Jolka Polka, Birmensdorferstrasse, Zurich
Nov
2012
Pierogi
Gołąbki Tomatensauce
Jolka Polka made me think of a fat burning scam for women, kind of like Zumba (second website). But it’s Zurich’s first polish restaurant, an interesting change from the Vietnamese and Indian places that used to be here. Now the menu is slightly weird, since next to a dozen or so polish dishes, they also feature pizza and pasta. Not sure if that makes sense, since peope who want polish food won’t eat italian classics at a polish eatery.
Polish cuisine is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re into hearty cooking you’ll be delighted. Dumpling, pork sausages, cabbage dishes, tasty soups and other fare for hard-working people will make your day. We tried some pierogi (dumplings with meat), nicely seared, could have had some more flavour and served in a pan directly on the table. I preferred the Gołąbki (literally small pigeons), which is minced meat wrapped in a cabbage leaf. The tomato sauce that come with it was a nice compliment, almost giving it a small italian touch.
The visit was mixed with regards to polish feel of the place eg. they had polish beer, but not on the menu, you had to ask. Also in a place like this to position it for Expats and people interested in trying polish food, they should take it a step further offering only polish dishes, more thereof and inject a bit more polish matkować (motherly) love.
05/11/2012 at 09:08
As a Polish I guess I can leave some more intimate insights into the food served there 🙂
So, everybody should ask at the beginning for some bread with lard, and cucumber pickles (along with a pint of Polish beer which is different from Swiss, you can smell hops there, and it’s more alcoholic). The point is to taste the pickles, it’s not Western style in which cucumbers are left in vinegar for some time, but these are real “acidy” (self-developed milk acid as opposed to vinegar) “kiszone ogórki” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickled_cucumber#Polish) – I think these are smuggled from Poland, cause Swiss don’t make’em, and apparently don’t let through the border (a true story :).
The dishes are good, I ate “kotlet mielony” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frikadeller) with mashed potatoes and sth. a’la Ćwikła (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%86wik%C5%82a) and I liked it. Gołąbki is a must, but as I ate them day before, home-made by my beautiful fiancée I went for other dishes.
The “barszcz” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borscht) is A W E S O M E. Well seasoned, like at “mommy’s” :).
What I didn’t like is the décor of the place. Nothing to remind me of Poland there, just white empty walls. It could use some pictures of polish landmarks maybe. I hope it can change in the future.
16/11/2012 at 16:01
Full consent with the review and comments from Robert! I hope the owner will read it one day.
16/01/2013 at 19:40
Migros sells German ‘salzgurken’, which are in fact ‘ogórki kiszone’, although not seasoned with dill and garlic so less tasty than the Polish ones