Starting to learn Polish

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Flag of Poland

Recognizing The Flag

The flag of Poland is easy to recognize and remember. Just two colours. White above and red below.

A little like the flags of Indonesia and Singapore. 

Singapore, being Chinese speaking as well as speaking English, Malay and Tamil as national languages, has the lucky red above, plus a crescent, reflecting its origin in Malaysia. 

Why visit Poland? 

Polish is becoming the most spoken second language in the UK. Polish restaurants and cafes and shops are all over London. 

Let's get the sad facts about the past out of the way first. For a long time I did not want Poland because I thought its sad history would diminish the enjoyment of a happy holiday. (Although the same can be said about history in practically every country.)

 Poland was our ally in WW2. Due to an earlier agreement, Britain went to defend Poland when it was invaded by the German army, and the Polish exiles operated from the UK.

That's past.  Why not visit Poland?  I went there to accompnay my husband who was on business.

We visited assorted museums . Warsaw has the Warsaw ghetto, a recently established Jewish museum.

 The second city is very pretty Krakow. The city centre has a grand cathedral on a fine square. Take a trip to Auschwitz and Birkenau, and end on a slightly happier note at Schindler's factory museum.

Now let's look at the happier things and end on a bright note.

1 Amber. In Singapore I made friends with two lovely ladies who were promoting the Amber Museum. You can buy amber items from shops all over Warsaw and Poland. (And more amber, indeed, from other Baltic states with seaside and beaches bordering the Baltic sea.) Seaside Gdansk has an Amber museum.

2 Polish cuisine. Borsht, beetroot soup, the best. Thick. The way it is served in Jewish style restaurants in London such as B & K in Hatch End in London.  (Contrast with the thin Russian beetroot soup which I sampled in Bondi Beach in Australia.)

Dumplings. In soup. In main courses. With those snowy winters, you need hot filling food to warm you up.

3 Warsaw is historic but modern and clean. Like several cities in Northern Europe, old paintings and diagrams have been used to rebuild buildings with cellar restaurants in romantic, traditional style, but clean and modern with the modern benefits of lighting, plumbing, heating and cooling and so on.

The language used to be a challenge. Books with small print. Huge dictionaries. Impossible pronunciation. Mysterious. 

Nowadays we have at least 3 quick online sources

1 Google translate Polish

2 Wikivoyage Phrasebook Polish

3 /wiki/Talk:Polish_phrasebookWiki Phrasebook Polish. (Discussion on pronunciation.)

Useful Websites

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Talk:Polish_phrasebook

https://languagetsar.com/polishpod101-review/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multilingual_countries_and_regions

B & K, Brilliant food & Kind staff - warmly welcomed a baby and a Ukrainian

B & K interior, Hatch End.

 

Service

Two girls serving, the one with the ponytail is Romanian, could not have been more welcoming. All smiles for the baby. The baby smiled back, then threw food on the floor, and accidentally dropped bits of scrambled egg they had cooked for her on request. I apologized. 

'Not to worry,' said the server and promptly swept it up.

The mixed hors d'oevres was enough for four with some left over which they wrapped up for me to take home.

I had salt beef on rye bread with one latke. (Latke is grated potato.)

Our Ukrainian visitor who was being treated to lunch spoke good English but did not recognize the word turkey. The server gave the visitor a free taste of salt beef and a meatball. Then the visitor chose turkey from the display at the deli counter.

It would help to have photos of the dishes for the occasional visitor who does not understand English and Jewish style menus. 

Borscht - Beetroot Soup

Borscht, a Jewish favourite, as well as a popular Polish dish, I learned on a trip to Warsaw and Krakow, is apparently also considered a Ukrainian national dish. Interesting, as borsht is what I remember from my childhood in London. My great grandfather was Ukrainian from Lemberg as it was known then, now known as Lvov or Lviv.

At B & K the most traditional dishes would be lokshen pudding (noodle pudding). Or apple strudel. 

Salt beef and latke which we took home on a previous recent occasion.  Photo by Angela Lansbury.

In the picture, that's my poppy plate, not the restaurant's. In the restaurant you can't see the plate for food!

Dessert

However, my American relative by marriage wanted that American favourite, pecan pie. We ended with a shared pecan tart between two of us, which was served on what looked like a pattern of chocolate sauce.

Chocolate

We received a chocolate mint each when the bill was presented. Wrapped toothpicks were another thoughtful touch.

The restaurant menu is extensive, and will delight Jews who are not strictly kosher, or those who are strictly kosher but are happy to stick to fish, as well as non-Jews and people from European countries such as as Ukraine, Poland, Russian and Belorussia, who will recognize many dishes on the menu.

The family running B & K has another branch in Edgware. 

Useful Websites

https://www.bksaltbeefbar.com/

X i n Wang Hong Kong Cafe, Yishun, Singapore - late night eating

Y i n  Y a n (g) or X i n  W a n g - you probably already recognise the F u n g  Sh w ai for dark and light or good and evil. That's the origin of this restaurant's name, pronounced the Cantonese way.
A group of Singaporeans went for supper after a meeting which finished at around 10 pm, when many restaurants are closing down. Several branches of this chain are open until 2 am, and more until 10 or 11.

The other main advantage of these outlets is the huge menu. The varied choice suits a large group of people with different food requirements. I don't know about the other branches, but this one is a vast hall, with long tables like the big canteen-style restaurants in Beijing and major Chinese cities.

I went to the branch in North Point, Yishun. The also have a branch in Changi airport.

The staff we spoke to were mainly Cantonese speaking but the manageress spoke Mandarin and Singlish. She was quick to step forward, translate and take our orders.

Kaya Toast
One of the diners ordered kaya toast, which looked like toast with butter and jam, and tasted like toast with butter and jam. However, I was assured that the 'butter' was coconut 'jam'.

Soup
Like Japanese restaurants, the dishes were shown in colour photos which made selecting easier. I picked out a reddish-purple soup labelled bors. I mistakenly thought it was a mis-spelling of borsht and would be beetroot soup.

The liquid tasted of tomatoes and contained vegetables. The closest similar soup would be Minestrone.

I thought it was expensive for what it was. The drinks came to more than the food. I opted for a fresh watermelon juice. I could have had just the soup and saved money. Or halved my bill

by sticking to the juice. The soup was S$4.90. Add on your GST (government sales tax) and service of 10%.

Angela Lansbury Travel writer and photographer.