The pierogi reaches its apex

The decor may be Egyptian, but the menu at Pierogi Grill is pure Polish - with holupki that would have done Grandma proud.

By Laura Reiley, Times food critic
Published December 13, 2007

REVIEW

Pierogi Grill

1535 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., Clearwater

(727) 216-3055

Cuisine: Polish

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Details: Amex, V, MC; reservations accepted; beer and wine

Prices: Lunch entrees $5.49-$11.99; dinner entrees $9.99-$12.99

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CLEARWATER

My friend the pierogi expert - who can tell holupki from halushki at 20 paces - got a little teary when he surveyed the takeout bounty I brought him from Pierogi Grill.

His verdict on the namesake dumplings: "Excellent. Very firm and watertight, not loose and slimy like some I've had. My grandmother's were a little thinner."

The holupki (stuffed cabbage rolls): "Huge, tightly wrapped and uniform, with a divine filling. My grandmother is going to be very unhappy, but those were the best holupki I have ever tasted."

So maybe Pierogi Grill needs to amend its tagline. Instead of "Just like Grandma used to make" it should be "Better than Grandma used to make" - assuming, of course, your grandma was Polish, and a cook, and prone to inviting you to her table.

Mine was not, but I've spent some time sampling the goods at Pierogi Grill, and I'm impressed.

The restaurant interior is pure red herring. There are small Egyptian pyramid salt shakers, a pharaoh's bust and hieroglyphics. Owner Marek Pietryniak opened last year as an Egyptian restaurant called Piramida (as in "pyramid"). It was mostly familiar Middle Eastern food, but with a smattering of the Polish foods of his homeland.

From Egypt to Poland

The customers were particularly enthusiastic about those. So he retooled the menu but left the hieroglyphics as a little head-scratcher.

Savor the mystery alongside a 12-pack of pierogi ($9.99). The assortment includes sauerkraut and mushroom; potato and farmer's cheese; potato and cheddar; pork; spinach; and meat and spinach. They come adorned with a sprinkling of caramelized onions and that's it. Contrary to what my pro friend said, once in a while you get one that looks like underpants that have lost their elastic - irregularity that makes them seem more homemade.

The dough is dense and chewy, the interior on a couple of them flavored gently with dill. You can order six pierogi with a nice breaded pork cutlet, $9.99, but then you get only one flavor. The variety is better. Warning: If you single-handedly eat a whole plate of 12, a narcoleptic stupor will ensue.

Thus, you have to branch out. The house borscht ($2.99) is fabulous, a clear, deep fuchsia the color of red Easter egg dye. Like a beet consomme, it's sweet and tangy with an earthy low note of the root veggie; several tiny ground pork dumplings bob in the broth. The fruity, hoppy, just-skunky flavor of Polish Zywiec beer ($2.99 small, $3.99 large) is a strangely satisfying foil.

Not by pierogi alone

To offset the pierogi carbo-load, add a pair of Polish sausages ($9.99): straightforward kielbasa, crisp on the outside, served with soft-stewed sauerkraut that contains bits of more Polish sausage, beef and a little chicken. It's the kind of sauerkraut that still has some of its fragrant punch, a welcome side to many of the grill's brawny meats (beef goulash, roast pork shank).

The holupki, which they call golabki ($9.99), are actually one of the more delicately flavored menu items, their filling of ground beef, pork, turkey and soft white rice flavored simply, origamied into cabbage leaves and ladled with just a dab of orangy tomato sauce.

Pierogi Grill is a good place to go with a group. The deep booths are accommodating, but mostly it's because the food is best shared. The eager Polish staff is happy to bring you plates of savory pierogi, cabbage rolls, maybe some goulash to share - and then you're not too full to order the dessert pierogis ($9.99 for 12).

The strawberry, blueberry, plum, cherry and sweet cheese all look the same, so it's a Forrest Gump box-of-chocolates situation. If you can pinpoint a sweet cheese and marry it up with a bite of blueberry, it's heaven. I could probably eat 12 of those. A bad idea, but it's my pierogi-tive.

Contact Laura Reiley at (727) 892-2293 or lreiley@sptimes.com. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, can be found at www.blogs.tampabay.com/dining. Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays all expenses. Advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment.

[Last modified December 11, 2007, 17:26:03]