
4
"I stumbled on Restaurant Relax, a nicely decorated space with murals of castles tucked on a side street off Nassau Avenue; established in 1997, it felt like one of the newer traditional Polish places. After entering the medieval-looking doorway, a friend and I made our way to the rear counter where a single elderly woman took orders, assembled dishes from an unseen steam table, and delivered them to our table with surprising vigor. We had a wonderful tripe soup featuring cow stomach and herbs—mellow as hell; a plate-flopping pork schnitzel accompanied by two scoops of potatoes laved in brown gravy; a massive serving of bigos; and two salads, of which we picked cucumbers in dilled sour cream and cooked cabbage that was better than it sounded, all washed down with a pair of large Polish beers for a $60 tab, including tax and a generous tip." - Robert Sietsema