Pierogi

Pierogi

Polish Home Association, $16 all-you-can-eat

"Pierogi Fest" is the major annual fundraiser for Seattle's Polish Home Association, drawing huge crowds for food, beer, and Polish entertainment. A $16 ticket gives you the right to elbow your way through to a long table lined with steam trays; hunted-looking ladies in festive costume periodically restock the trays with pierogi, plump hand-crimped dumplings stuffed with hearty combinations of sauerkraut, potato, cheese, and meat.

For dessert, there are sweet pierogi filled with cherries, blueberries, or plums (an advertised "sweet cheese" pierogi was sadly absent during my visit); they're dense, slippery, and bursting with juice. It takes a little experimenting to figure out which are best topped with sour cream and which with sweetened whipped cream, but with unlimited buffet privileges, there's nothing to stop you from trying every possible variation.