By Irene Merenda

Hangar One Bistro Eatery & Bar

Northeast Regional Airport
4900 US-1 North
St Augustine32095

A recent Friday night included dinner with friends at Hangar One Bistro Eatery & Bar. Open Table reservations were unavailable, but it was easy to get a 6:30 reservation by calling the restaurant which has ample free parking.

We were seated promptly upon arrival. Our table overlooked the blue lights on the airport runways, and it was quite lovely to see at night. Our water glasses were filled immediately, which we appreciated, but we did not appreciate the taste of the water, which was overly chlorinated. Instead, we ordered a bottle of Pellegrino. ($7) Our waiter, Pawal, was friendly, professional, and spoke with a delightful accent, which we learned was Polish. He told us that the owner of the restaurant is from Poland, which became evident by the inclusion of several Polish menu items. He described a few specials and took our drink order. The restaurant has an extensive list of wines by the bottle and by the glass. (average price $12/glass). Quite a few draft beers were available. ($7)

We began by ordering an appetizer of pierogis to share. ($18) For those unacquainted, I can best describe them as Polish “raviolis” filled with potato and cheese, and sauteed in butter and onions. There were 6 very large pierogis, which could easily have been my meal if I didn’t have to share them. They were scrumptious!

Frank ordered Potato Pancake & Beef Stew, another Polish menu item. ($33) The potato pancake tasted like a thick “latke” for those who know what a latke is. The beef was tender and enveloped in a thick mushroom and sour cream gravy. It was a bit overly salty for our taste, but was very good, nevertheless.

Our friend, Nina, ordered Grilled Hangar Steak. ($36) It was cooked medium rare, as she requested, but was very tough and difficult to chew. It was served with mashed sweet potatoes and bacon-wrapped asparagus, both of which were excellent.

I had the Stuffed Cabbage (Golabki). ($27) They were good, but not great. I prefer light tomato sauce over cabbage rolls, and these came with a heavy, rather thick, tomato-cream sauce which overpowered the other flavors.

We all agreed that Roger made the best menu choice. He had the Pasta Frutti DiMare. ($36). A generous amount of seafood (scallops, shrimp and calamari) was tossed with pappardelle pasta and covered with a parmesan cream sauce with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. This dish was fabulous.

None of us was hungry, but we decided to order apple pie a la mode. ($12) It was a large-enough-to- share slice of delicious pie and the vanilla ice cream was topped with a dried apple slice.

We were served a complimentary drink of limoncello following our meal, which was a lovely touch.

We are happy that we tried Hangar One Bistro Eatery & Bar. Much of the experience was very good, with a few exceptions. We will go back and award it 4 Spoonbills.

The restaurant is open for dinner Tuesday-Friday, 5:00-9:00pm, Saturday 4:00-9:00pm and Sunday 4:00-8:00pm. A sign on the door indicated that they are also open for Sunday brunch, but did not specify the hours.