The Girl Who Ate Everything

Blogging about food and whatever since 2004.

pierogies and blintzes at Teresa's

On Friday afternoon while I was in the middle of paying for my bill at Temple, my phone started...doing stuff.

Huuuh. Whaaat. ...Oh, someone's calling me. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?

It was Nancy, the friend who accompanied me to the fried-meat-a-licious Pink Tea Cup just a few days prior.

"Robyn, do you wanna grab dinner later tonight?"

Ahh. Ahhhh. Uh. Damn, I just ate lunch. Can't...think about...other meals...stomach is still in the middle of churning gastric fluids...

"...Okay."

Alright, maybe I can. I have to admit, I was hesistant to eat another meal out. The way my food planning goes is that if I'm going to eat dinner out, I don't eat much for lunch (if anything at all), or if I eat lunch out, I eat a minimal dinner. Alas, my attempt to eat reasonably was thrwarted by social obligation, coupled with my desire to eat new things. Hmmm. Oh well. (But a note for anyone reading this who may eat with me: please give me at least 24 hours notice if you want to eat a full meal. Bakeries are more do-able on a last-minute schedule. I'm Robyn, but I'm still human, with digestive organs just like youuurs. Last week one of my friends called me up at 7 PM to ask me if I wanted to eat dinner, the problem being that I already ate something...ish. Damn.)

Although she at first asked if we could eat somewhere semi-healthy, I politely said, "HELL NO, DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE EATING WITH? GOSH." Okay, that's not exactly what I said, but I hmm-ed and huuuh-ed until Nancy gave me free reign to eat wherever I wanted to. Sweet jesus, I win again! Nancy works out on a semi-regular basis and she's a freakin' tiny Chinese girl (like most of them; my girth edges me out of the category a bit), but she also smokes from time to time and probably drinks. Whateeeever, we're all unhealthy, although my health is worse than most (or will be; I can feel the cancerous cells forming, can YOU?).

Teresa's
Teresa's

Menupaging (an extreme sport only second to ski-jumping and squirrel-tossing) led me to Teresa's, an Eastern European restaurant settled within the haven of a gazillion Eastern European restaurants in the East Village. Like at the East Village Ukrainian Restaurant, I had my eyes set on two things: green eggs and ham. I mean. Pierogies and blintzes. Yes. But then another item poked its way into my cerebrum and a half order of potato pancakes (three) also became a part of the highly nutritious meal gradually forming before us. We couldn't decide between plum butter or cherry blintzes and the waitress couldn't say one was better than the other, so she recommended we get one of each. Why didn't I think of that? Our waitress was obviously awesome. We also couldn't decide on what kind of pierogies to get, so we got a combination that included at least one of each.

pierogies
pierogies

Mmm, plate of boiled stuffed dough pouches never looked so good. I'm not sure how to describe them besides that they were full of doughy deliciousness, nor can I pick a favorite because I LIKED EM ALL. The cheese pierogies had a hint of sweetness and the potato filled ones were...well, they tasted like potato, with seasoning. DELICIOUS POTATO. I desperately need a word besides "delicious", but it's such a good word. Potatoicious!...no. You can't go wrong with anything here unless you don't like potato, cheese, mushrooms, sauerkraut, meat, or friggin' dough, in which case...why are you reading this blog?

blintzes
blintzes
blintz innards
blintz innards

Hello, gigantic blintzes, oozing with cheesy, fruity delight. HOW YA'LL DOIN'? These blintzes were like monsters compared to the ones I had at the East Village Ukrainian Restaurant, but it makes sense since they're also more expensive. Due to the size, these blintzes packed in a layer of sweet, fluffy cheese in addition to fruit jelly. Nancy and I found out that the waitress couldn't have told us which one was better because they were both equally good. Damn. These blintzes were awesome, soft inside with crispy edges, thus we ate them all, whether or not our stomachs really wanted us to.

potato pancakes
potato pancakes
potato pancake innards
innards

I've probably had potato pancakes at some point my life, but I had no idea that they'd turn out like this. For some reason, the first comparison food I could come up with in regards to the texture was a flat Japanese fish cake patty. If you know what those are like, it was kind of like that, but softer. If you don't have much fish cake knowledge, then just pretend you do. The pancakes could be easily cut with a fork, but would also retain their structure if subjected to any kind of prodding (...not that I know why they would be prodded). Flavorful (with salt, although not too much) and delicious-ified by fried oil, these pancakes got a lot of "MM, I LOVE THESE PANCAKES"-esque accolades from Nancy and me.

done
empty plates

We ate nearly everything. Yeeeah, that's right. We couldn't bring ourselves to eat the last half pierogi and while I tried to plow through the last pancake, I just couldn't do it. But the blintzes were fully cleaned up, not very surprising considering they were the dessert part of the meal.

inside
interior

I'm sure I'll go back to Teresa's again. The restaurant feels cozy (we luckily had the corner spot way in the back) and warm due to the earthy colors, and while it had a good number of customers, it never felt too crowded. Also, the whole meal was only $10 per person and completely satisfying...if you just want pierogies, blintzes, and potato pancakes at least. AND WHY WOULDN'T YOU? :)

Comments

Rich / February 13, 2006 4:59 PM

Last night I was about to head home after a beer with friends and all of the sudden one word pops into my head. Blintzes. I went and got some at the nearest diner (Astro's on Glendale). Only today did I realize that your blog had subliminally influenced me. They didn't really compete with what you had, in that they were more crepe chimichangas with cheese filling, but sometimes it's the food thought that counts. At 1 am, this is definitely the case.

Also, I'm beginning to think you need to start having shirts out that say 'innards' below a stylized line drawing of a munched on cookie or a red bean bun or something.

-Rich

roboppy / February 14, 2006 11:39 AM

Rich: YES YES, subliminal blintzes! ...sublintzinal...blintzubliminal...um...

1 AM fooding. Man, I haven't really done that yet. Shall I? The latest I've eaten out was around midnight. There seemed to be one restaurant open in Chinatown, haha. Mmm...digestion problems...

OH MY GOD, that is a really good idea for a shirt. If I ever make it, you can have a free one. I just need to sharpen my vectorized cookie-drawing skillz...

lutkie: I'd say they were different, one being better than the other depending on what you...want? Ehe. Since the Ukrainian Restaurant's blintzes were smaller, they lacked the cheese, but came with sour cream spread that I really liked and were easier to eat. But then Teresa's were like...um, really good too, and I like the cheese. I LIKE BOTH! ARHGGAHR!!

Obviously, we'll just have to try both to make sure, yeah? Uh. Huh.

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