Lomzynianka

646 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY
718-389-9439

Open 7 days from noon until 9pm

Until that gate in front opens, this place looks like a place you might not even venture into, because if you don't speak Polish you can't pronounce the name, and you might ASSUME that "Restauracja" means restaurant, but that's the kind of assumption that can get a traveler into big trouble. But this in not a foreign land, it's Greenpoint, and this place is right where Bedford meets Manhattan Avenue. The gate in the picture is halfway open, no doubt, to let air in while they cook lunch, or perhaps breakfast for very short people.

As soon as it's noon and you can walk in the door, however, you might forget about foreign lands-- you could be in Ohio, or Iowa, or Idaho. This is the kind of diner interior I LIVE for-- it's not a restaurant-- it's somebody's HOME!

The thing that is next most striking is not that you have traveled to a different place, but to a different TIME. Those prices on the menu can't be correct, can they? But they are. They even have a website-- http://www.lomzynianka.com/ --but even that looks like it came from some other time before websites.

I was very sad about not being able to order pierogies or blintzes, but there was so much else to eat anyway-- I accidentally ordered twice as much food as I could eat, because it was inexpensive, and the portions were so large. I had an amazing huge bowl of cold red borscht with sour cream. Also, a side of shredded beets, which I will keep thinking about daily until I can return. The man who took my order, who may have been the owner, gave me a funny look when I ordered those two things, as if in recognition of a "beethead." Maybe I am, I don't know. How could those shredded beets be so good-- something so simple? It's called HOME COOKING.

The menu on the website looks nothing as interesting as the menu I remember. You have to go to see it for yourself. I almost don't want to write a review of this place. It's the kind of secret you want to keep for yourself. But there are no secret restaurants these days. Who am I fooling? I'll see you there when I make a trip back to New York just for this place!