The Special Cargo that Travels 15,000km to Reach Sydney’s Polish Club

In a small seaport on the Balic Sea Coast some 15,000 kilometres away from Sydney, beer kegs and bottles of spirits are being loaded onto a cargo ship bound for Australia.

The trip which begins in Gdynia, Northern Poland, will snake its way around Africa on a 55-day expedition to Sydney, eventually concluding its journey at the Polish Club in Ashfield in Sydney’s Inner West.

When the Club unveiled grand plans back in 2020 to knock down and rebuild its premises, President Richard Borysiewicz set his sights on having an unmatched variety of food and beverage options direct from Poland.

Two years prior to the re-opening of the Club he travelled to Poland and met with a range of breweries and suppliers, which set in train a unique offering that’s now reaping huge rewards.

“We pride ourselves on sourcing the best and most interesting products, for example we are currently the only Polish hospitality venue in Australia that offers Polish beer on tap,” says Richard.

Polish tap varieties include favourites such as Zywiec, Lech and Okocim, while in bottles patrons can enjoy craft beers such as Pinta IPA.

When you consider that Poland accounts for the highest number of foreign citizens residing in the United Kingdom, and it’s almost impossible to find a Polish beer on tap in England, it’s an impressive feat for Sydney’s Polish Club.

“We also offer over 70 different vodkas in our members’ bar, with the selection always growing as we find new products. This winter for example, we will be adding gingerbread and rose-flavoured vodkas to the shelves,” Richard says.

The beer and vodka flow just as quickly as the production line in the Club’s kitchen, particularly when it comes to Polish favourite pierogi — traditional dumplings filled with either beef and onion, potato and cheese, or braised cabbage and mushroom.

“Polish food is known to be very labour intensive and pierogi are no exception — they can take hours to prepare before they are cooked,” says Richard.

“We have recently acquired in our kitchen a wonderful machine that can make 100 pierogi per minute, along with fluffy kopytka (potato dumplings).

“With our dining room seating over 100 people most nights, we wanted to ensure each person could enjoy pierogi. The machine also lets us explore new fillings with our diners, last month for example we launched a chicken and leek filling as well as a sweet cheese filling for diners to enjoy.”

Other traditional favourites include śledzie w śmietanie z jabłkiem (picked Polish herrings, sour cream, pickles, apple, onion and dill, with rye bread), flaczki (tripe soup with tender beef) and sznycel wieprzowy z czerwoną kapustą i sosem grzybowym (crispy crumbed Berkshire pork schnitzel, creamy potato mash, braised red cabbage and mushroom sauce).

“All of our dishes are abundant and ensure in true Polish spirit that no one leaves hungry or wanting more,” says Richard.

With the 2024 Your Local Club Perfect Plate Awards in full swing, there is currently an extra dish on the menu at the Club’s Sto Lat restaurant.

“This year, our kitchen has entered a wonderful traditional dish — kartacze. This is a Polish take on ‘cepeliny’, which are potato dumplings filled with braised beef,” says Richard.

“To fully appreciate the tastes of the dumplings, we have paired it with wild foraged mushrooms, green peas, crispy speck and buckwheat, which is then served in an umami plum jus.”

And if you want to continue enjoying Polish cuisine at home, don’t forget to stop at the Club’s deli on the way out, with takeaway options ranging from frozen pierogi, to sausages, jam-filled donuts, chocolates and European cakes.