Na Zdrowie

LOCATION
On Glebe Point Road near St Johns Road.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
“Na zdrowie” translates roughly as “for your health” and is the Polish equivalent of “sante” or (in more familiar tongue) “cheers”. It is also the name - and well wish - of Glebe’s petite Polish restaurant. Glowing warmly on the Glebe Point Road dining strip, Na Zdrowie is an eatery of only 35 seats and yet its hospitality and decor prevents it from ever feeling crowded. With wooden floors and tables, a large arched wooden door mounted to a wall with torches on either side, and little Polish sculptures and relics adorning every corner, Na Zdrowie seems to belong in Warsaw’s Stare Miasto. Luckily for us, instead it introduces the flavoursome Polish kitchen to Australian palates.

A good way to dive into the menu is with a serving of barszcz (beetroot soup) or pierogi (Polish dumplings). Don’t fill up too much however, because the mains are generous. If you’d like to stay in your comfort zone for these, a pork loin schnitzel with mash and mizeria (cucumbers in a creamy dill dressing) sits behind the deceptively foreign-sounding name of “schabowy”. If you’d like to put your palate to the Polish test, I recommend the traditional golabki. Literally meaning “pigeons”, golabki thankfully have nothing to do with the bird, but are a kind of Eastern European burrito – minced meat, onion, and rice wrapped in boiled cabbage leaves and smothered in a tomato sauce. Naturally there are also meals that sit somewhere in between like szaszlyk (Polish shish-kebab) and kaczka (duck with apple sauce). The meals are sure to work up a big thirst, so apart from any wine you bring, Na Zdrowie offers an array of tipples. Some of the more authentic choices include soda water with cherry syrup and kompot – a drink made of poached fruit.

Agnes Gajewska, August 2009