Cafe Polonez - Toronto, Canada

Café Polonez is a Polish restaurant that I got wind of by Anthony Bourdain on his showParts Unknown.

Upon entering the restaurant is fairly spacious and the décor is minimal with paintings and murals of the old country but clean.

Pierogi

The Pierogi ($5.50) is stuffed with ground pork.  They are large boiled dumplings, served with sour cream, and mix of fried onions and pork with glorious amounts of fat.  The pierogi on their own are somewhat bland but smothering the dumplings with the fried onion and pork mix takes it to a whole other galaxy.  I’m not a big fan of sour cream so I didn’t use any of that.  The pierogi themselves are worth the trip here.

Beef Tripe Soup

The Beef Tripe Soup ($5.75) comes in a tomato based soup.  The tripe was well cooked and chewy.  I was expecting something more along the lines of menudo, so the lack of spice was somewhat disappointing.  This is a good solid dish, but when expecting something spicy the soup was somewhat of a letdown.

Roasted Pork Loin

The Roasted Pork Loin ($15.95?) comes with a ton of side dishes, including a pickled beet salad, a coleslaw with tangy red wine vinegar, potatoes, vegetables (canned unfortunately), and two large slices of pork topped with a sour cream/horseradish sauce.  The pork was well cooked and fall apart tender.  The horseradish wasn’t all that spicy which was somewhat disappointing.  The vegetables would have much better if they were fresh instead of canned.

Potato Pancake Hungarian Style

The Potato Pancake Hungarian Style ($14.95) is a large potato pancake filled with goulash, a pork stew full of flavor.  In looking at the menu, I thought the potato pancake would be more like latkes, small potato pancakes, instead of this monster.  The dish also comes with a pickled beet salad, coleslaw and vegetables.

The staff is very friendly and willing to explain the dishes to you.  The portions are huge, and a great bargain for the price.  Like most Eastern European cuisine, the food is very hearty and will fill you up.  I highly recommend coming here for food that most people haven’t had much exposure to, as it is authentic and very good.