Cod liver. Other starters (for which I have no good photos) were marinated herring in wine sauce, garlic soup with egg yolk and cheese, and a particularly good grilled klobasa. I called today to ask who supplied it (we wondered, that evening, then forgot to ask), but the best answer I could get over the phone was somewhere in Greenpoint.
Strapačky, which sat directly in front of me. On a previous visit to Koliba I’d ordered a similar dish, bryndzové halušky, sheep’s milk cheese with potato spaetzle, which often is salty and always is heavy. Strapačky dispenses with the cheese and supplements the spaetzle with sauerkraut and bacon. It’s not nearly as heavy, especially when everyone else at the table tries a forkful or two.
A really pleasant dinner @DaveCook,Dean, Kay and @SteveR! This was a friendly homey restaurant with food and brews to match. Very much liked the Strapačky, cod liver, langos, pork, sauerkraut and my duck - really, everthing was good! Folks enjoyed the good czech brews on tap and my house wine was cheap and good. Here are pics of the herring, and of a few items on the table:
Excellent company and very good food. I don’t eat this kind of food unless with a group. That sausage was incredible. Herring, cod liver and duck excellent. Spaetzle very good if not super heavy. The beef with dill had a delicious sauce packed with dill, but the sauce was pasty and overly thick. As for the beef, it came with a lot of sauce.
I agree. Really liked my ½ duck & only left a pile of duck bones. The red cabbage side was sweeter than the norm, but I liked it. That sausage was incredibly good.
The least interesting food in all my travels was in Czechia, followed closely by Slovakia. If you want to eat well in the nabe, you need to go to Poland.
In Czechia, going from small town to small town, when I asked locals for recommendations I was invariably sent to pizza or Chinese. They had a point. But it did surprise me the lack of pride in the local cuisine.
In Slovakia, I had a fantastic ‘bloody’ kielbasa at a mountain refuge that I’ll never forget. Aside form that, the cuisine was workman-like, fresh and simple.
I did eat at Milan’s, a Slovakian place in Brooklyn that has long closed. From my CH post:
“Milan’s. Slovakian food. I’ve been to Slovakia, and I couldn’t resist going here. The big difference between Milan’s and a place in Slovakia is that a Slovakian restaurant will carry maybe 5 items (and variations thereof). Milan’s serves at least 25 distinct items. I ordered one of them. It was so gratifying to eat the pork and sauerkraut goulash with dumplings.”
The proprietor explained to me that, because people come from far and wide with their whole family to eat at the only Slovakian place around, he wanted to offer these groups as much variety as possible.
I remember Milan’s.
As for the duck’s popularity the other night - it was an off the menu special & she made a point of explaining that it was slow cooked. It was good.
