Polish White Eagle Club president Eva Buchaniec. Photo: Sophia Brady.
The kitchen at Canberra’s Polish White Eagle Club has changed hands since I last wrote about Polo Restaurant, but what remains the same is its core mission to preserve heritage, share traditions and serve up tasty plates of food.
There is something comforting about walking into the club. The quirky labyrinth of rooms is still there, so too are the shelves of books, the trinkets, the artwork and all the proud nods to Polish heritage. A bust of Chopin surveys one of the dining rooms while Polish music hums gently in the background.
Since 2021, the club itself has operated the restaurant, serving a tight menu of much-loved Polish classics with the help of specialist Polish caterer Nasz Stolik from Mittagong.
“We are here to keep Polish customs alive and share it with the wider community,” said club president Eva Buchaniec. “Food is one of the most powerful ways to do that.”
More than six decades since Eva arrived in the region, she is now helping ensure the culture her family brought with them continues to thrive.
Eva arrived in Australia as a child in 1963 after emigrating from a small village in Poland. The family’s journey took them by land and sea through Czechia, Austria, Naples, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney before they eventually settled in Queanbeyan.
“We spent 32 days on the water,” she said. “It was the eighth of February when we arrived. We had left behind snow and arrived in this big brown land. It was stinking hot and there was no grass to be seen.”
I love that Canberra spends three glorious days every year celebrating multiculturalism and migrant stories at the National Multicultural Festival. But what I love even more is that places like the White Eagle Club do that work every single week, keeping traditions alive through food, conversation and community.
Wednesday night features a Pierogi and Pint special. Photo: Sophia Brady.
My visit is on the restaurant’s popular Wednesday night Pierogi and Pint special. For $25, diners receive a plate of pierogi and a drink from the bar. After ordering, diners are handed a token to exchange for their drink of choice. It is an offering with a loyal following and the various dining rooms fill quickly on the night.
Pierogi are one of Poland’s great comfort foods. Dumplings made from dough wrapped around a savoury filling, they sit firmly in that category of peasant cooking where inexpensive ingredients are transformed into something deeply satisfying and nostalgic.
The pierogi come in three varieties: potato and cheese, meat and cabbage with mushrooms. I order a mix of all three. Each plate arrives with a trio of salads and, in true Slavic fashion, two are pickled. A generous dollop of sour cream sits on the side.
“It is very important to eat pierogi with sour cream,” Eva laughed.
I happily comply and slather my pierogi in the good stuff. In my view, sour cream is one of life’s great condiments underused outside Eastern Europe.
The dumplings are steamed here, giving the dough a pleasant chew while keeping the dish surprisingly light. The meat filling is a delicate pork mixture, while the cabbage and mushroom version leans heavily into the tangy sauerkraut character, which I thoroughly enjoy. The mashed potato and farm cheese blend is smooth and comforting. I cannot pick a favourite. The joy comes from having a few of each.
For dessert, I finish with a traditional yeasty Polish doughnut dusted in icing sugar and filled with jam.
What makes Polo Restaurant special is not just the dishes it serves up. It is the people. From Eva greeting guests at the counter to the young bar staff proudly talking about Polish beers and their own heritage, there is a genuine sense of care here.
The bar is well stocked with Eastern European beers and spirits. Photo: Sophia Brady.
Polo Restaurant is located at the Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David Street, Turner and is open from 6 pm to 8:30 pm, Wednesday to Saturday.
Original Article published by Sophia Brady on Region Canberra.
