KLIMAT

77 East 7th Street

New York, NY 10003

(212) 777-1112

Klimat is a tough place to categorize. The food is mostly Polish, but seems to be plenty of Greek/Turkish influence here too. Moussaka and hummus, anyone? The beers are primarily Czech or Polish, though the same can't be said of their wine. And I just learned this yesterday, it's known for being a place that ex-pat Brits frequent. Interesting, but I came for the pierogi. 

The last time I ate pierogi outside of my parents' house, it was at Veselka and it stunk. When Lina told me that she'd heard good things about the food at Klimat, I didn't hesitate. 

Klimat calls itself a lounge, but despite the sheer red curtains, that's a bit of a stretch. Still, the black leather sofas, the dark woods, the red lights, smell of alcohol and a few S&M-ish chains lend a certain sexiness to the place once the sun goes down and the crowd picks up. Despite this, there's one indisputable fact about food that hailing from the far side of where the Iron Curtain used to hang. It ain't sexy. Indeed, I'd be willing to lay money down that not a chef's been born who can sexify goulash or borscht.

Speaking of which, Lina initially wanted to get the borscht, but then wasn't hungry enough for an appetizer. Instead, she just ordered the Kielbasa, a pork sausage with caramelized onion, mustard and french fries. And it was good! The seasoned fries were disappointing because they were too soggy and would have been far better if they were crisp. I ordered the the Spicy Worms, which sadly were not in fact worms, though that would have been cool. Instead they were basically kielbasa sliced int french fry shaped slivers, fried (or cooked somehow) in a spicy batter and served with similarly shaped slivers of cucumber. Of course, I needed my pierogi. It (and the copious Czech beer I was pounding back) was why I came. That and because I hadn't hung out with Lina in six months, but really, it was the pierogi. I ordered the mixed plate, which came with two each of the Mushroom and Sauerkraut Pierogi, Potato and Cheese Pierogi, and Meat Pierogi (ground chicken and pork). You can choose between getting the pierogis boiled or fried, and chose fried. The mushroom and sauerkraut was my least favorite, but I saw that coming. Sauerkraut is something I really have to be in the mood for. In the mood for or drunk. The potato and cheese was perfect though. Smooth as silk with a hint of cheese in the background. The meat pierogis were great, too. Once I was headed home after dropping Lina off at Penn, I called my parents to give them the heads up about going here.