Polonia – 02.20.09

Polonia
110 1st Ave
(between 6th St & 7th St)
New York, NY 10009
(212) 254-9699

Nestled in a neighborhood known for its numerous Japanese, Indian, and Chinese restaurants is an unassuming Polish joint with down to earth home cooked food.  This place has been food blogged more times than Chinatown but Eatclub still ventured out that cold windy evening to fill up and warm up on pork, pierogies, and pints.

Home style places never seem to care about decor or service.  Polonia is no exception as all of their energy is focused on cooking tasty authentic food.  Our Polish accented waiter was not nearly as absent as other reviews warn and all noticeable shortcomings of the appearance of the restaurant disappear once the food arrives.

The tripe and borscht soup was clear and rich with a warm (fresh oregano?) flavor; perfect for a cold winter night.  As recommended by our waiter, the imported brew Okocim was a mildy hopped full flavored malt lager without any skunkiness.  The combo platter came with sampling of everything Polish.  Feel free to sub any item as Paul did with his corned beef (perfectly cooked and not too salty, excellent).  The boiled pierogies were full of fresh potato flavor with just a hint of onion.  I heartily recommend with a healthy dollop of sour cream and applesauce.  The kielbasa was also excellent.  If you’ve only tasted Hillshire Farm Polska Kielbasa, you will not go back after tasting this plump K.  This is one fresh ‘basa that is not overpowered by salt.  Its crunchy skin has a pleasant snap before you reach the juicy and meaty innards.  Likewise with the stuffed cabbage:  you get a solid meat filling wrapped with a leaf of soft cabbage.  Polish food is not for the faint of heart, it’s a filling meal of meat and potatoes and done right like at Polonia, you can spend hours eating, drinking, and talking as if you were visiting your Polish granny’s home for dinner.

(Even if you don’t want to venture too deep into Poland, Polonia offers a monstrous Chicken Parmigiana as ordered by guest eater Helen.  Juicy and tasty cutlet that was definitely made when ordered.  HUGE.  Don’t mess…)

Dumplings (kopyka)

Mushroom Barley soup

Compote (homemade fruit punch)

Okocim (oh-ko-chim traditional Polish malt liquor)

Bigos (Hunter’s Dish) mixed with meat and kielbasa

Combination Platter (bigos, stuffed cabbage, pierogis, and corned beef subbed in, good call to our CFO)

Combination Platter (bigos, stuffed cabbage, pierogis, and kielbasa)

Tripe Soup

Chicken Parmigiana, big bird sized

Cheese and Cherry blintz

Good
Large portions, very reasonable prices, and laid back atmosphere make Polonia a reliable place to eat at.
Authentic menu items with daily specials and Polish brews
Can easily accommodate a noisy group of asian eaters
The Blintz.  No matter how full you are, order it and share.

Bad
Slow service, though our waiter was very knowledgeable and helpful
East village means no nearby mass transit

Ugly
The signage and street decor makes it look like Dracula’s Transylvania deli…

-bru

“Great people coming together for great food”

Steve’s review

Polish food? Eat Club?? Kocham żywność !!!
- — – -  - — – -
Food

1 Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana
$10.25
7.2/10
largest chicken cutlet i’ve seen ever.  tomato sauce was sub-par.
chicken didn’t quite impress. still, great value for the price

2 Bigos (Hunter’s Dish) –  mixed with meat and kielbasa
$8.95
6.8/10
not the greatest looking dish. not that great but not that bad

3 Combination Platter – bigos, kielbasa, stuffed cabbage & 4 pierogis
10.95
kielbasa
8.2/10
kielbasa was solid. just wish it was a little bigger
stuffed cabbage
7.1/10
interesting sauce on top.
the stuffing was a ground meat mixture
not bad
4 pierogis
6.8/10
i was a bit dissapointed b/c i had some yummy pierogies before.
mine were a bit too dry.
Potato, Cheese, meat, potato And Cheddar Cheese, Sauerkraut And Mushroom

4 Tripe Soup & Clear Borscht  7/10
intersting. not sure how else to describe it.

5 Blintzes 7.5/10
everyone seemed to like it. i was turned off by the appearance (looked like cottage cheese), but taste
was not bad.

