Dear Mr. Gold:

I can’t seem to find anywhere serving real Polish dishes in Los Angeles. I would appreciate your help.

—Rod Roderick, Northridge

Dear Mr. Roderick:

Los Angeles isn’t exactly Chicago or Greenpoint, Brooklyn, when it comes to Polish cooking — the local Polish community just isn’t that big. But you can find Polish salamis and cured meats at any number of Eastern European delicatessens, or even the East Hollywood location of Jon’s supermarket. And there are two quite decent Polish restaurants in the area. Polka, in Eagle Rock, serves filling, home-style, multicourse Polish dinners for almost nothing — it’s like having your own Polish grandmother in the neighborhood, and you don’t have to help with the dishes afterward. Warszawa in Santa Monica, one of the better Eastern European restaurants in the country, is more refined, a bit expensive and quite delicious: crackly skinned roast duck, the hunter’s stew called bigos, and about a million different kinds of vodka to wash it all down with. 1414 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 393-8831.

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