This weekend, as an early celebration for my birthday, I went to The Barbakan in York for a meal with my family. While it describes itself as an Eastern European restaurant, the menu was mainly comprised of Polish food and drink.

To start I had 'krokiet i barszcz' – a rolled pancake stuffed with mushrooms, accompanied by a beetroot soup. It was delicious! I love mushrooms and I love pancakes, so the combination of the two was perfect for me.

The prize for the best presented starter went to the 'deska wędlin', which Ian ordered. It was basically a selection of hams, sausages, bread and salad, along with pickled mushrooms. Due to the aforementioned love of mushrooms, I made sure I had a little nibble; they were surprisingly good, the earthy tone you would expect but with a nice tangy twist.

Deska wędlin

For my main I tried the 'szwajcar', a pork loin filled with ham and cheese, breaded and fried.

Szwajcar

The pork was so juicy and tender, with cheese literally oozing out of it. The chips were fried to perfection; fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Even the salad was amazing, alongside the traditional lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber there was sweet peppers, olives and even a few slices of raw parsnip. I would never have thought to add parsnip to a salad, or even to try raw parsnip, but somehow it really worked.

Again, Ian chose well for the best presented dish. His 'bigos', or traditional Polish stew, came in a bowl made out of bread.

Bigos

Bigos
Who needs to travel when you have food like this on your doorstep?!

Have you tried Polish food before?

10 comments :

  1. The food looks sumptuous! I too love pancakes and mushrooms. :)

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    1. It really was amazing, pancakes always are :)

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  • You make me hungry! I'm glad to see that my countrymen are making successful contributions to York's food scene =)

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    1. Looking back at the photos is making me hungry too! You should be proud to be associated with such delicious food :)

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  • whywasteannualleave28 February, 2014

    the food looks absolutely delicious - I never realised Polish food is so good!!

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    1. Catherine02 March, 2014

      It really is amazing, you should try it if you never have before!

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