Korzo, South Slope

While walking down 5th avenue one day recently heading towards the Greenwood Cemetery, we got caught in a sudden rainstorm. We ducked into the Eastern European themed Korzo between 19th and 20th streets and cozied into the nook in the hall between the front bar area and the dining room with the piano in the back. (This is yet another of New York's 2-location chains, the other being at Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan.)

The decor here is cozy and the furnishings all have a real weight to them; it would be easy to imagine this place has been around for a few decades or more, rather than just a few years. The bartender who also waited on us was helpful and patient. It's tempting to make this into a regular weekly hangout.

Heavy furniture, medium beer

The cooler days and the rain made hot soup sound like a good idea, and the Soup du Jour was a hearty cream of red potato and dill soup with a spicy chili oil floated on top. Grilled house baked bread alongside it was perfect for sopping up the leftovers.

Creamy potato soup. And plenty of grilled bread.

Korzo practically makes it's own everything. Bread, mustard, pickles, (beet!) ketchup, noodles, cures it's own sausages. They even have their own beer in conjunction with Peak Organic Brewery out of Portland, Maine. Don't click if you're under 21. (The house beer is delicious, btw, and on another visit, when the $3 good cheap rotating draft was kicked, they served the house Korzo Ale for $3. It was a great all-night special. The beer menu is pretty solid, too, with most beers available by the pitcher or in 1 liter glasses too.)

The Hausbrau

We also tried the Slav burger and the Spicy Hungarian Goulash. The Goulash was a thick stew of beef brisket, paprika, and red pepper over what were described as "crispy" spatzle, but which actually turned out to be simply thick and delicious, if slightly soft spatzle. There were caramelized onions in here too somewhere, and a piece of home made Langoš (Hungarian flatbread) which was lighter and softer than a pita, and warm from the oven or pan or wherever it came from. Again, the assumption here is that you'll want to eat every last drop of food from your bowl. This assumption is accurate.

Goulash over Spatzle. And flatbread

The burgers here were called the best burger in NYC by the Village Voice last year. The patties and their respective toppings are wrapped in Langoš dough and deep fried. The Slav burger had slow cooked pork, house made sauerkraut, and Bryndza, a sheep-milk variation on Feta. The deep frying process leaves a delightfully golden and crispy outer pastry and a perfectly medium-rare patty. This burger is also ridiculously easy to hold with none of the messiness associated with most bar sandwiches. The Bryndza has enough bite to stay interesting over the rich combination of meats, and the sauerkraut is authentic, though in short supply in this dish. The accompanying fries were a combination of sweet potatoes and hand-cut chips, and both were tasty with the beet ketchup that came with them.

Korzo burer: The Slav

There are "jazz nights" on Tuesdays in the dining room, but there's a divider curtain which somehow keeps the sound from entering the bar area, so if you want to drink and don't like jazz, don't worry. And if you do like jazz, they've got a couple of regulars apparently who know their stuff. Two televisions do play some sports but with no volume, although you shouldn't worry that it's a super sporty crowd. And when the weather is nice, the front wall opens up to let the night breeze in. The menu is so full of delicious sounding meals that we want to go back again and again until we've tried them all. So far, everything we've had here has been as solid as the heavy antique furniture.

-SdJ

Quiet lunchtime in the rain.