My Mom, Nina, Poppy, and I arrived in Warsaw on a Friday morning, ready to start the day. Considering the last meal Mom and I had eaten was pizza in the JFK airport many hours before, we were famished!!
Don't get me wrong, this pizza was actually very good (so good that one piece was already gone before I was able to whip out my camera for this picture). The thin crust was crispy and the topping was both cheesy and slightly garlicy. But a pizza of this size, split between four people, can only satiate you for so long.
Thus, our first stop in Warsaw was lunch. As we were all eager to get something in our bellies, we selected a restaurant around the block from our hotel. And although I first felt a feeling of utmost confusion as I glanced at all of the Polish words, I soon breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of English translations, conveniently located beneath the Polish.
That was one very nice element of all of the menus I encountered in Poland- they were all translated into multiple languages. I was particularly excited to find one with a German translation under the English one so I could practice my food vocab!
Seeing as this was our first official meal in Poland, what better food to order than pierogies and potato pancakes?
We split the food that we ordered between us so we wouldn't stuff ourselves too much before dinner. (It was early afternoon by the time we were eating lunch.)
Now would also be a good time to mention, for those of you without pierogie knowledge (I know, it's shocking, but there are some who have not had the good fortune of tasting the wonders of the pierogie) that pierogies come with many fillings. You can have both savory and sweet pierogies, though my favorite are the savory, and they can be filled with anything from cheese and potato, to cabbage, to meat, to prunes.
We ordered the pierogie Ruski, or Russian-style pierogies. These are filled with a white cheese, and in this case were topped with fried onion that tasted suspiciously like bacon.
Let me be frank. There was nothing wrong with these pierogies. They were delicious in their own right. The problem is that my Nina makes the best pierogies in the universe. And since I've grown up eating her pierogies, I have very high standards for what pierogies should be. As soon as I tasted these, I knew that pierogies in Poland would not meet the expectations I had for them. And thus, I quickly realized the need to appreciate this difference.
We gobbled up the pierogies, but I made a mental note to not expect Nina's pierogies to come out of any kitchen other than her own.
We must not forget about the potato pancakes! I like potato pancakes, but we don't make them nearly as much, so I didn't have as specific criteria for these as I did for the pierogies.
These were probably the best potato pancakes I've ever tasted! Made with shredded potatoes, herbs, and onions, they were pan-fried and topped with sauteed mushrooms and a dollop of sour cream. I am getting a serious craving for them right now.
The whole combination was wonderful. Honestly. It tasted very fresh and succulent (if you can use that word to describe potato pancakes) and I probably could have eaten three orders! (Yes, they were that good.)
But, alas, we couldn't stuff ourselves silly...yet.
In addition to our food, I ordered a hot chocolate. Perhaps you remember my fondness for this beverage...
The whipped cream was the best part of this hot chocolate, as I'm not sure if they used water or milk to prepare it. And though it was sufficiently chocolatey, I prefer my hot cocoa on the thick side.
At the end of our meal, the hostess brought out a little dish of candies for the table.
They were adorable and tasty! It was a sweet way to finish our first Polish meal, eaten outside in the European way.
Later in the afternoon, Mom and I stopped in a convenience store-type shop down the street from our hotel and spotted a mysterious food that we could not leave on the shelf.
It was called "Sonata" and appeared to be some sort of vanilla pudding with whipped cream. In reality, it was so much more. The part on the bottom that we assumed to be pudding was light and airy, like a mousse. In fact, the texture of the whipped cream and the mousse was essentially identical.
As I'd never seen anything like this in America, and it was yummy, this turned out to be a nice little snack to tide us over until dinner.
That evening, Nina and Poppy led the way to a restaurant they had visited on their first trip to Poland, Folk Gospoda.
This was an adorable place, decorated in a Polish-countryside style. With dark wooden tables and exposed beams, it felt very rustic and inviting. The Polish pop-music playing in the background was somewhat out of touch with the decorations, but apparently they have a live band on Saturday evenings that, presumably, does not play pop music.
As this restaurant was recommended by Nina and Poppy's tour guide as a local favorite, we knew we were in for some good food.
After perusing the menu, I'd narrowed my choices down to two options. The waiter made the final decision for me when he described the salmon as "very good." And from his facial expression, I could tell he really felt that way.
So the salmon in puff pastry it was! Not very Polish-sounding, but hey, it was something new!
As we waited for our meals, the waiter brought our drinks and some bread to the table.
In our house, the spread for the bread in Folk Gospoda is the stuff of legends. As soon as Nina told us about her first experience with this spread, it became famous. And ever since we planned this trip, we knew we would have to try it.
You see, this spread is no normal butter spread. Oh no. Take a look and see if you can figure out what it is.
Any guesses? If I told you lard would you believe me? Well, you'd better because that's exactly what it is. Lard. Yes, that's right. Bacon fat. And they serve this with the bread, you know, so you can spread it on top and partake in this artery-clogging basket of calories and other unmentionables.
