During a recent springtime evening, after visiting the polling booth to attend to my democratic voting rights, I met with Alan (my beau and partner) to go to our favourite Polish restaurant for a pleasant dinner. Barbakan is situated on a street within the city walls of York, but slightly out of the way of the usual bustle of the city centre. It is on a quirky street (Fossgate/Walmgate) with some other dining gems, including a delightful Italian, a Yorkshire/French fusion tasting menu and a brilliant late night Indian. Worth a trot down the street if you're in the city and feeling peckish.
Back to the Polish restaurant, though. The little place has only 8 - 10 tables and is run most nights by only 1 server and 1 chef, as far as one can tell. You would think this would be a problem, but they act as an efficient and brilliant team, providing timely and friendly service combined with genuinely delicious food.
To start I had a sheep's cheese which was served with a tangy cranberry chutney, whilst Alan had a selection of Polish meats and sausages, served with pickled mushrooms (pictured below). These were accompanied by freshly made bread and a soft cheese infused with garlic and herbs, compliments of the house. Our starters are always pleasant here and we could not fault these dishes.
However, the true gem - in my humble opinion - of Barbakan is their Pierogi dish (pictured above) - fried dumplings, filled with either mashed potato, cheese and herbs or with melting pulled beef. I always opt to have a mix of beef and potato/cheese, and they never disappoint. Accompanied by sour cream and small, tasty morsels of fried smoked bacon, these dumplings are truly divine.
I had never had Polish food before coming to this restaurant - and now we go back regularly for our fix. On this particular occasion, we were delighted to discover we had fallen into the early bird category and so our meal cost a little over £20 each, including drinks.
A little gem that is worth seeking out.
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