L'Affair Continues

[Note, I misreported the name of the restaurant below. It is called Zasciankek.]

The other night myself and several other chowhounds and chowhounditas went to Zasciankek for a little dinner and floor show [had to be there to see the kidz do some kinda Supreme's type of dance routine.] We tried more soups, chicken noodle, tripe, mushroom, dishes done with potato pancakes and regular pancakes, two variations of chicken breast and other fried things. It was all good and satisfying, although I've had better goulash (too much sour cream muted the flavors). Still, as foreshadowed the other day, come to see the dumplings.

We were all very keen on trying the Silensian dumplings. And these turn about to be about the lightest potato based product you will ever taste. They look like big globs of stiff mashed potatoes, but when you bite in, it take a few seconds for your teeth to hit anything. After that pause through light goo, where you take in the earthy mushroom gravy, you hit a firmer layer. This mantle yields gently to the mouth, leaving a wonderful contrast of chew and air. It is possible to get other gravies besides the mushroom. Essentially, think of these as giant, better than gnocchi, gnocchi.

And as good as the dumpling were, the pierogies were better. They did not come out until late in the meal, and I am not sure if they make the entire package to order or it was just slowly cooked. The wrappers were so clearly homemade, so exquisitely, perfectly flawed. Dough wrapped just to the point of breaking, and you could taste where the hand had fixed any over exuberance. The pierogies were equally light and substantial. A sauce of clarified butter with just enough long cooked onions for sweet-bitter contrast set things off right. If the filling was junk, these pierogies would have still tasted great, but needless to say, the fillings were good too.

There are certain small, apparently unpublicized (yet hardly unknown) places, La Quebrada, Spoon Thai, this place, that it just takes one or two visits to know the place is special. I will always adore Halina's for simple and delicious Polish food, but I will continue cheating on her for sure at Zasciankek.