6 Sweet Cabbage  (side dish) 6.8/10
cabbage is cabbage. not too impressive

7 Compote homemade fruit punch  6.8/10
$2.00
more like composte fruit punch. kinda wierd

8 Challah Toast
no charge
while we were eating i smelled this wonderful odor, which the waiter told me was
challah bread, toasted. he offered to bring some over. it was delish.
8.9/10

- — – -
overall food 7/10
polish food is an interesting change of pace. not sure if i would go back but it was something different.

- – –
value 8/10
good amount of food for the price

service 6.5/10
small mom and pop place.  don’t expect much, don’t get much in return

decor 5/10
nothing surprising

overall experience 6.8/10
if ur intersted in trying a new type of food, check out polonia.  won’t be too hard on the wallet,
just don’t have really high expectations and you won’t be dissapointed.

Morimoto – 02.14.09

Today we have a guest commenter, my gf whose comments are in green below.

Morimoto
88 10th Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-8883‎
morimotonyc.com

- – - – - – - — –
So for Valentines’ day, I suprised (suRprised!!!!!!!!!) my gf and took her to Morimoto in NYC.
For those of you who don’t know who Morimoto is, shame on you!! J/k. Morimoto is a legend
in the realm of cooking. He was one of the iron chefs from the original iron chef show in japan
whose cooking style always fascinated me.
He is currently one of the iron chefs of the iron chef america show on food network.

So how did his restaurant fair? Who’s cuisine will reign supreme??? Read on!

Food

1
kakuni (appetizer)
ten hour pork, congee, soy-scallion jus
$16
10/10
perfection. pork was “punch myself in the face” good. first time i wanted to cry when i ate something
in a very long time. steve’s face literally froze in shock

2
seafood toban yaki ( main meal)
half shell lobster, king crab, mussel, clam, diver scallop, red miso-sake broth
$36
10/10
what made this dish perfect is the broth. never tasted like it ever in my life. ever. second time i cried… in one meal. broth was indescribly amazing, it was impossible to tell what was even in it from tasting it

3
chef’s raw bar combination
oh-toro sushi
unagi sushi
yellowtail sushi
clam sushi
tamago sushi
saba sushi (boston mackeral sushi)
fluke sushi
$35
9/10
what a steal/value. $35 for all the sushi listed above.
some were really amazing (tuna) some was dissapointing (mackeral)
but overal, you can tell the stuff was really fresh.

4
spicy yellowtail roll
salmon roll
maguro (tuna) sushi
freshest piece of fish i ever ate in my life. i did not know tuna could taste like this,
it was like it just jumped out of the ocean onto my plate
tobiko (flying fish roe)
king crab sashimi
tai sashimi (japanese red snapper)
$4-7 (for each peace/roll)
9/10
same as #3. the red snapper stood out for me.

5
negitoro roll
chopped toro, scallion
$13
9/10

drinks
6
ginjo sake – 10 oz $31
10/10
wow. sooo smooth. i could only finish one cup before i started getting woozy (10 oz = about 4 cups)
7
shiso leaf – $12
9/10
eh. sort of like a mojito with more alcohol

dessert
8
tofu ‘hot & cold’
$12
soy milk souffle’, tofu cheesecake, maple ice craem
maple sauce
9.7/10
never would have thought tofu could have been used in such ways.
I DON’T EVEN LIKE TOFU OF ANY KIND AND THIS DISH WAS REALLY GOOD.

- – — – –
overall food
9.8/10
i was blown away by the food. closest thing to perfection.

- – -
decor
10/10
hard for me to describe. 2 floors, very chic, simple, yet elegant
bathroom stalls were also amazing (including toilets from japan)

value
n/a
when you go to these places, expect to pay alot.
however, there are some steals (i.e. the sushi deal, the sushi rolls)
that you can find if you want to skimp out on.

service
10/10
impeccable service.

overall experience:
10/10
originally i was going to place 9.5/10, but i caught a sighting of the man himself, morimoto.
according to the waiter, he is usually there on the weekends. if you like seafood,
you HAVE to try this place. guarantee you will not be let down.

in fact, i was fortunate enough to take a picture with the man himself (i know, it’s dark)

