went here for valentine's day. they offered a 5 course meal for two for $69 dollars. we had reservations and were seated right away. i saw a lot of people being turned away at the door because they didn't have reservations (though at no point while we ere there was the restaurant full). right away, there's some dude playing spanish guitar trying to set the mood. this didn't add or remove stars from my rating, i just thought it might be worth mentioning in case someone really loves or really hates dinner music. ambiance was fine. maybe a little on the tacky side, but i think that was just the additional valentines decor (glittery hearts and roses in a vase, cheap looking candles).
first course was soup. i ordered the barszcz, and it was wonderful. nice balance of flavors between beets and other vegetables. also came with a little basket of rolls, which were also delicious. i wish this was my entire meal, because it was all downhill from here. my dining companion ordered the pea soup, but was brought the dill pickle. when he informed the waitress of this, she apologized and then came back with like half a normal serving of the pea soup, messily ladled into the bowl. we didn't complain, but it was obvious someone just didn't give a shit.
we had to split the second course, which was a little weird but whatever. we had potato pierogi. they brought two out. they were fine. boiled, not fried. could've used a little salt, and were a little too mrs. t's-style uniform for my liking, but i'm both very polish and very snobby, so take that with the grain of salt i wish had been used in my pierogi filling.
the third course was a "tossed salad", which was ok. iceberg was prevalent, but there was also spinach, red cabbage, carrot, and cucumber in there. the dressing was a possibly homemade ranch, which was quite good.
the fourth course was a "vegetarian plate" which came with a potato pancake, salad of your choice, and one pierogi of your choice. i chose mushroom, the filling of which tasted exactly like my busia's. for my salad, i went with the kapusta salad, which had a bit too much sugar for my liking, but could probably have been very enjoyable for someone who liked their kapusta on the sweeter side. the potato pancake was greasy and unpleasant.
the final course was a dessert that we were to split. we got the apple szarlotka, which was a lovely apple cake surrounded by custard and fresh blueberries. my only nitpicky complaint is that it was ice cold, and i think would have been more enjoyable if the cake was closer to room temperature.
all of the plates were beautifully garnished and artfully arranged. the portions were small--too small for the mediocre quality of the food and the rather high price. nothing here was any better than i could get at polonia, polish village, or sabina's, but it was far more expensive. i won't be back. read more