So, I went to the old-boy Rotary Club that meets on Wednesdays and with my third visit finally got a banner. Walking back, since I just missed the tram, I came onto one of these very run-of-the-mill (another colloquialism for my Polish readers) food kiosks with the sign “tosty” (a simple meat sandwich) and “hotdogs.” I figured I would go for a hot dog as it is well past dinnertime, but looking through the menu see “cheeseburger” – I will go for one of those. Five złoty (dollar and a half), so some little sandwich that I can eat on the walk with one hand while I hold my banner in the other…
I have now had hamburgers at three places in Europe. All have been … excellent. I have now been twice to the “American Café” on Jagielońska Street, where the service is g…l…a…c…i…a…l but the food quite good. The last time was with Erhan, my Turkish student colleague who pronounced his burger the “best food he had in Poland” which I consider high praise indeed. Then last weekend in Berlin we went to “Andy’s Diner & Bar.” The burger there was well larger than the very substantial roll and as best as I could tell was one piece of real meat. And was served with an American flag on a stick, I kid you not!
I think before I leave here I am going to have to go to MacDonalds. When I travel I see Mac’s, and KFCs, everywhere, spaced at about five kilometer intervals, but there is no doubt in my mind that they cannot stay in business serving the hamburger we get in the states. I have actually stood in front of a Mac’s in the food court at the Mall and looked at the pictures before going to the fish booth nearby. They don’t serve “quarter-pounders” of course, but judging from the picture – and I know how deceiving these promotional food pictures are – it looked like a bigger piece of meat with more veggies and real cheese. I will have to give it a try.
…So my cheeseburger at the tosty shop comes. I watch them make it, nothing special, the meat is nuked not grilled. The bun is very substantial, not wonder-bread, with bigger and better seeds than sesame. It is quite big, the filling is a sort of cole slaw (and a lot of it) with what I am guessing is real bacon bits that give it a nice crunchiness. And real cheese – I seriously doubt if any equivalent of American-processed-cheese-food can be found anywhere in Europe. Again, nothing really to write home about, but it is definitely OK! Certainly not something I can eat with one hand while I walk, so I go to a bench and do my best to not get it all over myself. I actually wind up not being able to finish it, not because it is not good but because there is more than I bargained for – when was the last time that happened to you?
