной agrees with столовая in gender and number, but uses the instrumental to mark the quality that it seems to have.

Can I change the word order in Сначала новая столовая казалась мне непривычной? For example, can I say Сначала мне казалась непривычной новая столовая?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and both are grammatically correct:

Сначала новая столовая казалась мне непривычной. (neutral, common)
Сначала мне казалась непривычной новая столовая. (slightly more emphasis on мне or on the description непривычной)

The basic components must remain:

subject: новая столовая
verb: казалась
experiencer (dative): мне
predicate (instrumental): непривычной

You can move them around for emphasis, but the forms (cases, gender, etc.) stay the same. The sentence in the exercise is the most neutral word order.

Why do we have both сейчас and уже in но сейчас я уже знаю все любимые блюда? What’s the role of уже?

Сейчас means “now / at the present time.”
Уже means “already” and emphasizes the change or result compared to before.

Сейчас я знаю… – Now I know… (just states a present fact)
Сейчас я уже знаю… – Now I already know… (implies that earlier I did not know, but this has changed)

In this sentence, уже highlights the contrast with Сначала:
At first it seemed unfamiliar, but now I already know all the favorite dishes.

Could we use теперь instead of сейчас here? What’s the difference?

Yes, you could say:

…но теперь я уже знаю все любимые блюда.

Both сейчас and теперь can mean “now”, but:

теперь almost always implies a contrast with the past (“now, as opposed to before”).
сейчас can be just neutral “right now,” without necessarily stressing the contrast.

In this specific sentence, both work, but теперь would slightly strengthen the idea of change from the earlier situation. With уже, the contrast is clear anyway.

In все любимые блюда, whose favorite dishes are these? Why is there no мои?

Любимые блюда literally means “favorite dishes.” Without a possessive, it is ambiguous:

They could be my favorite dishes,
or someone else’s favorite dishes (e.g., the most popular dishes in the cafeteria).

Context usually decides. In this sentence, it’s most natural to understand it as “my favorite dishes”, because the speaker talks about their own experience.

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

…я уже знаю все мои любимые блюда. – I already know all my favorite dishes.

But Russian often omits possessive pronouns when it is obvious from context whose things they are.

Why is it блюда and not еда? What’s the difference?

Еда is a general, uncountable word for “food, eating.”
Блюдо (plural блюда) is a specific dish / course on a menu.

Я люблю русскую еду. – I like Russian food (in general).
В меню много вкусных блюд. – There are many tasty dishes on the menu.

In a cafeteria context, любимые блюда = favorite dishes (specific items, like borscht, cutlets, etc.), so блюда is the natural choice.

Could we say показалась instead of казалась? What would change?

Yes, you could say:

Сначала новая столовая показалась мне непривычной…

The difference:

казалась (imperfective) – describes a state over some time; it “seemed” in general, repeatedly, or continuously.
показалась (perfective) – focuses on the moment of first impression; it suddenly / initially appeared unusual.

So:

казалась = Over that initial period, it felt unfamiliar.
показалась = It struck me as unfamiliar at first (first impression).

Both are correct; the original sentence is more about the general initial phase rather than that single first moment.