If the visit to Warsaw is part of a longer holiday, I would suggest not allocating too much time to visiting the city, it was during the communist era a big gray city, and it still is rather gray and depressing. The palace of culture dominates the main square, it is a large imposing structure donated by Stalin, after relieving Poland of much of their coal and crops. Many people take the elevator to the top for a panoramic view of Warsaw. I would suggest crossing the road to the Marriott Hotel and take the lift to the panorama bar, there you can view Warsaw in more comfort and considerably higher that the palace of culture.

 Whilst at the Marriott have an afternoon tea, they have some delicious cakes and pastries served in a very comfortable atmosphere. I would also recommend staying at the Marriott if you have the means. Largely foreign business people inevitably occupy the Marriott. However, in my opinion, it is by far the best hotel in Warsaw, unless you consider the Bristol, which in days past was fantastic, but now the cost vs. quality has diminished. The Marriot also has the best breakfast buffet of any hotel I have used, (and I have used many).

The old town – this is part of the city that has been rebuilt in the image of the area before the second world war, using the same materials. If you are the type of person that likes to sit in the sun, watching the world go by then this is the place, with one caveat, the world you will see will not be Polish it will be tourists like yourself. Nevertheless, the area is worth visiting as the rebuilding is very accurate using the same materials and colors as the original buildings.

Regarding traveling around Warsaw, I would suggest using taxi’s, although not those on the rank, they normally fleece visitors, companies such as Halo Taxi are telephone only but are reliable and cheap. If the driver speaks English ask him to give you a tour for half and hour, this will cost around 50 zloty (15 to 20 US$), but give you a good insight of where to go. Do not tip anyone heavily just a bit of loose will do if you tip at all.

Be careful of Warsaw’s beggars, they are very convincing, they beggars are usually either organized, particularly the ones with children or invalids, or looking for their next beer. Drugs are around but not as prevalent as most other European capitals and you are quite safe to walk around at night in the centre. The capital has been cleaned up considerably over the last few years, the underground walkways around the central station were at one time no-go areas but now contain many small quite interesting shops where you can buy clothes, bags and other items at low process.

I would suggest that as part of a trip to Poland two or three days in Warsaw is sufficient, leaving more time to visit the more interesting locations.

It was because of these cravings that I began to research for authentic Polish restaurants with amazing pierogi.

Once I had a couple of options, I emailed my Foogasmic crew.  What does foogasmic mean, you ask?  Foogasmic is a word that my friend Wine Girl and I made up several years ago.  Both of us are foodies and one evening, while we were having dinner at Modo (which has since closed down) enjoying the absolute best beef carpaccio ever, we created the word foogasmic – the sense of satisfaction one feels upon having consumed food so delicious that it rivals the satisfaction of an orgasm.  My Foogasmic crew is a group of like-minded girlfriends who appreciate delicious cuisine and will go to any lengths to achieve the bliss of a foogasm.

After having completed my research, I emailed my crew and last Friday, we embarked on our adventure of finding delicious pierogi.  The restaurant is very simple and homey, though it could be cosier. It was almost like a warm cafeteria.  Unfortunately, our table was close to the door, and so there was huge, freezing cold draft whenever the door opened.  But let’s not detract from the food.  Foogasmic foodies will brave any environment in search of phenomenal taste.

We start our meal with the free bread.  It was nothing special at all, but I wanted to provide a warning.  Don’t get the bread because it just takes up prime tummy real estate.  At this place you must skip the free bread.

It was really hard to choose food from the menu because everything looked so good, and the prices were very affordable.  It didn’t take me long to settle on my meal though because I knew that I wanted pierogi.  So for less than $15, I ordered sauerkraut and mushroom filled pierogi and dill soup. 

I wanted to get the mushroom soup, but they were sold out, so my options were dill soup or dill pickle soup.  I was getting the sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi and I’m not crazy enough about sour foods to get dill pickle soup (and the waitress said it’s pretty sour), so I opted for the dill soup.  Who would’ve thought that a cream based soup could taste so refreshing?  It was a very large portion (as large as or potentially larger than Cheesecake Factory type portions) but it tasted great.  It went down smooth and tasted so fresh.  You feel light and heavy at the same time.  In hindsight, as good as this was, this meal likely would have been more volume-manageable had I opted out of the soup combo.

The service was on the slow side, but we were in good company so it wasn’t that big of a deal.  However, it was a bit inconvenient in that I had to get up and go request an extra spoon so that JC could try some (GummyLee:  you really should not have opted out.  Just TASTE it!).

