POLAND – Domku Bar & Cafe

Domku Bar & Cafe is an adorable restaurant that truly made us feel as if we were transported to someplace other than Washington, D.C. Domku is the diminutive for “in the house” in Polish, and the interior is homey and decorated with vintage wingback chairs, couches, chandeliers, coffee tables, and foam-mounted posters from Poland. Some of the other diners were there when we arrived and still there when we left. The Cafe had a casual neighborhood lounge feel. In addition to Polish food, the menu also offers many Scandinavian specialties and an exotic cocktail menu. Wikipedia states that Polish food is heavy in meat, cream, winter vegetables, and noodles, which was an accurate description of much of the food we tried. Also, “According to 10th century chronicle by Abraham ben Jacob, Poland was abundant with all sorts of ‘grains and meats and honeys and fish.’” One interesting aspect of Polish food is that it encompasses several diverse and distinct culinary traditions, specifically Lithuanian, Jewish, German and Hungarian cuisine. Also, although Polish food is associated with a robust use of the potato, cereal grains are actually more traditional, specificially kasza (a.k.a. kasha). Wikipedia also describes the changes in Polish cusine as a result of World War II:

For most of the year the Poles had to get by with only domestic winter fruit and vegetables: apples, onions, potatoes, cabbage, root vegetables.This situation led in turn to gradual replacement of traditional Polish cuisine with food prepared from anything available at the moment. Among the popular dishes introduced by the public restaurants was an egg cutlet, a sort of a hamburger made of minced or instant egg and flour. The traditional recipes were mostly preserved during the Wigilia feast (Christmas Eve), for which most families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses.

The appetizers we ordered included Fried pickled herring, Twarog (farmer’s cheese) smorrebrod, and Placki ziemniaczane with gravlax. The Fried pickled herring turns out to be a Swedish specialty, also known as Stekt strömming. The fried pickled herring was served at room temperature and topped with gravlax and vegetables. It was tart, savory, and tasty for those who like pickled herring. The Twarog (farmer’s cheese) smorrebrod was like a cucumber sandwich, Polish style. Twarog is a fresh white cheese common in Eastern Europe, best likened to a ricotta in flavor, but drier and more solid (the Polish variety is apparently even drier and more solid than other Eastern European Twarog). Placki ziemniaczane with gravlax are potato pancakes served with smoked salmon. Placki is the Polish term for potato pancakes and there is a lot of regional variation in the preparation of pancakes (in Silesia and Beskydy they may be oven-baked rather than fried). Ziemniaczane is Polish for potato, and gravlax is the Polish term for smoked salmon (lox) is gravlax. The predominance of gravlax might be an indication of the Scandinavian bent of some of the food at Domku Bar & Cafe. These were thinner than we predicted, crispy, and savory.

The entrees we ordered were Bigos Warszawski, Swedish meatballs & mashed potatoes with lingonberry preserves, and Stuffed nalesniki (cheese). According to Wikipedia Bigos is:

A savory stew of cabbage and meat, there is no standard recipe, as recipes vary considerably from region to region and from family to family. Typical ingredients include fresh and fermented white cabbage (sauerkraut, kapusta kiszona in Polish), various cuts of meat and sausages, often whole or puréed tomatoes, honey and mushrooms. The meats may include pork (often smoked), ham, bacon, beef, veal, sausage, and, as bigos is considered a hunters’ stew, venison or other game; leftover cuts find their way into the pot as well. It may be seasoned with pepper, caraway, juniper berries, bay leaf, marjoram, pimento, dried or smoked plums and other ingredients.

The Bigos Warszawski at Domku Bar & Cafe was very thick and contained carrots and sausage. In the Polish epic poem Pan Tadeusz the members of szlachta are described eating Bigos returning from hunting:

In the pots warmed the bigos; mere words cannot tell

Of its wondrous taste, colour and marvellous smell.

One can hear the words buzz, and the rhymes ebb and flow,

But its content no city digestion can know.

To appreciate the Lithuanian folksong and folk food,

You need health, live on land, and be back from the wood.

Without these, still a dish of no mediocre worth

Is bigos, made from legumes, best grown in the earth;

Pickled cabbage comes foremost, and properly chopped,

Which itself, is the saying, will in ones mouth hop;

In the boiler enclosed, with its moist bosom shields

Choicest morsels of meat raised on greenest of fields;

Then it simmers, till fire has extracted each drop

Of live juice, and the liquid boils over the top,

            And the heady aroma wafts gently afar.

The Swedish meatballs & mashed potatoes with lingonberry preserves were rich, hearty, and delicious despite the fact that they were not Polish. However, the Stuffed nalesniki we also ordered is a traditional Polish food. Nalesniki translates to pancake in Polish, and is similar to a crepe and can be served either sweet or savory. These were served savory and filled with cheese, kasza, vegetables, and cream. They were incredibly rich. Apparently nalesniki have also been adopted in Russia and the Ukraine.

We also sampled the wide array of drinks and had dessert (bread pudding and beet cake). The bread pudding was not Polish. The beet cake was an interesting usage of an ingredient common in Polish food, to be reserved for those who genuinely love the taste of beets. The drinks offered at Domku are impressive and they have a large bar featuring Polish beers, aquavits (Scandinavian), unique cocktails, and seasonal beverages (we tried to get the mulled beer, but they were out). They have a huge amount of options, including elderflower cordial, Becherovka herbal liquor, lemongrass ginger aquavit, etc.

We also learned that pierog is singular and pierogi is plural, so saying “pierogis” is double pluralizing.

Note: Call ahead if you are set on a certain item, like pierogi, as they were out of several items when we arrived.

TOTAL: $130, excluding taxes and tip (three appetizers, three entrees, four cocktails, three desserts)

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