Hamtramck is a bright, diverse part of the Detroit area that's unlike anywhere else. One of the main attractions is the broad selection of restaurants specializing in cultural cuisine, specifically Polish food. In fact, the two most well known Polish eateries, Polish Village and Polonia are right next to each other, separated only by a free parking lot.
A friend and I had the pleasure of trying the acclaimed Polonia a couple months back. My pal was craving Polish beet soup, and for variety's sake, we decided to seek it out at Polish Village. I'm going to be truthful: I haven't had much Polish food in my life, and what I have tried I didn't particularly care for. Unfortunately, the fare at Polish Village didn't change my stance.
I want to preface that I HATE being critical, but I also value truthfulness and transparency. Also, Polish Village has many strong points. Unfortunately, I don't believe their food is their biggest strength, which is disappointing for a restaurant. After all, you primarily go to a restaurant for the food.
We were very lucky that we were able to be seated immediately at peak time on a Saturday night. I wasn't expecting that, but it's always good when that happens. The table had to be wiped down as the hostess was seating us. No big deal, that happens during busy times. I did notice, however, that the host asked another server for her rag instead of using a fresh one, potentially wiping down the table with a dirty rag. So when we sat, the table surface was still wet. Not a crisis, but not ideal, either. Another small but noticeable thing was that as the host seated us, she said a server would be there shortly with bread. We never got the bread, but again, that's hardly a big deal. They were busy and sometimes small things like that slip through the cracks.
Our server arrived quickly and was sunshiny, sweet and very helpful. One of Polish Village's strengths is the staff. The service is so friendly, and their kindness and helpfulness stood out as exemplary. I ordered a coke, and received the generic cola that comes out of a bar gun. Again, not a big deal, but something culinary professionals will notice.
All of Polish Village's entrees come with a starter option. I chose the pickle soup. This was truly the highlight of my meal. I had never tried pickle soup before and wasn't sure what to expect with such a sour, briny ingredient, but Polish Village's soup was wonderfully balanced with cream, potatoes, and shredded carrots evening out the flavor. It was absolutely delicious and unique.
A friend and I had the pleasure of trying the acclaimed Polonia a couple months back. My pal was craving Polish beet soup, and for variety's sake, we decided to seek it out at Polish Village. I'm going to be truthful: I haven't had much Polish food in my life, and what I have tried I didn't particularly care for. Unfortunately, the fare at Polish Village didn't change my stance.
I want to preface that I HATE being critical, but I also value truthfulness and transparency. Also, Polish Village has many strong points. Unfortunately, I don't believe their food is their biggest strength, which is disappointing for a restaurant. After all, you primarily go to a restaurant for the food.
We were very lucky that we were able to be seated immediately at peak time on a Saturday night. I wasn't expecting that, but it's always good when that happens. The table had to be wiped down as the hostess was seating us. No big deal, that happens during busy times. I did notice, however, that the host asked another server for her rag instead of using a fresh one, potentially wiping down the table with a dirty rag. So when we sat, the table surface was still wet. Not a crisis, but not ideal, either. Another small but noticeable thing was that as the host seated us, she said a server would be there shortly with bread. We never got the bread, but again, that's hardly a big deal. They were busy and sometimes small things like that slip through the cracks.
Our server arrived quickly and was sunshiny, sweet and very helpful. One of Polish Village's strengths is the staff. The service is so friendly, and their kindness and helpfulness stood out as exemplary. I ordered a coke, and received the generic cola that comes out of a bar gun. Again, not a big deal, but something culinary professionals will notice.
All of Polish Village's entrees come with a starter option. I chose the pickle soup. This was truly the highlight of my meal. I had never tried pickle soup before and wasn't sure what to expect with such a sour, briny ingredient, but Polish Village's soup was wonderfully balanced with cream, potatoes, and shredded carrots evening out the flavor. It was absolutely delicious and unique.
My companion was equally pleased with his beet soup. He let me try a spoonful, and I agree the flavor was lovely. The beet soup had the savory flavor of roasted red beets. There was love in both of those soups and both were quite special. However, the rim of my friend's soup bowl was dirty. This is a pet peeve of mine, as it only takes a moment to wipe the rim of the bowl but elevates the presentation wonderfully. It's one of those things customers expect unconsciously, as in, they don't notice it until it's wrong. It seems Polish Village has servers ladle and serve the soup, but as we saw earlier, the servers carry rags to clean the tables, so it'd be an easy improvement to have them clean the bowls upon serving as well.
For my main, I ordered schnitzel, which is ground pork that's breaded and fried. I had never tried schnitzel before and had an open mind. Truthfully, when the plate was put in front of me, I was disappointed. All of Polish Village's entrees come with sides of mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and green beans. The very first thing I noticed was that the gravy on top of my potatoes had congealed somewhat, a clear indicator that it had been sitting in the window waiting to be served for some time. When I tried it, I felt the gravy tasted bizarre-it had a weird metallic taste. As I tried the other components and came back to the potatoes, they had hardened to an inedible texture. The schnitzel itself was satisfactory. It was simply flavored with onions, and remained moist with a fine texture. I suppose I'd hoped the coating would be a little crispier (that's what I associate with the frying technique) but was closer to a soggy shake and bake topping. The green beans' only fault was that they clearly came out of a can. This isn't disastrous, it's cost effective-but there's no real way to hide that canned taste without effort. The sauerkraut was flavorful, but to be fair, I don't eat much kraut on it's own to begin with, so I didn't have a strong opinion on it.
I generally don't eat Polish food because I typically find it bland and uninteresting, and this experience remains true to my impression. It's not horrible, but its convenient and uninspired. It's the school cafeteria style food your grandparents love and are loyal to, but at a higher than warranted price point. It shares the essence of diner food, at the slightly higher price point of $12.18 per entree on average. Polish Village is well loved in the community, and I'm not taking that away from them. I am saying not everyone has or wants to have a chef's palate, and there are restaurants that cater to the common people (there's no way to say that without sounding pretentious. Most people just want familiar food that tastes fine, and I think that's where a lot of love for Polish Village comes from).
I want to end this review positively, and I will say the ambiance and mood of Polish Village is lovely and real strength of the business. There was a pair of musicians, one on the violin and one on the acoustic guitar, that went from table to table playing music for the guests. The vibe is intimate, and customers get the impression that the staff treats each other as family. It's a good value to see in businesses.
