Blog

21 July 2005

Polski Fodder

Last night I went with a few folks from work to The Polonium Restaurant on Abbeydale Road in Sheffield for some traditional Polish food. Since I’ve never had any Eastern European cuisine before, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Here’s what I had...

Starter: Bigos (Huntsmans Stew)
This was essentially cabbage and sauerkraut with bits of pork and spicy sausage in it. This tasted better than it looked and much better than I’ve just described it! Suzy had the Kings’ Herrings which were also very tasty – providing you like pickled fish, of course.

Main Course: Roast Hock (Pork) with Silesian Dumplings
After a few minutes of discussing the menu in Polish with the Polish waiter, the Polish guy from work also chose The Hock, so I assumed I’d made the right choice. The joint of pork I got was pretty big, with a huge bone running through it. Underneath the layer of fat was a good portion of slightly salty gammon-like pork, cooked to near-perfection. (Unfortunately, only some of the fat had turned crispy like crackling – otherwise it would have been perfect.) The dumplings were strange round slimy things, but they went well with my meal... and they went extremely well with the bit of Pork Goulash that I nicked off Suzy’s plate!

Before we arrived at the restaurant, we’d been told that eating Polish food is a good way to gain weight – and after eating a few of those dumplings and a bit of the crackling, I can certainly see why! (There were desserts available, but most of us opted to give them a miss as we were too stuffed.)

So, if you’ve never tried any Eastern European cuisine and you’re near Sheffield, I’d definitely recommend The Polonium Restaurant – and if you go on a Tuesday or Wednesday, you get a free shot of traditional Polish vodka (which has a piece of grass in the bottle)!

Labels: food, personal, restaurants