JC ordered the Hunter stew ($13.50).  This is a fairly popular dish that I had seen reviewed on several websites.  It did not disappoint.

We giggled about the fact that it came in a Korean sul rong tang bowl but this was even more satisfying than the soup (and that says something coming from an Asian girl).  It was so flavourful, and the meat was so soft and tender.  However, the portions are so massive that JC only managed to put down half of it.  The rest of it got doggie bagged; but she was not alone in the doggie bagging.

GummyLee ordered the potato pancake ($12.50).  I think the next time I go there, I’m going to order that too. 

This was unbelievably delicious.  The potato pancake was the perfect level of crispiness.  It was also amazingly fluffy.  I’m trying not to gush and use too many superlatives, but it’s avoidable.  I’m drooling just thinking about it.  There was a lot of meat filling that was again the perfect texture.  The sauce was a little bit sweet (in a good way) and gave such a feeling of comfort.  I’m not much for beets (so I didn’t try them) and there was too much food on the table so I didn’t try the carrots either, but the cole slaw was out of this world.  I don’t generally like cole slaw.  In my life, most of my cole slaw experiences were with KFC.  It’s so much mayonnaise, and it glows in the dark.  It’s just so disgusting.  I’d rather eat their mushy macaroni salad.  But at GummyLee’s insistent urging, I gave the slaw a try and it was truly a great slaw experience.  It wasn’t drowning in mayonnaise, and it was light and fresh.  It had the perfect kick of sour with a light sweetness.  You could see (and more importantly, taste) the black pepper and the whole thing still had a bit of crunch.  I’ve now learned how to appreciate good cole slaw.  The funny thing is, despite being such a phenomenal dish Gummy wasn't even able to take down a third of it.  Her doggie bag encompassed almost her entire entrée.

Finally, we get to the reason this all happened – pierogi.

Maybe this doesn’t look that impressive, but that’s because you didn’t taste it.  I would like you to behold, twelve pillows of the most perfect pierogi I’ve had to date.  The pastry is not sticky or gummy.  The sauerkraut and mushroom filling dances lightly on your tongue and leaves you with a warm and happy taste memory as it travels down to your belly.  That little container on the left is onions sautéed in bacon fat (I know, sounds so unhealthy) but it makes a huge difference to the eating experience.  They make it themselves at this restaurant.  However, despite serving me a dozen pockets of heaven, I only managed to down five of them.  I took the other five home (I can do math, JC and Gummy each had one to taste.  So that’s twelve).  Just as a side note, when I reheated these babies the next day, they tasted just as good as they did at the restaurant.  You know food is really good when the leftovers taste as good as when it was originally served.

We also ordered three cabbage rolls as appetizers ($6), because what’s Eastern European food without cabbage rolls?  However, we ended up eating our entrées first.  We were so unsuccessful at finishing our entrées because the food portions were so huge.  If I had known, I would have opted to skip out on the rolls.  Actually, no.  I take that back.  I’m so glad we ordered these. 

My first real encounter with cabbage rolls (aside from the ones I made when I was first learning to cook), were the ones my ex-boyfriend’s mom made.  MV’s mom’s cabbage rolls were out of this world.  In fact, shortly after we broke up, she called me at work one day (because my office was very close to their house) and asked me to drop by.  When I got there, she presented me with a package of cabbage rolls that she had made and frozen for me in a little care package.  What did she say?  “I don’t know if or when I’ll get to see you again but I know how much you love these so I purposely made them for you to take home.”  His mom was so sweet.  But I digress.  I haven’t had cabbage rolls since then.  So I was pretty excited about ordering these.  And man, they did NOT disappoint.

They were not drowning in sauce like I’ve seen them served at other restaurants and the sauce wasn’t over powering.  It was flavourful, but in a light complimentary sort of way.  It didn’t completely smother the wonderful taste of the soft filling.  It was so yummy!!  My tummy was very full but very happy.  Not quite the same as MV’s mom’s but definitely a new favourite.   And yes, even this, we did not finish.  We each ate half a cabbage roll, and tossed the other half in with the rest of our takeout.

So what did the after photo look like?  Usually, at successful Foogasmic events, every dish is practically spotless.  Ironically, at this AMAZING foogasmic event, this is the “after” shot.

I know I said this is the after shot, but what Foogasmic event is complete without dessert?  Yes.  You read that correctly.  We ordered apple strudel.  And WHAT A STRUDEL!?

It was the perfect sweetness.  It was warmed.  Our forks cut through it like a hot knife through butter.  No chewing was required because each bite would just melt in your mouth.  We could’ve done without the ice cream.  And there was no regret with this.  So much so, that the after shot looks like this:

So the verdict?

