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| Babushka's
Kitchen I was excited when I heard about Babushka's coming to Clintonville, Scottie McBean had been closed a long time and it was a perfect place for a restaurant. I was really interested in the Polish food, as we do not have this in central Ohio except in some token entries in delicatessens. I do not know polish food well so I was looking forward to something beside the usual fare and something I could learn about. I have gone there four times and I have sampled many but not all of the restaurant's major offerings. But I feel ready to do a preliminary review. They are still in the shake down stage of opening a restaurant and there are some rough spots. I hope they iron them out. The old Scottie McBean site has not been appreciably changed. It is an order at the counter and they bring you your meal place. The menu was a bit confusing the first time and the carry out order does not have all of the offerings on it. The more often I went, the easier the menu above the counter became, but it is still not clear. I did try to make a carryout order once and could not get through even calling, hanging up and dialing again for about 10 minutes. They need to work that out. The service is pleasant and the orders come out quickly. Overall the food is good. I like the potato pancakes. Both times they were served they were hot and savory. They have the third best meatloaf in Clintonville. I still score it Nancy's number one, Beechwold Diner number two and Babushka's number three. But Babushka's has great tomato gravy. It was savory and made a nice compliment for the mashed potatoes and meat loaf. The Kielbasa was good, savory without being overwhelming. It was served with sweet onions and they were nicely done. I chose the sauerkraut and dumplings as a side. The dumplings were soft without being hard in the middle or soggy on the outside. The green beans were standard salty canned beans. By far the stand out entre was the Golabki. That is steamed and stuffed cabbage and I really liked it. It also comes with the tomato gravy and that gravy is delicious. There are two things that were disappointing. First was the sauerkraut. I really expect some "saur" in sauerkraut. Theirs is sweet and very sweet at that. The second issue is more problematic. The first time I went to Babushka's I was with a companion that I usually go to restaurants with. He got the Pierogi. He reported it was cold inside. The next time I went I ordered the Pierogi and he was right. The outside was also a bit leathery as if it has been prepared and had sat too long. I hope they can work on that because I could accept sauerkraut that is too sweet. But a polish restaurant with cold and not fresh Pierogi can't work. I
suggest you try it. But make sure to tell them you want warm
Pirogues if you order them.
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