Polka
4112 Verdugo Rd.
LA
323-255-7887
Updated Review on The New Diner 2
Besides the Hilshire Farms kielbasa I have never tried had Polish food. Not even a pierogi. But I went to Polka tonight and what a very nice surprise. Great food and good company. Polka is a small restaurant, maybe big enough for 40 people. All meals at the Polka include soup and salad. Dinner includes a dessert. Dinner prices range from $11.99-$15.99 so a very good value.
I ordered the klopsy for $11.99, which is a mixture of ground beef, pork and chicken in a gravy. The first course was a nice soup. Not sure what the soup is called but it had beans and a curry flavor to it. Then the salad has carrots, lettuce, green onions, and some rice vinegar dressing. Somebody in our group said this was like Polish Kim-chee. It was sour but the vegetables were fresh.
The klospy came with corn, peas, carrots, and brown rice. The klopsy was very tender and flavorful. The gravy was thick and rich had was filled with lots of spices. The two klopsy were good size and well worth the price. The brown rice had a sweet coating to it. Strange at first but not too bad. The corn and the string beans were pretty good, cooked just right. The carrots were not cooked through. It was almost raw. I enjoyed my entree and everybody in our group also like their orders.
The dessert was vanilla pudding, whipped cream, cherries, and some cocco sprinkled on top. I hate vanilla pudding so I just had a spoonful.
I was in a party of 14 people and the serve was average. They took forever to between the soup and salad. They gave entrees to the wrong person and they rarely came by to ask if we needed anything.
But I would go back and try other dishes like the pierogi, kielbasa which was at least 10 inches long, the kotlet schabowy, which is a breaded pork lion, the golabki, which is stuffed cabbage, or the royal plate which is a combo with pierogi, golabki, and gulasz which is a pork or beef stew.
Polka is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Parking can be a problem since the parking lot is very small.
Update May 18, 2008
I finally went back to Polka and ordered something different. Of course the prices increased but the food is still very good. But service is still very average. Nice people but they need to work on faster service. The server did not even ask what we wanted to drink. We must have waited ten minutes, after we sat down, before anybody asked what we wanted.
They changed the soup. The soup, which is included with most dinners, is a tomato soup with tons of cream and some pasta. It was fine but they need to lay off the cream. Tomato soup is fine by itself. You don't need to ruin it with cream.
I had the cutlet schabowy, $19.95. This is basically chicken fried pork, breaded pork and topped with mushrooms. This was an good dish but would have been better if they added gravy to the pork. The pork was crispy and tender and moist. But gravy would have added much to this dish.
I wanted to try the all you can eat, $25, but everybody at our table must order the all you can eat and nobody else wanted to order. I will go back and get the all you can eat one of these days. Maybe when the White Sox are in town to play the Dodgers.
European Deli and Bakery
722 S. Grand Ave.
Glendora
626-914-3959
After going to Spaghetti Eddie's, I noticed European Deli and Bakery and decided to give them a try, because I was craving a polish sausage.
European Deli isn't really a sit down restaurant, but more of a deli/market that has a few tables. This reminded me of Mattern Sausage and Meats, but European Deli is more Polish than German, like Mattern, but they do have a large selection of Eastern European cold cuts and foods. But I did find it weird they sold some sausage made/sold by Mattern!!
So I got the polish sausage plate, with hot potato salad, sauerkraut, and bread, $8.99. I loved this. The hot potato salad was unique because I'm used to cold potato salad. But this was great. Very tender, well seasoned potatoes. The sauerkraut was awesome, finely cut pieces of cabbage that wasn't too tangy,
But what I really liked was the polish sausage. Like the sign outside said the sausages are made in Chicago and fresh. I bought a package of sausage that was produced about five days before, in Chicago, that's fresh!! The sausage is pork with a good blend of spices. A wonderful natural casing!!
Service is OK. They are a bit slow but friendly. It was very busy when I was there, with people coming in for deli meats and sausage.
This reminds me, I need to go back to Polka, for some good Polish food!!
I would go back to European Deli and Bakery anytime. The next time I may try a sandwich.
