Great food!
Great service!
Quite loud and you have to shout to hear each other
Wholesome & Naughty
Very tasty spread with lots of variety - its supposedly Polish influence in the fare but lots of Mediterranean influences too. I enjoyed a herring based tasting plate with sourdough bread, lots of veggies with herb & spice flavourings. You can do share plates, small eats, mains, there's soups and hearty meat dishes for the carnivores.
If you like cocktails & vodka there is more than you can shake a stick at!
Highly recommended, what I indulged in including the coffee was lip smackin' good. (and very busy!!!)
It was a lovely experience ☺️☺️
A fantastic place with great atmosphere! Being a Saturday night it was a bit loud but I had no issues with it. I had barramundi with vegetables and my partner had lamb shanks (which he’s had many times before). Both absolutely delicious and would go back to have it again or try something else! The drinks list is very expansive with the largest cocktails list I’ve ever seen! I had a really enjoyable night :)
Overal rating of 8/10
After the Tears is a restaurant that will appeal to everyone’s tastes. There are both vegan and vegetarian options available.
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When I got a text from Timinmelbourne suggesting dinner at Borsch, Vodka and Tears in South Yarra, immediately this place (its sister counterpart) came to mind and I brought it to his attention.
Having been to both venues on separate occasions, i.e., late night supper at the former and pre-dinner drinks at the latter, I found them equally charming.
It is a larger venue and dinner menu here compared to its South Yarra outlet, but one thing for sure is the impressive array of vodka at both locations.
Our ever knowledgeable and gracious hostess for the night helped pick our individual Vodka Tasting Plates. My partner’s Zubrowka (Juniper, Maple Leaf, Clear Grain) and my Jago (Mandarin, Plum, Raspberry) were two brilliant compilations of varying nature.
The Hunter’s Platter was a sausage lover’s heaven on a plate. By this stage, I was so hungry I zoned out at the briefing about which sausage was what, so apart from the obvious blood sausage, I failed to identify the rest as I ate. What I can confidently say is, they all tasted great.
The Sticky Bbq Beef Ribs were true to what its name suggests; smokey and sweet. Braised then finished on the grill, the tenderness of the Barbecued Pork Belly came as no surprise.
While I remember enjoying the Beef And Chicken Pierogi at the other venue, I didn’t get that same feeling this time. They were a little dry and tight on the filling here.
Our order of Potato Blintzes With Smoked Salmon was forgotten but quickly rectified by the staff upon informing them. Devoid of any wow factor, this is one dish we’d rather skip next time.
The sauerkraut salad may have made repeated appearances across several dishes, but it was the Russian Salad that stole the thunder. Spuds, apple and all, it was fantastic and the Stuffed Cabbage Leaf With Veal didn’t disappoint either.
All that food evidently left us with no room for desserts and we settled for coffees instead. After that mega feast, I reckon all four of us walked out at least 2kg heavier that night!
After the Tears, sister to Borsch Vodka and Tears is a bigger but similarly eclectic version that was a genius idea of a cold Saturday night – we need cocktails!!. And some food! Can’t go past the Polish dumplings, we had the roasted duck with apple sour cherry and jus very nice, maybe a little bit pricey at nearly $5 a pop but delicious!
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OMGosh this is THE place for vodka with approx 230 different varieties. I really like European food so thanks to Jojo Armani and her partner for recommending this restaurant.
As a Polish restaurant the decor and the food appeared to be quite authentic. And the food was great, although quite rich for me. I was fine until I stood up and realised how much I’d eaten till I stood up! I ate too much unfortunately which is why this review is so long.
The service from the lovely waitress was excellent, she definitely knew her vodkas and she kept us entertained during the night.
Here are some of the dishes that we had. Stuffed cabbage leaves w veal, which were big and meaty. Definitely a mouthful but tasty.
The BBQ pork belly was amazing, really soft, juicy and cooked so well... Yummo!
The potato pancakes w salmon, dill and sour cream were good but a little dry and heavy for me.
The polish dumplings were really good, but a little dry to me and a little light on the filling which was beef and chicken, bacon and sherry.
For mains we got sticky BBQ beef ribs and these were soo tasty... the meat was tender, the sauce delicious, just what I’d hoped for.
We had a Russian salad w potato, peas, parsnips apple, picked cucumbers. This was really good too.
And finally, we got the Hunters Platter which had pork sausage, a frankfurt, a grilling sausage, a veal sausage, black pudding, sauerkraut, mustard etc etc hahaha ... it was BIG!!
I couldn’t get enough of the sourdough bread, it was soft, with an amazingly crunchy crust and served w real butter!! OMGosh Yummo!!
Jojo Armani
I am always looking for a quality food experience, so when I stumbled across After the Tears, in Elsternwick I had to give it a try. Set in an old theatre with decor imported from Poland and an authentic menu with plenty of choice and if you like your vodka or cocktails this place is the Nirvana. I had the Bigos and it was well named. A mishmash of Sauerkraut ragout, slow braised pork shoulder, sausage, kaiserfleich, smoked hock, cabbage, porcini, juniper and sourdough. It was amazing and with Czech beer, perfect for a cool Melbourne afternoon. Of course I just had to finish it with a desert and for today it was Nelesniki Cottage cheese crêpes, with brandy infused sultanas and a sour cherry konfitura. I'll be back.
I love this place. I love the cool decor I love the ambiance & I love their easy menu it appeals to many. the arrincini balls, saganaki, herring & piroshkis are really tasty! I must say the deserts are fantastic the crepes & the choc cake moist & delicious!!! The cocktails are magnificent but they are known for their magnificent extended Vodka menu. I love returning to this place, it makes me happy!
An amazing Polish restaurant with friendly staff. They have specialised in contemporary Polish, German and Russian cuisine, an unholy number of exquisite cocktails and possibly the largest selection of vodka you have ever seen outside of Eastern Europe.
A bit pricy but it worth it.
Delicious food and the biggest list of vodkas/ vodka cocktails I’ve ever seen. The ambience was quite unique with the dimmed lights and with the staff & crockery it felt like a throwback to Krakow :)
Wonderful option of food and drinks. Before 6 & after 9:30pm is happy hour fun times. Tho there is still room for improvement with the service, the entire experience was still good.
The cheese and potato Pierogi are actually AMAZING. Nice range of cocktails, awesome variety of vodka. Staff were a bit aloof but got the job done. Overall a great experience
Can not recommend enough. Go straight for the platters for a bit of everything.
Have been a dozen times for family events and casual gatherings, or before catching a movie at the classic cinema next door. Never disappointed..except when I didn’t realise they opened until after 1pm on Sunday - but good news they have extended their hours so can now get a table at 11am :D
Extremely friendly staff that remember you, I got a complimentary cake slice and of course a fine caramel vodka shot on the house. They can get rather busy during peak times. Oh, and enjoy the winter delight of mulled wine.
The food were delicious and they have good customer service. There's 22
-page menu to choose from including drinks.
Mulled wine was super amazing.. First time eating polish food and it was definitely an amazing experience overall. Food was delicious with a twist of alcohol in them.
Worth trying.
Came here after work for a quick feed. Ordered the veal schnitzel, vodka honey prawns and the cheese and potato dumplings. The dumplings by far were the stand out of the bunch. They seemed slightly expensive though.
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