A Celebration at Cafe Polonia

This cozy little Dorchester spot is perfect for this time of year. Our recent visit to Cafe Polonia was a celebration with great friends, delicious food, and really good beer. November 6 would have been my nana’s 100th birthday, and since her background was Eastern European, we decided to celebrate with Polish food. It was perfect.

Cafe Polonia has a large menu and it’s a good spot to visit with friends so that you can order and share a bunch of items . We started with the kielbasa and smoked salmon with caviar. I liked that the salmon was a lighter dish as I knew our main courses would be heavy and involve a good bit of meat. The kielbasa is the perfect bite, dunked in spicy mustard for a little bit of a kick.

We decided to share entrees as well, the Polish plate for him and the potato pancake with smoked salmon for me. We ate potato pancakes often while I was growing up, so this was a nice little trip down memory lane. They were perfectly crispy and excellent with the smoky, salty salmon.

The Polish plate is a sure bet and a must-order for at least one person at your table. The plate includes sausage, Hunter’s Stew, pierogis, and stuffed cabbage with a delicious side of braised cabbage. Whatever you order, expect a lot of food.

We washed our meals down with hearty Polish beers, a dark Zywiec for me. As the rain poured down outside, we had a lot of laughs and enjoyed the company of our friends as well as that of our warm and lovely server.

My nana, pictured below on her wedding day, was definitely smiling down on us and knew we were there to celebrate her, I am sure of it.

I highly recommend a trip to Dorchester this winter to check out the comfort food at Cafe Polonia.

Do you have favorite food memories that bring you back to your family and culture?