The golonka ($16.90) at Polonia (1900 Blalock, 713-464-9900) is a tribute to just how much you can fit on a regular-size plate. A huge pork knuckle — bone, skin and all — is braised for most of the day in a mixture of beer, paprika, onion, carrots and spices, making the meat fall-off-the-bone tender. It’s served with its sauce, along with hot horseradish and a generous portion of Polish sauerkraut laced with caraway seeds, a version decidedly sweeter than its German cousin.
This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2007.