Eating on the road: Stash Café in Montreal

Like many Canadians, my family tree is complicated so I can't claim my heritage to just one country. I was born here. My Mom was too, but her parents would trace to the US and Switzerland. My Dad moved here as a kid but was born in London and grew up in Ireland, with an Irish Mother and a Polish Father.

So while I claim the Irish heritage every March, I do have a legit claim to some Polish roots too. Which is a long way of saying I went to Stash Café in Montreal earlier this year for some good Polish food.

It's a cute spot in Old Montreal and just across the street from Olive et Gourmando, where I went for breakfast on a previous trip to Montreal. This time, it was a pre-hockey game meal -- a step up from my usual pre-match St. Hubert.

I have never actually been to Poland (I am not counting a layover to change planes in Warsaw on my way to Bucharest) so I've never had legit Polish food (I am not counting what they fed me on my Lot Airlines flights) so I cannot comment on the authenticity of the menu. But it looked pretty authentic.

I decided on three courses, beginning, of course, with pierogi. The starter comes with four of them and I opted for two potato/cheese and two beef. It came with sour cream, and I was able to sub-out the sauerkraut (not a fan) for some beet salad.

I have had many pierogi and you can really taste the difference handmade makes. Delicate and flavourful. And the beet salad was a welcome taste of freshness. If I was living in Poland I would eat too many pierogi all the time. One of the top potato delivery vehicles in existence.

I was really torn on the main during my menu pre-scouting. I considered doing the larger pierogi serving as a main and doing something else for the appy. Or getting a sausage or potato pancakes -- both also Polish staples and a big part of my late father's cooking.

In end end though I opted for the Krokiety, described on the menu as two breaded crepe rolls filled with beef or mushrooms served with green salad, potato salad and a creamy mushroom sauce.

The krokiety were rich, hearty and filling, good fill your stomach Polish food for a cold winter's day whether it's in Krakow or Montreal. The salad was fine and I did not care for the dill-heavy potato salad -- I prefer my potato in pierogi form -- but these roles and the mushroom sauce were delish.

Finally I did save space for desert, opting for peach cobbler with homemade sweet cream.

I would say it was fine. In fairness, it was February so peaches were not exactly in season.

All in all it was an excellent meal, even if I couldn't later resist having a hot dog at the Habs game. Next time, I'll get the big plate of pierogi...

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