Polonez meetup- Was: Crocus Polish restaurant in Milwaukee

OK title was edited/changed to reflect change of thread direction!
 
On a near zero winters night Mrs. MFL and I ventured out for some hardy dining. We chose Crocus, a venerable South Side Milwaukee dining destination.


You could almost feel the frigid air outside.


The menu


What's Polish food without mushrooms? In my case I had them pickled in a dry CC Manhattan!


Mrs. MFL had an almost German dish of beef rollups and dumplings which looked like Rouladen mit spaetzles!


I had a sinfully succulent pork shank with parsley boiled potatoes and sauerkraut (some of the best I'd ever had).

We had started the meal with a perfect beef barley soup which I finished before realising I hadn't taken a picture.

Crocus Restaurant
3577 S 13th St
Milwaukee, WI 53221
(414) 643-6383

MFL- I'm not getting the pictures...

That's strange-I'm seeing them fine. Try going to the Kodak Gallery.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UAUTOLOGIN_ID=2973662102&collid=2973662102.591230776603.1228532451741&page=1

You'll have to double click on them to blow them up or view as a slideshow.

(added) Ok, I switched the above pictures to smaller ones using ImageShack and all seems well now in my original post.

That pork shank looks dang good! We'll need to make a point of meeting there on one of our trips up your way.

Thanks for the post!

Buddy

Is is better than Polonez? How funny, we were just talking about Polish food @ work yesterday. Those pics look great.

MFL-
Thanks for the great photos of a terrific restaurant. I ate there in 2006 and had a wonderful meal. The owner and waitress both had thick Polish accents, which is music to your ears in a place like this.

Pictures came thru fine for me.

Looks like a great meal. What was the tab?

stricken_detective-
I realize you are not asking me, but thought I would stick my nose in anyway.....
I have been to both Crocus and Polonez one time each, so I am no expert. The food at both places were comparable, but I liked the atmosphere at Polonez better. Of course, that may have been because they had live polka music the day I stopped in.

Our dinners along with 2 tap (draft) Polish beers and two dry CC Manhattans came to $43 w/taxes!!!
Crocus was closer to our house than is Polonez (which is for sale I understand-they would like to retire) and we enjoy dining at both. Crocus certainly is the less expensive of the two.

(edited to add Polonez link which Crocus does not have)

http://www.foodspot.com/polonez/

I have heard Crocus actually has a pretty good Fri.night fish fry...

Is there any restaurant in Milwaukee that DOESN"T have a good Friday night fish fry? Just another reason I love that city!

quote:

Originally posted by annpeeples

I have heard Crocus actually has a pretty good Fri.night fish fry...

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

...Is there any restaurant in Milwaukee that DOESN"T have a good Friday night fish fry? Just another reason I love that city!...

Actually I had made a fish fry with some from scratch french fries and cole slaw at home Wednesday and so we weren't looking for the same. It came down to Polish or Vietnamese and with the weather so cold, good Polish food sounded best. The restaurant was almost to capacity and we noticed a fellow next to us enjoying a crepe but everyone else looked to be enjoying the fish fry. They had three fish fry daily specials besides the menu fish fry but the only one I remember was a white perch one. They all looked great in that the the breading was a light golden brown instead a dark brown which to me means overcooked.

Your meals look great MFL-just wanted to mention that I heard their fish fry was pretty awesome!

Miss Ann,what's a Midwestern fish fry like ? What do the folks serve ?

Buffetbuster, I don't mind. I love Polonez, they sang Happy Birthday to my friend in both English & Polish.

quote:

Originally posted by MilwFoodlovers

Crocus was closer to our house than is Polonez (which is for sale I understand-they would like to retire) and we enjoy dining at both. Crocus certainly is the less expensive of the two.

Aw man. Do you think we should try & get a group together to visit there one last time before someone buys it?

Miss Susan-Cod is usually the fish of choice. Battered or breaded than deep fried.I have also had some wonderful lake perch prepared the same way.Typically, the meal is servrd with cole slaw,and your choice of French Fries, Potato Pancakes and on occassion, German potato salad.Oh, and dont forget the Tartar sauce!

quote:

Originally posted by iqdiva

Miss Ann,what's a Midwestern fish fry like ? What do the folks serve ?

