Skinnytato

Closed

Address: 615 Johnson St.
Phone: (250) 590-6550
Website: Facebook
Price: $10-20 average entree/combo
Notes: Classy polish food, lots of specialty diet options.

Polish food is such delicious cuisine for such simple permutations of potato, cabbage, beet and onion. Skinnytato has a wide selection of traditional polish dishes available in a cosy little hole-in-the-wall on Johnson St. The owners are clearly working hard to ensure they are running a good restaurant. They were very eager to know how we experienced our meal and happy to see enthusiastic customers.

The location used to be a decent Thai restaurant, but has had a bit of a redecoration and upgrade to elevate it from a casual place to a bit of a date-night worthy restaurant. This is in stark contrast to the other Polish restaurant in town - the uber-casual, diner/deli/grocery on Cook St. There are a handful of tables, a retro stone wall and more stately, romantic decor than I remember from the past.


Service:
February 3, 2012
We snuck in a bit before 5 on a Friday - we had gotten off work a bit early and were hungry but they were more than happy to seat us early. We were served by the owners, who were very conscientious about our experience and chatted a lot about their web presence. Clearly we ooze nerdiness - probably our umbilical-esque attachment to our cell phones.

Food:
February 3, 2012

With every order of a main course you receive a complimentary cup of soup. The soup of the day was Borscht, which was full of flavour, especially onion and something else I couldn't quite place. The texture was spot on. According to one of the owners, they also serve a pickle soup on the weekends which has become Quite popular!


This was my partner-in-food-and-life's choice. It came with a choice of stuffing, but the Polish Sausage was the winner this evening and comes highly recommended! The texture of the pancake was describe as "perfect." The sides - a selection of salads - were all excellent. Very fresh and flavourful.


I opted for the most combinatory of combos - because the choice between potato pancakes and pierogies only exists in a cruel and unfathomable world. I agree - the potato pancakes are excellent. Initially, I thought there was too little sour cream to accompany, but it ended up being just the perfect amount! The cabbage roll was probably the weakest part, although when I focused on the flavours I realized it was more delicately flavoured than it was bland but it was a delicate line. The selection of pierogies was varied but they were all delicious. Personally, I like my pierogies a little bit pan fried, but I was pleasantly surprised with the texture of the end result.