food critic...

I decided last night that since we do eat out a lot, I should do a little write up on the restaurant we visit – especially if it leaves a lasting positive or negative impression on me. If it sticks in my mind.

Last night we were headed to Younger’s Irish Tavern in downtown Romeo for their Wednesday special; dollar burgers. Yes, the burgers are a dollar, but if you want anything on them, it’s extra. Only once did we try to actually make them $1 by just ordering the plain burger and a glass of water. Anyway, when you have it with all the fixin’s, it’s a very good burger and a really good gimmick to get customers in the door.

As we were pulling into the parking lot, we noticed the new restaurant “Polish Village”. There was an empty parking spot over there and Jerome said we should give it a try – support local businesses. A couple of week’s back we went to the real Polish Village Cafe in Hamtramck and enjoyed the stuffed cabbage (golabki) and kielbasa. We were hoping for something similar.

The restaurant is very spacious, having plenty of tables and booths but also plenty of isle way for customers and wait staff. But the atmosphere was uninviting and had an unfriendly feeling and smelled of sauerkraut. We decided that they kept the furniture from the previous business that was in the space and just set up shop.

We sat in the first booth we came to, but were asked to move because the booth seat was apparently broken. So we moved deeper into the restaurant.

The wait staff was friendly and took our order quickly. I ordered the combo meal; city chicken and stuffed cabbage with mashed potatoes. Jerome ordered the potato pancakes. We both ordered the stuffed pepper soup.

The stuffed pepper soup had a tomato base, with rice and peppers. The serving size was large and it was a filling soup and we could have stopped there and had been satisfied – with a fair review. But we continue…

In a reasonable amount of time, our main dish arrived. The presentation was fine. The first thing I tried was the city chicken, which was in a nice thick brown gravy. The gravy had a pleasant taste and the city chicken was pretty tasty. Then I tried the sauerkraut – MAN was that stuff salty and tasted like they poured a little too much vinegar in the recipe. The mashed potatoes were a dry thick consistency which makes you believe they were from a box. But on top of that, they had a very strange bland taste which didn’t become any better no matter how much butter and salt was added.

Finally the stuffed cabbage (golabki). The tomato sauce was a thick sauce which had a nice flavor. They were not very generous with the sauce as it could have used more. The meat and rice inside were quite tasty too; yet the cabbage that surrounded it was undercooked and hard. Ended up not finishing the cabbage or the sauerkraut.

Jerome was not impressed with his potato pancakes either – he said it reminded him of a glorified hash brown.

He was disappointed and we decided that we would not come again.

The waitress and the manager came by the table to ask how everything was, but we were too polite to let them know our real thoughts and just said unenthusiastically that everything was fine.

Comments

Tami said…
Wow- next time I am up there I have to take my grandma there. She cooks it to perfection but loves to go out and try it. Thank you for the food critic- I like it. Keep it up. If you are craving anything Greek, you have to hit the Grecian Table on Harper just north of 9 mile, on the east side. I am required to bring Forbes back food (the Greek platter) from there if he doesn't come to MI with me. It is a family owned business. It has no atmosphere, but the food makes up for it all with the very accomodating wait staff.
baby sister said…
I hope you mean the Polish Village Cafe in Hamtramck and not the Polish Village in Romeo. One good, one not so good.

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