[Pigging by Wilfrid: February 3, 2012]
A fellow gastronaut joined me recently to explore the gin palaces and low dives of Greenpoint. To line our stomachs against the challenge, we resorted to Karczma on Greenpoint Avenue, just off the neighorhood's main crossroads.
We found portions worthy of gargantua at remarkably low prices.
Thanks to Bob Martinez for the photos with this review.
Karczma means "tavern" and the name could hardly be more appropriate. I've never been to Poland, but the interior resembled the traditional inns of Germany. A heavy wooden bar, wooden booths, robust chandeliers. We were greeted by a throng of inexcusably pretty servers in traditional costume (the official greeter and maîtresse d' gets to dress in sleek black and reminded me of Pussy Galore (don't panic, James Bond reference).
If you have a penchant for heavy offal dish - and who doesn't? - the menu presents dilemmas. I am all about tripe soup, but there's grilled blood sausage too. The most popular dish among other guests seemed to be the chunky borscht, served in a bread bowl. Because I've only seen it served in Germany, I opted for the lard. With "village style bread." Actually the menu described it as "peasant lard," but I think it was really a pork product. It's what it sounds like: lard. With chewy bacon bits. Buttery, and so rich it was hard to finish.
I got a taste of the bacon too, thick slab bacon with a chewy rind. I think it may have been a special.
Insanely, we had ordered entrées too, and believe me, you need to take a deep breath after filling yourself with near-liquid pork fat. I took the roasted hocks in beer, having paid insufficient attention to the plural form of the noun.
Two ham hocks. Vast. In scale they reminded me of the fabulous fried pork knuckle at Ihawan in Woodside; but there were two of them. Generously shrouded in fat, they weren't the wisest choice to follow a tub of lard, but there was plenty of tender meat too, with good sauerkraut as a base and contrast. Sadly, perhaps ashamed of their dimensions, they resisted being photographed.
My comrade practically toyed with his goulash, served with a potato pancake the size of a hubcap. These dishes each cost $8.50. The lard was $3.50, although you can break the bank with more elaborate appetizers like asparagus ($6) and salmon tartare ($7.50). I think our entire check - for two, and more food than we could eat - was around $25. Drink Zywiec or other Polish brews. And don't plan a run afterwards.
The website is here, and supplies the useful information that the servers will dance on the bar when excited.
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