Mad dog and hunter's stew - exploring Polish cuisine

One evening we decide that is it time to eat Polish. Paris has a choice of Polish restaurants. We choose the one that has a combination of good reviews, close to a metro station and not expensive. So, the result is Paris Polska. We book a table using an app called The Fork. A reservation made with the The Fork app grants us a 20% discount on food at Paris Polska. We make the reservation using the app as we walk to the RER station. 

We get a table for 2 with velvet covered arm chairs. The table next to us is full of young Poles who are drinking beer. And in the corner a very serious looking woman is hosting an amusing TV show in Polish. The owner behind the counter looks Polish, speaks Polish and even has a Polish t-shirt. We decide that this restaurant meets our requirements for a Polish restaurant. Especially since the menu has food items that are impossible to pronounce, such as śledź w oleju z cebula (oil marinated herrings with onion), oscypek z gruska (grilled cheese with warm peaches) and kaczka faszerowana (stuffed duck).

A look at the menu tells me that the Poles must love potatoes and pork. That sounds a bit like Denmark where I currently work.  I choose items from the menu with the kind help of the waitress. She asks whether we are Polish or have any connection to Poland. She is excited when I tell her that we want to eat genuinely Polish food. Jukka takes the tasting menu.

First a vodka shot. Jukka has plain vodka and I have a shot called ‘mad dog’ which has tabasco at the bottom, raspberry liquor next and on top a layer of vodka. There is no stirring, just drinking the whole thing on one go. The Poles in the table next to up stop conversation to see how I cope with a vodka shot but they do not realise that I am from Finland and this not my first vodka shot.  Owner teaches us that “cheers” in Polish is “Na zdrowie!”( which means “for health”). This is the best vodka shot ever! The raspberry liquor with a tabasco kick leaves a very pleasant after taste in the mouth. Mad dog was not so mad.

For starters I have bread covered with fat and side dish of pickled cucumbers. The cucumbers taste like Russian pickled cucumbers that we sometimes had at home when I was a kid. Maybe I have already had more experience with Polish-like food than I realized!








For main course I order Polish Golonka w Piwie (knuckle of pork with potatoes and sauerkraut/choucroute). The waitress warns that the sauerkraut is nothing like German or Alsatian suerkraut. I am willing to take my chances since I do not particularly care for German style sauerkraut. And I am not disappointed. The cabbage has been prepared in beer with meet for a few days and it is the best sauerkraut I have ever had. I am having a feast.

Meanwhile Jukka is eating through his tasting menu of 3 starters and 3 main courses. Fortunately, they are small portions so he can also enjoy the 3 desserts. I take a bite of his herring and it is fantastic. The Polish salad looks like a version of the globally known salad that has vegetables (potatoes, pickles, carrots, green peas) and mayonnaise. It is known as Russian salad, Macedonian salad, Italian salad depending on where you are in the world. For main course he gets hunter’s stew (called Bigos with a large amount of the fantastically tasty sauerkraut), Goulasch and Pierogi (that look like dumplings).  He empties his plates so the food is to his liking.

We share dessert of cheese cake called Sernik, apple cake Szarlotka and Makowiec (poppy seed roll).

While we were eating and drinking through our menu, other people, French, tourists, Polish and non-Polish fill up the restaurant.  Who knew that Polish food was so delicious? Apparently many already did know and we do now, too.

Paris Polska Restaurant

42 rue des Vignoles
75020 Paris
http://www.parispolska.com/