The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band
Minneapolis: It's not just for Scandinavians. In fact, it has such a large Polish population that the Northeast section of Minneapolis is referred to as the "Nordeast," in the same way that "the Bulls" are "da Bulls."
Neither B or I are particularly Polish, but this past Friday (August 26) we ate dinner at Nye's Polonaise, a Polish restaurant in the Nordeast, anyway. B's mom was in town, along with her friend Susan. B and her mom had done some sight-seeing the previous weekend while I was at Gen Con, but alas, they did not document their fun for this here blog. So I went to Nye's with camera in hand.
This place is straight out of 1968. In addition to "Enjoy Yourself Polish Style," Nye's website boasts of "a lounge atmosphere that hasn't changed in over 40 years."
The place was a little smaller than we expected, given how freakin' huge most bars and restaurants seem to be in Minneapolis. We were seated in the Chopin Dining Room, presumably so named because it has a piano bar. You can actually sit and drink your drink practically next to the piano player. I would've taken pictures but the place was dim dim dim, in that old-school way that I'd only ever seen in Vegas before.
Dinner was heavy but good. We shared a so-so spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer, along with a "relish plate" of raw carrots and a few pickled vegetables. I also had a cup of cabbage soup that I really liked. For dinner the 4 of us split two "Polonaise Plates," which feature samplings of sausage, spareribs with sauerkraut, potato dumplings, perogies (potato, cheese, and prune(!)), and cabbage rolls. The cabbage rolls were my favorite, and the prune perogies were surprisingly good. The sauerkraut was outstanding and everyone remarked about how they didn't expext to like the sauerkraut as much as they did. We topped it off with mazurka for dessert, which is a dessert "bar" -- basically a fruit spread sandwiched between two pieces of pie-crusty-good shortbread, with ice cream on top. Yummy.
Thus stuffed, we then proceeded to the main attraction at Nye's -- The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band. They had started up about midway through our meal, in a bar area next to the Chopin Dining Room. The band consists of 3 members -- a singer/trump ter, a drummer, and of course, an accordian player. The accordian player, named Ruth, also sings a bit, and literally barks like a dog for one number. One of their claims to fame is that they are the band for the Comedy Central show "Let's Bowl," in which litigators settle their differences in the bowling alley instead of in court.
How to describe the music? It was polka. It was fun. There was a small dance floor and at one point Susan got out there and polka-ed away. When they took a break B snapped this photo to commemorate the evening:
Citypages review of Nye's Polonaise.
Neither B or I are particularly Polish, but this past Friday (August 26) we ate dinner at Nye's Polonaise, a Polish restaurant in the Nordeast, anyway. B's mom was in town, along with her friend Susan. B and her mom had done some sight-seeing the previous weekend while I was at Gen Con, but alas, they did not document their fun for this here blog. So I went to Nye's with camera in hand.
This place is straight out of 1968. In addition to "Enjoy Yourself Polish Style," Nye's website boasts of "a lounge atmosphere that hasn't changed in over 40 years."
The place was a little smaller than we expected, given how freakin' huge most bars and restaurants seem to be in Minneapolis. We were seated in the Chopin Dining Room, presumably so named because it has a piano bar. You can actually sit and drink your drink practically next to the piano player. I would've taken pictures but the place was dim dim dim, in that old-school way that I'd only ever seen in Vegas before.
Dinner was heavy but good. We shared a so-so spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer, along with a "relish plate" of raw carrots and a few pickled vegetables. I also had a cup of cabbage soup that I really liked. For dinner the 4 of us split two "Polonaise Plates," which feature samplings of sausage, spareribs with sauerkraut, potato dumplings, perogies (potato, cheese, and prune(!)), and cabbage rolls. The cabbage rolls were my favorite, and the prune perogies were surprisingly good. The sauerkraut was outstanding and everyone remarked about how they didn't expext to like the sauerkraut as much as they did. We topped it off with mazurka for dessert, which is a dessert "bar" -- basically a fruit spread sandwiched between two pieces of pie-crusty-good shortbread, with ice cream on top. Yummy.
Thus stuffed, we then proceeded to the main attraction at Nye's -- The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band. They had started up about midway through our meal, in a bar area next to the Chopin Dining Room. The band consists of 3 members -- a singer/trump ter, a drummer, and of course, an accordian player. The accordian player, named Ruth, also sings a bit, and literally barks like a dog for one number. One of their claims to fame is that they are the band for the Comedy Central show "Let's Bowl," in which litigators settle their differences in the bowling alley instead of in court.
How to describe the music? It was polka. It was fun. There was a small dance floor and at one point Susan got out there and polka-ed away. When they took a break B snapped this photo to commemorate the evening:
Citypages review of Nye's Polonaise.
posted by James at 2:44 PM
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