For all of you who couldn’t make it (or made up a phoney excuse because for some reason you thought you had something else better to do ;) ), you missed out on the most phenomenal foogasmic eat fest to date.  JC, GummyLee and I agreed that this was up there as one of the most phenomenal meals we’ve ever had… and the damage?  $66 including tax and tip.  Not each.  Total.  So for $22 each, we had a fabulous meal, and enough fabulous leftover to be a second meal (or in Gummy’s case, second and third).

You know what this means?  Next time I ask you if you want to visit a Polish oasis in Toronto, you’d better not say “no.”

Without further ado, here is the list:

1. Krakow, Poland

   Situated in south eastern Poland (a geographic area known as Galacia), Krakow is not subjected to the harsh weather most of Poland receives. The capital of the Polish Kingdom from 1038 until 1596, Krakow contains some of Europe's most majestic churches and an impressive castle. Spared the destruction of World War II and largely spared communist development during the rule of the USSR, Krakow maintains an old world Europe feel similar to Prague or Budapest. Krakow is also an hour by train or minibus from Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp from World War II. Poland is a member of the European Union and is quite safe. Despite being a member of the EU, Poland has yet to join the Euro and is still quite affordable.

2. Budapest, Hungary

   Just three hours by train or car from the Austrian capital of Vienna, Budapest is a thriving center of culture in its own right. Budapest is well known for serving as a second and equal capital of the Austrian Empire following the Dual Compromise of 1867, but truthfully it spent equal time in the Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. As a result, the influence of both cultures, though vastly different, is quite apparent. Many buildings reflect Viennese type architecture, while surrounded by Turkish baths (which are quite famous!). Having spent so much time under the rule of others Hungarians, or Magyars, are a proud people with a troubled history. Hungary is also part of the EU and not on the Euro. It, too, is relatively affordable.

3. Copenhagen, Denmark

   A well known city in Europe, Copenhagen is not as full of tourists as one might think. In fact, few enough tourists visit this city that many who do consider it “overlooked.” The established capital of a thriving, if small, western European country, Copenhagen is definitely worth a visit. Danish bread is particularly well regarded throughout Europe and there is no shortage of it here in the capital. The city is also Europe's most cyclist friendly, with cycle lanes that parallel main roads for maximum access. Copenhagen is also conveniently located to northern Germany (also beautiful) and Malmö, Sweden is just across the bridge. For its beauty, as well as its proximity to other great spots in Europe, Copenhagen is a must. Copenhagen is in the EU and has voted by referendum not to adopt the Euro. Despite this, prices in Denmark are quite high (as is true of all of Scandinavia). Copenhagen is less expensive than Stockholm and Oslo.

4. Istanbul, Turkey

   While it is true half the city lies in Asia, the old town, or Sultan Ahmet as it is called, is located entirely on the European side. Located in the political hotbed Middle East, Turkey is a surprisingly safe and out-of-this-world friendly country. Though it borders countries such as Iraq and Iran, Turkey is astonishingly democratic and very western. Turkey is the only secular Muslim country in the world. Furthermore, Turks, proud of their history and eager to tell their part of the story, have done a fantastic job preserving Ottoman palaces and relics. From the Hagia Sophia to Topkapi Palace, Istanbul is sure to please and educate. Though not a member of the EU, customs is a simple process and visas are available at all entry points (by train, car, or plane) for a fee of $20 U.S.

5. Istria, Croatia

   Located on a peninsula to the north of its more famous relative, the Dalmatian Coast, the Istrian Peninsula is equally beautiful and less touristy. Begin your stay in Poreč, located only an hour south from Trieste, Italy. This town of 9,000 is easily accessible by car or bus and customs through Slovenia into Croatia are a breeze. Visit Vrsar and Rovinj on day trips, but be sure to be back in Poreč for every dinner, as Croatian and Italian cuisine are on display each night in some of Europe's finest restaurants. Fresh fish and other seafood are available in small markets around town and they sell only the current day's catch. Don't forget a boat cruise around the Adriatic like only Croatian tour guides can provide! In short, Istria provides all the beauty of the Mediterranean without being overrun by unappreciative visitors. But hurry, Europe's best kept secret is about to get out! Like Turkey, Croatia is not a member of the EU, but it is a candidate and should be admitted by 2009. No visa is required for U.S. citizens.

One final note: I have traveled extensively throughout Europe and have visited each of the aforementioned destinations. All of this advice is first hand information and comments will be quickly answered.