Koliba: Central European comfort food in Astoria

By Suzanne Parker

In the boneâˆ’chilling weather that’s inevitably coming soon, global warming notwithstanding, Central European cuisine is the kind of comfort food that can warm you up from the inside out. Ribâˆ’sticking soups, stews, roasts and dumplings — always dumplings — are the culinary vocabulary of Bohemia. Koliba, the Astoria eatery named for a locality in Bratislava, Slovakia, situated on the foothills of the Little Carpathians, serves up some of the most authentic Czech and Slovak fare to be found.

Leave your PETA friends at home when you visit Koliba. The Bohemian huntingâˆ’lodge theme features knottyâˆ’pine wainscoting and beams decorated with assorted taxidermy including a pheasant, a deer head and a wild boar. There is even a skull near the bar which appears to be a rabbit with antlers. The look is completed with assorted animal skins, Bohemian artifacts and weaponry.

Dumplings are served with most of the entrees here, and worthy of special notice. The term “dumpling” seems to be applied to just about anything whose main ingredient is dough, and means wildly different things to different cultures, as in wontons, matzoh balls or gnocchi. At Koliba it means knedliky, the Czechâˆ’style dumpling made from massive slices cut from 18âˆ’inchâˆ’long loaves of cooked bread dough. By themselves these dumplings are pretty tasteless, but they are the perfect sponge for absorbing the sauces and gravies that abound on the menu.

Soup is the ideal antidote to a cold winter’s night, and Koliba makes some nearly perfect soups. Garlic being our favorite food group, we find the garlic soup with egg and cheese positively irresistible. It is a rather thin but intensely flavorful garlic broth enhanced with cheese and a raw egg yolk you stir into the broth, sort of like a distant cousin to Greek avoglemeno. It’s hard to tell whether it’s the flavor or the aroma that is more alluring, not that it matters.

The soup of the day on our visit was a very satisfying borscht. Don’t think red stuff made of beets: In many Eastern European cultures borscht is a generic word for a hearty soup. In this case it was a flavorful concoction of cabbage, potatoes and beans.

Czechs have always had a reputation for a way with duck, and Koliba upholds that reputation with aplomb. Their half roasted duckling was crisp and meaty and devoid of unnecessary fat, just as it should be. It comes complemented with excellent sweet and sour red cabbage.

The pork schnitzel, on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment. It was a generous amount of breaded, fried lean pork, but devoid of sauce or gravy we were hoping to dunk our dumplings in. Dull, dull, dull. In retrospect, a better choice would have been goulash or smoked pork with cabbage and sourâˆ’sweet lentils.

Our dessert, homemade strudel, would have been great if they hadn’t ruined it by making it soggy by warming it in the microwave. “Crapes” [sic] with jam would probably have been a better choice. Or just ask them not to warm your strudel.

The Bottom Line

Koliba serves authentic Bohemian fare that is soothing, not challenging. It has some outstanding Czech beers on tap, and a selection of nibbles to complement them if you are just in for a little pub grub. The portions are robust and the prices are so modest you won’t mind picking up the Czech.

Suzanne Parker is the TimesLedger’s restaurant critic and author of “Eating Like Queens: A Guide to Ethnic Dining in America’s Melting Pot, Queens, N.Y.” She can be reached by eâˆ’mail at qnsfoodie@aol.com.

Koliba

31âˆ’11 23rd Ave.

Astoria, NY 11105

718âˆ’626âˆ’0430

Cuisine: Authentic Czech and Slovak

Setting: Bohemian hunting lodge

Service: Friendly and efficient

Hours: Open Tuesdays—Sundays from 3 p.m. (noon on Sundays)

Reservations: Optional

Alcohol: Full bar

Parking: Street

Dress: Casual