So of course Mom and I had to try it. I mean, when in Poland, do as the Polish, right? I think my taste buds were a little off that night because all I could taste was soy sauce. But everyone else at the table seemed to think it tasted just like bacon grease should. So, take that for what you will. It was quite an interesting way to start the meal.
As for my drink, I thought I was being adventurous by ordering Kinley Tonic Water.
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| Cute bottle...not so cute taste. |
If you ever see this on a menu, don't be intrigued. I think this is the stuff they mix with gin to make "gin and tonic" which probably explains the strong, bitter taste. This was disgusting. Had I known it was going to be so bitter, I would have run in the other direction. But I was naive, and it was a kind of water, so I figured it couldn't be that bad. I'll never make that mistake again.
At last, our food arrived!
My salmon was topped with thinly sliced vegetables, wrapped in puff pastry, and served with some kind of creamy fried onions.
I'm not sure that there are words to describe the perfection of this dish. The salmon was fresh (not fishy!) and absolutely delicious inside of the golden brown puff pastry. With just a little scoop of the onions on top, it was divine! You may have noticed that this didn't come with any sides, but never fear, you would not want any other taste to ruin the harmonious event taking place in your mouth. Oh, it was sooo good.
My only complaint was that the salmon still had that ugly gray bottom layer on one part of it. I know it's picky, but the meal would have been perfect if not for that. Still, it wasn't a deal breaker. I got over the presence of the "gray stuff" pretty quickly and simply savored this awesome meal.
Because we were on vacation we thought "why not order dessert?!" So we did. To be honest, I can't quite remember the name of our dessert. All I can tell you is that it was some sort of cream cake.
The cake was anticlimactic after that superb salmon. I was rather dismayed to discover that Polish desserts suffer from the same lack of sweetness as German desserts. It's a shame, really. Both countries make really beautiful desserts, yet both seem to forget the sugar. That said, if you don't like sweet things, you'd love the desserts... They're just not quite what I look for in an after dinner treat.
Nevertheless, I left Folk Gospoda with a very full belly, and fond memories of a delicious meal. If you ever go to Warsaw, you'll have to give it a try.
The next day, breakfast provided the typical dilemma: cold cuts or yogurt? This was not a hard choice for me, seeing as I personally believe sliced meats should be relegated to the lunch table, but still, the offerings were not exactly what I'd typically be eating for breakfast.
The highlight for me was really a plum yogurt. I've never seen plum yogurt in America, and after tasting this one, I'm not sure why we don't have it over here. It was great!
Also on the breakfast menu was hot chocolate via powder packet and hot milk from the coffee machine.
This was pretty good considering it was from a pouch. It was incredibly chocolatey and rich. I was pleased. :)
Lunch, however, was not as pleasing. A word of advice: if there are no people sitting at a restaurant, don't eat there! We made this mistake once and didn't have to make it again. The so called "hockey puck" potato cakes with mushroom goop were enough to pound the customers-equals-better-food rule into our heads.
Oh gosh...it's grossing me out to remember them! Let's move quickly onward, shall we?
Since lunch was a bust, we needed something else to fill our tummies. Enter, Polish soft-serve ice cream. Or, as they call it, lody.
Exercising better judgement, we joined a line at a very busy ice cream shop, situated in the old town, where we'd eaten lunch. And, after expressing our desires with a jumble of butchered Polish words and wide smiles, we were presented with our rewards. Victory and ice cream was ours!
This was the first of many stops for lody. The ice cream there is somehow different (AKA better than what we have at home). It's creamy and cold and full of a wonderful flavor that ours doesn't have. I don't know. Maybe they use heavy cream or something. All I know is that it's delicious and it only takes one lick to be hooked. (Notice my use of a cone! I've been on quite the cone streak since Germany, partly because it would be twice as hard to try and explain in Polish that I'd like it in a cup!)
That evening we met the rest of our tour group for the first time and headed out to dinner together. It was only after the soup arrived (loaded with chunks of mystery meat) that Mom and I had to tell our tour guide, Ela, that we didn't eat pork or red meat. She assured us that she would be able to change our meal since everyone else would be feasting on pork.
When dinner was served, I felt as if I'd been transported back to Germany!
Our chicken was pounded down, breaded, and fried...just like a schnitzel! Poppy called it a koklety/kotlety (I'm not sure of the spelling on this one). Usually a breaded pork cutlet, I guess it is a popular Eastern European dish. It was actually really tasty. The meat was juicy and encased in an oh-so-good breading. The potatoes were seasoned with fresh dill, (dill is a very popular herb in Poland) and the lettuce was topped with a mustard-based dressing (also, we discovered, a Polish favorite). It was way more food than I could comfortably finish, but I did my best!
The next day, we were up and on our way to the second city on our tour, Gdansk.
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