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What do Poles eat during the summer? The
Polish fare familiar stateside is heavily skewed toward cured meats and
root vegetables—foods that are hard to imagine enjoying on Baltic
beaches. I can't speak about a warm day in Warsaw, but the pierogi at
the Polish Kitchen cart at the Q-19 pod tasted great on a shockingly
bright and balmy Groundhog Day. Fat, pan-cooked kielbasa with mildly
spicy brown mustard is the cart's main protein option, either as a big
sandwich on a hoagie roll ($4.75) or as the centerpiece of the combo
plates. Go for one of the plates with pierogi, as this cart's impressive
potato-and-onion and vegetable-stuffed versions topped with a dollop of
sour cream and a few slices of cucumber are the sort of thing you might
want to order as a plate. And you can—nine for $6.50. The stuffed
cabbage ($3.50), filled with rice and ground beef and topped with a thin
tomato sauce, is also respectable if not deliriously good. Ditto the
Hunter's Stew, a sauerkraut dish with big hunks of sausage cooked until
it was a little too soupy for my taste. Cabbage tastes better with a
little crispness, especially on a warm day—it might be worth returning
to on a gray, drizzly afternoon. Portland will surely have a few to
come, if Phil was right.
- Order this: Combo plate No. 1 ($7).
- Best deal: Kielbasa sandwich ($4.75).
- Iâll pass: Beef-stuffed cabbage ($3.50).
EAT: Polish Kitchen, Q-19 cart pod, Northwest Quimby Street and 19th Avenue. 11 am-3 pm, Monday-Friday. $.
WWeek 2015
