Lakeside Family Restaurant, Polish Food in Sterling Heights - REVIEW

Hello my Undercover Divettes.  Hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was great.  I know we all were very happy to see our family.   Before the holiday we Divas had a pretty great food experience.   The place is called Lakeside Family Restaurant, with Polish-American Home Style Cooking.  They are located at 43734 Schoenherr Rd., just south of Hall Rd., in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

We have heard they had the best Polish food in town. The dishes they make are 100% genuine. We were known to visit Hamtramck (Michigan) when we needed a good Polish dinner in the past, but were looking for a place closer to home. Lakeside Family Restaurant fits the bill. The food is as good as the Polish grandmothers make in Hamtramck, and portions are as generous, too. We arrived about 7 pm on a Friday night and the place was jumping. We were lucky to get a table at the back of the restaurant so that we can get a full view of this place. Turnover is swift, so there really wasn't much of a wait.

I was anxious to see the menu and I wasn’t disappointed. Shellie was our waitress and she was all smiles. Suse ordered Dill Pickle soup (her favorite). Gini and I had the Chicken Dumpling soup, loaded with spaetzle (German egg noodles). The soups were $2.69 for small and $3.79 for the large. You can also order soup to carry out. We enjoyed our soup with their great fresh bread. Since we ordered an Entrée the soup prices are .89 or large $1.39.

Lakeside has quite a few specialty dishes, from homemade pierogies, city chicken, stuffed cabbage or just go with the Polish Combo, so that you get a taste of everything. Suse ordered the Cheese (Nalesniki) Crepes ($6.69), they can be filled with your choice of cheese, apple, strawberry, cherry or blueberry. She wasn’t disappointed with her decision. Gini had the same as myself because of course it was our favorite. It's called the Lakeside Combo. This consisted of one stuffed cabbage, three pierogi, one city chicken, kielbasa, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes ($11.99).

Wow, I was surprised at the amount of food we received. I had to try the stuffed cabbage first because that is my favorite. It melted in my mouth, I was in heaven. Gini started out eating her city chicken and mashed potatoes, which is her favorite. I took a taste of the kielbasa and sauerkraut. The kielbasa had that snap when I bit into it and the kraut wasn’t so sour, which I enjoy. Gini was enjoying her potato and cheese pierogies and I couldn’t fit any more food in my stomach so I decided to take home the pierogies for lunch the next day.

Lakeside has more than Polish food. You can get chicken broasted, grilled, breaded or chicken tenders, breaded or grilled pork chops. As a side bar my pierogies were supposed to be potato and cheese but they were sauerkraut. I was a little bummed but I actually never tried it that way and they were still very good.

How can you go wrong with Grilled Tilapia, Fried Smelt or Liver & Onions. Prices range from $7.39 -$8.49. Those Entrees come with homemade mashed potatoes, and vegetable. If you want something light, check out the grilled or crispy chicken salad, tuna, Greek or chef salad, ranging from $5.99 - $6.49. The menu lists burgers and chick tenders for your kids.

The food was exceptional and the portions were generous. Our waitress, Shellie was the best. Prices were very reasonable and food came quickly from the kitchen. They open at 8 am for breakfast, daily. They close every night at 9 pm, except Sunday at 8 pm.  Phone:  586-262-4250.  The Undercover Divas were so impressed, we gave our first FIVE DIVAS review to Lakeside Family Restaurant.  It really couldn't be any better!

Our Favorite Spaetzle Recipe

1 cup plus 2 tab. sifted, all purpose flour

1/8 tea. freshly grated nutmeg

½ tea. Salt

1 extra large egg

6 tab. Milk

3 tab. Butter (unsalted preferred)

Combine flour, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and make a well in the center.

Whisk egg and milk together, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients.

Beat hard with a wooden spoon until all is blended well.

Boil salted water in a large cooking pot. Keep water boiling.

Push the batter through a spaetzle maker into the boiling water.

(or use a slotted spoon or colander to drop batter into boiling water)

Cook spaetzle, uncovered, for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

With a slotted spoon, lift spaetzle to a large bowl of ice water.

Let stand until ready to serve but no longer than an hour or two.

To serve, drain spaetzle well in a colander, then warm in melted butter in a saute pan.

Serve at once when warmed. Four servings.

Can be used in place of potatoes, or in soups.

Celina's Polish Kitchen & Cathy's Homemade Goodies in St. Clair Shores, Michigan -- REVIEW

A recommendation from a follower of The Undercover Divas sent us to Celina's Polish Kitchen in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. It is an eat in or carry-out place for Polish food. Upon entering, we noticed there were only three tables for eating. We were welcomed by Cathy as we arrived.

Step one is going to the counter and making your choices from the menu on the wall. Polish dinners are ordered by number and they had about everything we have found available at the Polish restaurants in Hamtramck. Homemade soup of the day (vegetable soup today) is listed on the wall and variations of the day's pierogies were on a sign on the counter. There were at least six different types, and all sounded appetizing. For those that love authentic Polish, there was a dill pickle soup as one of the dailies, just not available the day we were there.

The three of us DIVAS all decided to order off the right side of the wall menu, the “Create Your Own Plate With Sides” option. Annod had the city chicken ($2.90), cheese and potato pierogies with grilled onions ($3.45) and a stuffed cabbage ($2.70). Gini had a city chicken with brown gravy ($2.90), *could be hotter* mashed potatoes ($2.35) and a stuffed cabbage ($2.70). I had city chicken with mushroom gravy ($2.90), sweet cream pierogies ($3.45) and a stuffed cabbage ($2.70). Annods son joined us and had the vegetable soup ($2.75) that he enjoyed.

Step two is deciding to eat in, as there was a table available. While waiting for our food, we noticed how many customers came in for carry-outs. There were many and their orders were filled quickly. Some had called ahead (586/294-0631) and were in and out. Our food for eating-in also didn't take long. If you choose this option, you will be given plastic silverware, which was OK with us as everything was tender enough to withstand the plastic. Food was exceptionally good and authentically polish. We also enjoyed chatting with Marg, she brought our food out and made sure we were happy with our choices.

Celina's Polish Kitchen is under new ownership. A very nice lady named Catherine Mazey is the new owner and is doing a spectacular job. Cathy makes everything to order. There is an extensive “Party Carry-Out” menu available at the counter.

The place was clean, the food tasty and authentically Polish, but you won't get the huge portions the Polish grandmothers give you at the restaurants in Hamtramck. The DIVAS enjoyed the visit and will be back. Celina's is located at 31339 Harper, just north of 13 Mile Rd. in St. Clair Shores (near McDonalds) in a strip mall. They close at 6pm so plan accordingly, Sundays and Mondays they are closed.   We appreciate all your recommendations to try different restaurants and hope you will keep sending us your ideas for reviews to TheUndercoverDivas@gmail.com

Special Attention: In addition to Celina's Polish Kitchen, Cathy owns Cathy's Homemade Goodies a few doors down, at 30910 Harper. She had lots of her goodies on display in one of the cases. There were different kinds of cookies and other baked goods. Her “Homemade Goodies” store has many homemade items available, including homemade ice cream. They looked good but we were just too full for any dessert. Next time for sure!