Why isn't there an active Go To thread on Wisconsin Fishfries?

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

Buffetbuster, I don't mind. I love Polonez, they sang Happy Birthday to my friend in both English & Polish.

Now THAT is cool!!!

quote:

Originally posted by annpeeples

Miss Susan-Cod is usually the fish of choice. Battered or breaded than deep fried.I have also had some wonderful lake perch prepared the same way.Typically, the meal is servrd with cole slaw,and your choice of French Fries, Potato Pancakes and on occassion, German potato salad.Oh, and dont forget the Tartar sauce!

Oh Darling ... That sounds sooooo GOOD !

quote:

Originally posted by iqdiva

quote:

Originally posted by annpeeples

Miss Susan-Cod is usually the fish of choice. Battered or breaded than deep fried.I have also had some wonderful lake perch prepared the same way.Typically, the meal is servrd with cole slaw,and your choice of French Fries, Potato Pancakes and on occassion, German potato salad.Oh, and dont forget the Tartar sauce!

Oh Darling ... That sounds sooooo GOOD !

We don't have any one favorite fish fry but we often go to Beer Belly's, a tavern near our airport.
Not mentioned here but they usually also offer smelt and catfish (good but not comparable to many we've tried in the South). I'm partial to the pan fried fish and usually change my mind 6 times before deciding on my choice.

Beer Belly's
http://www.foodspot.com/beerbellys/
512 W. Layton Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Phone: (414) 481-5520
Fax: (414) 481-5511
Specializing in Pan-Fried Fish since 1997

Also enjoy up to 11 choices of fish!
Including...
Beer Battered Baby Walleye
Cod Fry
Baked Cod Dinner
Shrimp Scampi
Thai Shrimp
Pan-Fried Baby Walleye
Pan-Fried Blue Gill
Pan-Fried Lake Perch
Crab Legs

All of our Fish Fries are served with coleslaw, rye bread, and choice of potato of the day, homemade potato pancakes, French fries or rice pilaf.

Boy Mr. MFL ... Sounds luscious ! I would make a beeline for the Walleye !

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

quote:

Originally posted by MilwFoodlovers
Crocus was closer to our house than is Polonez (which is for sale I understand-they would like to retire) and we enjoy dining at both. Crocus certainly is the less expensive of the two.

Aw man. Do you think we should try & get a group together to visit there one last time before someone buys it?

Pick a Sunday sometime after the first of the year and we'll make the trip!

Buddy

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyRoadhouse

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

quote:

Originally posted by MilwFoodlovers
Crocus was closer to our house than is Polonez (which is for sale I understand-they would like to retire) and we enjoy dining at both. Crocus certainly is the less expensive of the two.

Aw man. Do you think we should try & get a group together to visit there one last time before someone buys it?

Pick a Sunday sometime after the first of the year and we'll make the trip!

Buddy

How is January 11 or 25?

Got no plans for either of those dates-and it's not likely the Packers or the Bears will be in the playoffs, so nothing to conflict with anyone's schedule.

What's the menu like at Polonez? Any vegetarian dishes? I've got a pal here in Chicago who, along with his wife, are veg-heads. They've been hankerin' to come along on one of our treks to the northlands and I thought this might present a good opportunity.

Hope to see everyone real soon,

Buddy

http://www.foodspot.com/polonez/

Good looking menu. So who else is available on either of those dates?

Buddy

Just a note about Polonez restaurant. They have a wonderful brunch on Sundays starting at 11:00. You can enjoy excellent homemade(the owner himself) cooked food while you are seranaded by an accordion player live. This has to be the best local polish food in Milwaukee bar nunn.

Those should work for us. If we go on the 25th, my son and his s.o. will probably join us.

I love Polish cooking. Non existent here in Dallas but when I lived in London, I frequented a really good Polish (Restaurant Daquise) restaurant near my house in Chelsea. Their mushroom dishes in the fall months were incredible. Actually, everything was incredible!

Never been there for the brunch, sounds fun, although we would have to order a side or two or 12 of the pierogi. Pan fried, they are AWESOME.