- – - – - – — – — – — – - — -
side notes:
a.
one of the sushi specials was fugu.
for $50 a piece! but i remember that fugu, as the waiter told me, is the poison fish from japan:

a chef needs to train for a minimum for 7 years in japan to be certified to serve fugu.
unless morimoto himself cut it for me, i would have been very nervous for anyone else to cut it.

b.
check out the chelsea market adjacent to morimoto.
the lobster place seafood market (rated a 27 on zagat) has the freshest pieces of fish i’ve ever seen.

c
they sell autographed copies of morimoto’s cookbook at the restaurant.

d.
reserve in advance – for valentines day i had to call 1.5 months in advance, and even then there was only one time slot left.

e.
sit at the sushi bar if u want to see the chefs at work. they use blowtorches!

Shanghai Cafe – 01.27.09

Shanghai Cafe
100 Mott St
New York 10013

The tale of the two cities, or in this case the tale of two chinese cafe’s.
Both suprised me, but in different ways.

Food
1)law bok go
a turnip dish wraped in filo like consistency pastry.
bland. little flavor
5/10
2) sah lut hah koh
mayo shrimp dish with walnut and a ring of broccoli
i remember first eating this dish at 4 am after clubbing with mr. sunshine
it tasted nothing like my previous encounter with this dish.
i couldn’t eat more than 5% of the dish.
it was so bad i gave the leftovers to a homeless dude on the subway
3/10
3) dao mew
the tips of snow peas, stir fried with garlic and oil.
one of the better ones i’ve tried. makes me want to get a wok.
9/10
4)shao lohm bao
pork dumplings with a soup base *within* the dumpling
iv’e had better. the black vinegar sauce wasn’t so hot.
6.8/10
5)mango smoothie
I’s cafe in new brunswick, nj still has the best mango smoothie.
the tapioca was frozen
6.6/10
6)almond smoothie
tasted water down
6.6/10
7)sticky rice in bamboo leaf
good portion, decent price, decent taste
7.8/10
Overall Food
disappointing. considering the competition in chinatown, you would think
it would up the ante. not with this case.
6.2/10
Decor
blegh. nothing impressive
4/10
Service
crappy. didn’t expect much, didn’t get much
3/10
Value
for a chinese restaurant in chinatown, was overpriced
6/10

Conclusion
Don’t eat here. plenty of other restaurants in chinatown.

- – - – - – - – - – -

Kowloon Cafe
2365 86th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11214

Food

1)Salt and Pepper Squid
lightly battered and fried with sliced pepper
cooked very well. portion was plentiful
8.3/10
2)pork short ribs in black bean sauce
slightly above average
7.8/10
3)Kowloon Fried Rice
suprisingly spicy. surpisingly good
8/10
4)almond smoothie
this is how you’re supposed to make a smoothie
8/10
5)Hong Kong Style Tea
a little too bitter for my taste
6/10

Overall Food
you would never expect from the outside a nugget of gold in the
heart of brooklyn
Decor
6/10
nothing to harp about. 99.99% don’t come here for the decor
Service
same as decor
6/10
Value
portion = large
price = cheap!
9/10

Conclusion
Unbeknownst to me, brooklyn has a heavily chinese population.
If you are ever on “86 street”, the shopping street of bensonhurst in brooklyn,
check out this restaurant.
8.6/10

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FoodScale – in Homage to the superbowl – I present a one week only NFL sports ranking scale

10 – Pittsburgh Steelers – that defense is just straight up nasty
9.5-9.9999 Arizona Cardinals – the cardinals?? in the superbowl?? my underdog pick for the 2008 champions
9.1-9.49 Tennesse Titans – Kerry Collins?? another surprise for 2008.
8-9 Baltimore Ravens – rookie QB – impressive
7.6- 8 NY football Giants – cough – Eli – choke – cough
7 – 7.5 Philly Eagles – I know they are my team but they shouldn’t even be this high. They did however
made it to the conference championships.

- – - –

6 Dolphins – a year for surprise QB performances. I’m glad for pennington.
5 Ny Jets – Diva Favre retiring? not retiring? playoffs? playoffs??
1-4 KC – Chiefs – we can build on this!! only without me! you can do it!
0 – 1 Detriot Lions – the only perfect team of 2008.