0417 warszawa

A group of friends got together to try a Polish restaurant in Santa Monica. It’s a small place called Warszawa, and the food is very tasty. There were eight of us altogether. Neil had come in from Ventura, while Cheryl made the trip from Redlands. The rest of us are spread across the L.A. basin.

The restaurant has about ten tables, so reservations are strongly suggested. There’s a covered patio in the back for private parties, although it was unused the night that we were there. The parking lot is small. There are a lot of signs, but the restaurant isn’t mentioned on any of them. But if you ask the staff, the parking lot is available to restaurant patrons.

The wine list isn’t long, but there are some good selections. You can tell that a lot of thought was put into it, like the menu.

The menu isn’t long, but there are a lot to choose from. There are nine salads, plus a combination of up to six of them. There are five different types of hand-made Pierogis (Polish ravioli) but you can order a combo plate with one of each. Mmmm. They are served dry, like empanadas.

I ordered the salmon-filled dumplings, and they were very delicious. One of the guys ordered the “Bigos”, which is a Polish hunter’s stew. The way he ordered it, though, sounded like he said “beagles”. My bad.

We all left room for dessert. Neil decided to try the “schlicki”, which is a vanilla crepe filled with lemon cheese, served hot with raspberries. One of the women said to Neil, “If you let me have a taste of your schlicki, I’ll order something else.” We told her that even in a Polish restaurant, her comment sounded suggestive.

Several of the desserts were ordered and then passed around. One item was a dark mocha chocolate cream layer torte with light vanilla sauce. The waiter added a word of warning: the menu doesn’t indicate it, but there’s espresso in the torte. Caution was tossed aside and the torte was ordered. Everyone took a bite and commented that the espresso was very light. I had a piece from the bottom. I found out then why everyone said that the espresso was light. It had settled in the bottom. My piece had a strong espresso taste.