The time has come for another celebrity chef to open his signature restaurant. Robert Sowa, a master chef from hotel Jan III Sobieski, author of many culinary books and a celebrity of sorts has decided to open his own place in an unusual spot. The space was taken up for a couple of decades by Karczma Slupska, which, for me at least, had a clear association the communist-times cuisine, vodka and fist fights. The location is a brave one, as the intersection of Czerniakowska and Gagarina streets is not your traditional or expected location for a restaurant of a top calibre. What is a nice surprise is an informal private parking, in front of the restaurant, which comes in handy especially during the lunch time. The restaurant looks decent from the outside, but without any fireworks. As you enter it, on the right-hand side one is welcomed by a small delicatessen with all kinds of goodies relating to the old and newer Polish cuisine. Going further in, the décor is rather basic, if not Scandinavian in its austerity.
The restaurant itself is rather large, and includes a large main room, two private dining rooms big enough to fit about twenty people, and even a small cigar room. The walls entice with a large selection of wines, selected by one of the better Warsaw sommeliers.
While I am not a big fan of Robert Sowa’s personality, I am a big fan of his cooking. Thus, I was really curious how well he will be able to transfer his talents onto my plate at his restaurant. One thing that is striking right off the bat is service; in my humble opinion, one of the better ones in Warsaw. The waiters are pleasant, knowledgeable and even have a sense of humor. As usual, I don’t write a review unless I have been to a restaurant at least a few times, and I must say that at “Sowa & Przyjaciele” I have been always pleasantly surprised with the quality of service. I was also not disappointed in the food department there. The soups are excellent, with the crustacean bisque with the marinated Alaska crab meat and the urchin vinaigrette being my definite favourite. The hot starters with such favorites as the beef tongue with the veal sweetbread (thymus gland) in a sweet onion sauce, or the veal cheeks on the celery puree with the Polish amber cheese, are simply awesome.
The meat is truly delicate and tender; it simply melts in your mouth. Now, a word of warning: the place is not cheap, and even the starters run around 50 zlotys a piece. But… they are well worth it.
For the main course, I went so far mainly with meat. My personal favorites come from the “Friends” sub-menu, i.e. the calf leg confit with truffle sauce on the peeled barley with the wild mushrooms; the leg of milk lamb served on the Polish gnocchi with Bursztyn cheese and glazed red beets; and from the regular menu, the classic with a twist – the duck breast sous-vide served on the cinnamon-apple puree with the Italian cabbage and ginger.
The wine selection is quite broad, yet moderately impressive. On the other hand, the cigar selection beats any restaurant in town J Overall, definite two thumbs up from me.
