“Na Zdrowie!” means cheers in Polish and is also the name of a Polish restaurant located in Glebe, the location of the first Polish food adventure for the blog. Tucked on a bustling street of diverse cuisines, it was a cosy, candle lit restaurant serving up the famous pierogi and a selection of Polish national favourites. We stopped by here to try something neither of us have had before and to branch out a little more from our food comfort zones!

Location: 161 Glebe Point Road, Sydney NSW 2037
Price: $40 per person
Website: http://www.nazdrowie.com.au/
Social: https://www.facebook.com/nazdrowierestaurant/

Melissa: 3 out of 5 – Exceeded my somewhat low expectations

I went into this adventure thinking I would not enjoy the cuisine, but was pleasantly surprised by most of the dishes. However, my overall rating was based off how likely I would be to return, with the answer being Not Likely.

The pierogis were the highlight of the night for me, likely due to its resemblance to the Chinese dumpling which I am very impartial to. The ‘meat’ dumplings consisted of a mince (not sure what meat) and bacon filling, served with onions and in a light oil. They were lightly fried, crunchy and delicious and overall not too unlike a classic Chinese potsticker. The skin was thinner and more reminiscence of a gyoza. The cheese and potato dumplings were also a hit, accompanied by a creamy cheese sauce which was not too overwhelming. Finally, we tried the mushroom and sauerkraut dumplings, these were too sour for my liking, the capsicum sauce that it came with was good but made the pierogi slightly soggy and chewy. I’d recommend the cheese or meat when ordering.

Next up we ordered duck cooked with apple and a pork schnitzel. Both dishes were good, the schnitzel not anything special vs. what you would get at your local pub, but the duck was cooked perfectly and went nicely with the sauerkraut. I don’t have a sweet tooth at all, so I did find the apple made the duck slightly too sweet.

Finally we finished the night off with the beetroot soup and a ‘bigos’, a dish the menu said was the national dish of Poland. The beetroot soup was definitely on my do not order list. Interesting to try but overall was a warm mixture of salty and sweet which tasted OK at first but became less and less appetising the more you drank. The bigos was a meat, cabbage and potato dish had a lovely smokey taste from the smoked sausages and meat but overall I found it too sour for my palette the more I ate.

This was my first Polish experience and while I enjoyed it more than I anticipated, I would definitely count this food experience as one I would happily not venture towards again given the price point, accessibility and overall diversity in the menu. I would recommend it for a try in case you find yourself falling in love with Eastern European cuisine or if you had a specific craving for their stews, but overall not a place I would be a regular at.

Note: The service here was slightly lacking, would put my overall rating at 2.5/5, the 3/5 is reflective of the food experience only.

James: 3.5 out of 5 – My first Polish cuisine experience and I really enjoyed it.

Based off a recommendation from a Polish mate, we headed to Na Zdrowie with high hopes and dishes already in mind. Happy to say I really enjoyed it, and it was good experiencing new cuisines and seeing the types of food they eat, but also the similarities and influences from other cultures.

My favourite dishes of the night were the pierogis, both the white cheese & potato, and meat versions were fantastic. The dumplings we got were fried, as recommended by the waitress, and was probably the right call as it gave some crisp to the dish and both were full of flavour. The cheese in the first set of dumplings was quite light while the meat option was filled with minced meat and bacon, a bit salty but offset with juicy onions that came with it. Highly recommend the pierogis!

While the beetroot soup was not a fan favourite amongst the table, I thought it was decent, a very clean soup that was both salty and sweet and tastes exactly like beetroot 😂. From the mains I really enjoyed the pork schnitzel and its crispiness but it could have benefitted from a sauce. The roast duck was also a stand out, cooked perfectly with the meat falling off the bone and was super tender. The skin made all the difference in adding flavour. Lastly the Bigos was definitely unique and not something I’ve had before. The sauerkraut made the stew and veges quite sour but the meat was really tender and delicious. If you do enjoy sauerkraut, definitely try this dish but I personally wouldn’t order it again.

Considering price per person (around $40pp) it didn’t feel like we got a lot of food overall as I could have kept eating. For that reason alone, I’ve dropped my rating by 0.5.