variety of traditional Polish recipes.

Beware that it *is* still a members-only club, although the application process is very straightforward. Just collect a membership form from Polonia or from the website here and get it back to the club 48 hours before your intended visit. If in doubt check with them first!

Once inside, the restaurant has the feel of a large, comfortable, well used front living room which is doubtless what it was in times gone by. Floors and furniture are wood, and in one corner there's an old-fashioned bar with an impressive selection of Polish vodkas and beers. The half dozen or so tables are reasonably spaced out (the restaurant seats 32), with a large bay window overlooking Chesterton Road. On the Thursday night when we visited the place was fairly quiet, and service was friendly and attentive. It can get busy at weekends though, when reservations are recommended.

The menu is fascinating, and you don't need to look further than the starters to conclude that items fall into the categories of safe ("cold meat and cheese platter"), unusual ("beetroot soup"), and adventurous ("polish village bread with lard and sour cucumber"). Dear reader, we tried them all. The cheese was unfamiliar but very tasty, and the cold meat featured an excellent polish sausage. The beetroot soup was well worth tasting but there's only so much of it you can drink, that being rather less than the size of the huge bowl provided! The dark bread was fresh, and yes it did come with something in the lard taxonomy but it tasted just fine. We can also recommend the mushroom soup, though the two herring options will have to wait until our next visit.

The main courses were excellent value, and different from anything else you will see in Cambridge without being bizarre enough to offend delicate palates. We went for carnivorous options, and we can recommend every one we tried - the meat dumplings, the beef stuffed with bacon, and the potato pancakes with beef goulash were all devoured with enthusiasm. Portions sizes were generous, and coupled with the aforementioned starters I am sorry to say we had no room left to try the pancakes and dumplings on offer for dessert.

We haven't yet mentioned the drinks. The Polish beer on draft is very easy to drink but deceptively strong, so it's just as well that the name is so unpronounceable that no-one could tell we were distinctly under the influence by the time we ordered our last round. If you want to practice, it's called Zywiec and is 5.6%. We stayed on that all evening, thereby missing out on what may be Cambridge's best selection of vodkas. Something else for our next visit.

Whether you already know Polish cuisine or are curious to try it for the first time, Polonia is worth a visit. We loved the unpretentious atmosphere and the fun of experimenting with dishes we'd never tried before. As well as the restaurant they have a party room that can hold up to 70, so also bear them in mind for your next big event!