Eastern European Restaurants in London: Tatra Restaurant, 24 Goldhawk Road, Shepherds Bush, London W12 8DH

The venue for the Dining Club Christmas Party 2010 is significant as it is just across the road from another Polish restaurant – the superlative Patio – that was the venue for the inaugural Dining Club evening, all those many (well, maybe one and a bit) years ago. (Which reminds me that a return trip should be planned so I can give the place a proper write up.) Anyhow, the business of this evening (seasonal festivities aside) was to see if Tatra can compete. We meet for pre-dinner drinks in the baroquely named but always pleasant The Defectors Weld pub, on the corner of Shepherds Bush Common. I see someone walk away from the bar with an unusually tall and narrow pint glass of black beer and am immediately intrigued. It turns out to be something German called Köstritzer Schwarzbier, and its dark malty fizz is definitely worth seeking out.

Opened in 2008, Tatra is bright, modern, smartly furnished and - despite its modest size - feels more like a branch of one of those restaurant chains than we at DC are normally used to. No bad thing in and of itself, and we felt in safe hands with the friendly staff, despite them disappointing us with the news that, as we weren’t a pre-booked group of more than 8, we weren’t eligible for the special Christmas menu. The large pre-booked group of more than 8 on the seats opposite us were, on the other hand, eligible and busy ordering from the Christmas menu. We swiftly moved on from dwelling on this churlish piece of bureaucracy, puzzling from an otherwise small and hospitable independent restaurant, and focused on the permitted menu instead.

To start, I had the pierogi (also available as a main), and they were really very splendid. Polish cuisine has several stunners in its repertoire, and these small, ravioli like, delicately spiced meat-filled dumplings are one of them. Other starters investigated by the Dining Club were smoked salmon and blinis (which Lucy reported as "fine"), pickled herring (apparently delicious) and the special that day - pigeon breasts. Sarah graciously allowed me to try the latter, and it had a smokey gamey intensity which, while she found overpowering, I very much enjoyed. The several pieces of shot we both subsequently had to spit out were unwelcome, but also reassuring evidence of its wild provenance. Although I sensed I was a little less fazed by their presence than Sarah, I was still pleased to have a large glass of Tatra beer on hand to cleanse the lead from my palette.

It was a struggle deciding what to have for my main purely because I absolutely adore stuffed cabbage, and to a somewhat evangelical extent. It was very difficult to see beyond that item on the menu (in the guise of their Polish manifestation, Gołąbki), but – remembering my responsibilities as a Dining Club member to not play too safely – I asked the waiter what he recommended and, following his advice, ordered the hunter's stew (or bigos). I was almost inconsolable when the stuffed cabbage that Katie and Sarah had ordered was placed in front of them. It looked perfect – clean, green leaf parcels of minced pork, crisply fried off on one side, perched enticingly in a pool of a rich tomato based sauce. To worsen the blow, Lucy’s Chicken Kiev seemed to be a Platonic ideal of that noble dish as well – a large, plump chicken breast coated in golden breadcrumbs, producing a deep garlicky liquor when punctured, which spilled out its rich butter flavor onto the accompanying cabbage. (The insipid pre-made supermarket versions have given Chicken Kiev a bad name, which is desperately unfair - seek out a good home made version and I guarantee it will knock you out). Alas, although actually perfectly serviceable, my hunter’s stew suffered terribly by comparison and seemed heartbreakingly bland and uninteresting. Needing to somehow avoid plunging into a slough of despond for the rest of the evening, I reached for the vodka list, which I had noticed before looked very exhaustive and very reasonably priced. Undissuaded by the waitress who rather bizarrely volunteered the information that she found vodka “disgusting”, I ordered a shot of the Potocki for the simple reason it has the same name as the writer of one of my favourite books. It arrived at the table perfectly ice cold and proved, after the first tentative sip, absolutely delicious. I ordered another, and very quickly my spirits were restored enough to inquire after the apple strudel and ice cream to those who were eating it. It was apparently very good.

Personal misfortune (nay, catastrophe!) aside, the food was cooked and presented with a contemporary confidence that didn't betray its roots in the best of traditional Polish cuisine. Comparisons to the long-established and well-known Patio are unavoidable, but while that institution is held in justifiably fond regard for its home spun charm and eccentricity, Tatra is a very different proposition – forward thinking, smart and breezy. The one thing they have in common is the remarkably good Polish food they both serve.