Cafe Europa, New Chow-worthy Polish/Eastern European in Inner Richmond [San Francisco]
Still battered by a cold, but tired of soup dinners, I ventured out to my neighborhood and discovered Cafe Europa, a new Polish/Eastern European restaurant on California Street between 5th and 6th, on the same block (and side) as crowd favorite Mandalay.
The menu includes two types of pierogis, homemade pate, mushroom crepes, potato dumplings, borscht, mushroom soup, shopska salata, and gołąbki--dishes that span Eastern Europe, hopping borders from Poland to Croatia.
I ordered a mixed pierogi plate, beet salad and mushroom soup. The pierogi plate (half potato, half cabbage/mushroom) was really good. Handmade dough, lighter and more elegant than the pierogi I'd had recently at Gambrinus (an Eastern European pub by the Panhandle) and tossed in diced caramelized onions. The finished product was a crescent not bursting with filling but with enough flavor to compel another bite. Homestyle, if you have a good cook at home. Beet salad was a rough julienne threaded with raw white onions and left to chill in a vinaigrette that took down the bite. Good but a bit one-note: probably better if shared by 3-4 people, too much even for 2.
Mushroom soup was better than expected: too often these lean heavily on cream (sour or straight) or butter to carry the flavor through a mallet of richness that keeps pounding but never builds to anything greater than that. This had an earthy, almost meaty flavor from mushrooms that paired well with rough-chopped vegetables in a thick broth.I was pleasantly surprised by the number of vegetarian options on the menu, including everything I ate.
Bare bones site with address: http://europasf.com/
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pane
May 14, 2013 07:34 PM
Went here a few weeks back and I identified the pork schnitzel as my new favorite dish.
Perfectly tender meat, cooked in fresh oil so the crust had vigor, almost snap. Super delicious; we fought over the last bite. Puffy scoop of mashed potatoes and one other side I can't remember (maybe...cabbage?).
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Our group ate there recently and enjoyed it very much. We ate the pierogies and the potato dumplings first, and I preferred the dumplings covered with the yummy mushroom sauce. For main dishes we had the stuffed cabbage. The two rolls were moist but firm and a generous size, filled with beef, pork and rice, and covered with mushroom sauce (can't get enough of this good stuff). They were simply delicious. Mashed potatoes as the side. We also tried the homemade chicken and pork sausage that came with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. The sausage was very good and the kraut had minimal acidity and a bacon flavor. The beer list is unique and features brews from various eastern European countries in bottle and some on tap as well.
I would definitely return for more of their comfort food. -
Iit was hard for me to figure out exactly which Eastern European country the goulash was from. It wasn't anything like the ones I've had in Hungary, Poland, Slovania or the Czech Republic. It seemed more like a German one with the dumplings and lack of papricka. And it was very underseasoned.
I liked the herring they had there. I don't know if they get local herring and prep it themselves.
it was pretty dead when we wre there so I hope they get more traffic. I'd probably go back to try more food but not in a rush.
We actually liked the mushroom soup but found the potatoes in mushroom sauce to be very bland.
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arktos
Jan 31, 2013 04:07 PM
Shopska salata is a Bulgarian morning staple. Do they have any other BG dishes such as polneti??
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re: arktos
Interesting, I didn't catch that. I guess it's on the menu pane posted, but "Shopska salata" isn't on their website and I don't recall it being on the menu last night. FWIW, my dining companion, whose wife is Romanian, commented that nothing struck him as uniquely Romanian.
I'm not sure where the chefs and owner are from, and will certainly ask next time. Pierogies aside, they don't use the Polish names for dishes on the menu.
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Old World Food Truck never coincides with my schedule, so I came here last night for a pierogie fix.
The pierogie dough was excellent. The dough was not thin to the point of translucency, but each skin was evenly rolled out, and cooked to give the right amount of chew. Good flavor too. Like pane mentioned above, the cabbage and mushroom filling was scant. In fact, my dining companion thought he'd eaten a potato pierogie due to the subtleness of the cabbage/mushroom filling. Still, the dough and caramelized onion topping was a great combo. I'd definitely come back again in a heartbeat.
The dill soup was light and refreshing. Probably better than a similar soup I had at Podhalanka in Chicago over the summer.
The goulash and dumplings were delicious, but needed a hefty dose of salt and pepper. The chicken and pork sausage had a good flavor, but wasn't especially juicy. The cabbage it came with was also underseasoned but otherwise very good.
Any idea if they have any dessert?
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The Librarian
Nov 28, 2012 11:52 AM
Sounds really good, especially on a rainy day like today. Did you notice if they are open for lunch and dinner or just dinner? Thanks!
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pane
Nov 28, 2012 09:34 AM
Pierogi pic
Plus forgot to mention their Eastern European beer list. They have about 6 beers on tap (Belgian, German, Austrian, Czech) plus a bottle list with about 10 more esoteric (and Polish) options. Zywiec fans: note that they carry both pale lager and porter.
