U Babci Polish Kitchen — Restaurant in Lake Forest

We love trying new ethnic foods, and were lucky enough to find a new Polish Restaurant to try, as that is not something you find easily! Being of Polish descent, my husband was happy to finally find one in SoCal! We were not disappointed.

U Babci is a small restaurant in a strip mall in Lake Forest, and are told it opened about 4 months ago. You can order at the counter or they will take your order at the table if you prefer. All employees were very friendly & personable...we enjoyed chatting with our server, Julia, who came to America 2 years ago as a young adult, not happy in Poland. She loves it here, and has a couple of jobs so she just works weekends at U Babci. Not a huge menu, but they have everything you need! Thankfully they had a combo plate so we could taste a little of everything. Food came out in an average amount of time. Combo plate included: a cabbage roll covered in a tomato sauce, 3 perogi of your choice (i chose potato with cheese & a spinach, but they also had meat, & a mushroom with saurkraut), Hungarian stew, and choice of blood sausage or kielbasa, of which I chose a kielbasa, and also chose to have it grilled, rather than steamed. The perogi were delicious, (I even ordered 6 to-go to bring them home for my picky sister to try!) They didn't lack in filling, and were seasoned & cooked perfectly. Cabbage roll was a large portion with ample filling of meats and rice, and topped in a creamy tomato sauce. Again, cooked perfectly, not overcooked or dry. Keilbasa was the same; good quality sausage as you would expect. Hungarian stew is not a "stew" as we make in America, but rather a mixture of meats, cabbage, saurkraut and seasoning. Now, I do not care for the saurkraut we get at the store in a can, but their saurkraut I could eat all day. Even if you don't care for saurkraut, you must try it! Another member of our party also had potato dumplings in a mushroom gravy...the dumplings were similar to an italian gnocchi, with more potato flavor. Gravy was delicious...we all had to dip our sourdough bread in it to taste! Yum! My husband ordered more bread so he could keep dipping!

Restaurant was very clean, and decorated nicely...bathroom (1 unisex in restaurant) was also clean & kept up! We will...

Party of 3 went for a celebratory meal on a Thursday evening mid-September. We got there around 6pm and were seated immediately. I really liked the interior decor of the place - flowers on the tables, and paintings of Polish cities on the walls. We had two plates of pierogies with sour cream toppings - you can mix and match the 6 dumplings in the plate, and we tried all kinds - the beef ones were the tastiest I would say. Friend had a beer while I had the raspberry Waldwein upon our hostess, Andrea's recommendation - great choice! Two of us had a golabki each, while the third had the Schabowy schnitzel - everything was fantastic. The meat inside the golabki was cooked to perfection - very tender and juicy and warm. For dessert, we shared two plates of Nalesniki - again very good. Sat, ate, and chatted there for around 2 hours, and the hostess was very nice and patient with us. Total including tips and taxes came to around 52$ per person, and we didn't have any leftovers. High quality food, but yeah, a bit on the expensive side, if you get a...

Oh my goodness sakes. U Babci has just opened and Polish food rocks!! I had the most incredible dumplings stuffed with different ingredients. Firstly, the restaurant is quaint and I was greeted warmly by the owner named Casper. Second, the service was prompt and Mike was excellent taking care of me. Most importantly, the food was so delicious. I would call it comfort food! The dumplings stuffed with pork and beef were my favorite but the dumplings stuffed with potato and cheese and also the ones stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms were also very very tasty. I look forward to trying the pork chops next time. I understand this is the only Polish restaurant in Orange County and i am so glad they have come to Lake Forest. I am not Polish, but love good cooking and their varied menu. I bet...