doodledee

[Starting a new occasional feature - Doodle Hall of Fame (doodleHoF) lunches. Buckle up.]

Today we feature one of my longtime favorite lunches: Kramarczuk's timeless classic "huge bowl of sauerkraut with polish sausage in it".

What: It's pretty much what you'd expect. A nicely sized bowl crammed to overflowing with sauerkraut and chunks of Kramarczuk's homemade polish sausage. A lady with an Eastern European accent ladles it up out of a soup pot down next to the borscht and goulash. It's steamy and warm and seasoned to perfection and the sausages snap and ooze and you'll grab a napkin and wipe your mouth after each bite. Then you'll shake your head in amazement, because you never would have guessed that eating a giant bowl of sauerkraut would be this ridiculously great.

Where: The restaurant / cafeteria at Kramarczuk's on Hennepin, right over the Grain Belt bridge from downtown. They have a small parking lot on the north side of the building.

Tips: First, make sure you've got a good beverage supply. I'd recommend going fountain soda so you can get tons of refills. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not killer salty or anything, but come on, it's sauerkraut and sausage. Duh. Next, make sure you pick up a couple of slices of complimentary bread over by where you get your silverware. A lot of people miss it and/or assume it's just some random loaf of bread sitting out for display purposes. It's not. It's for actual eating purposes. Third, and this is a personal preference thing, but I grab a little cup of brown mustard for dunking my polish in. I find it adds a little something awesome to the dish.

Else: After you finish, be sure to swing thru the butcher shop area and grab a few to-go goodies. Like maybe a couple more feet of polish. Have a look:

Hello lovelies!

Now go forth and lunch.

[Note: the lunch picture above shows an extra half sausage on the plate. This extra sausage is not included in the polish bowl. Unless you bring your kid and he only wants half of the sausage you got for him. (Yet another joy of fatherhood.) For a picture with less extra sausage and more parsley garnish, browse the Kramarczuk's website.]