Opasly Tom PiW, ul. Foksal 17, Warsaw, Poland - highly recommended

I keep coming back to Kregliccy's Opasły Tom PiW run by chef Agata Wojda.  Given her uncunny palate, and imagination, I keep being very positively surprised by her.  At this time, I believe that only Jacek Grochowina from the newly opened Nolita can match her impecable taste buds, leaving Amaro, Okrasa or Sowa behind. Her recent amazing ideas such as the cream of selery with white chocolate and the Bursztyn cheese, or the lentil soup on smoked ribs with pepper sausage, or the cod with roasted vegetables and the bacalhau just continue to blow me away.  I highly recommend it.
October 24, 2011:
I have heard a lot about this new place.  Mostly about the chef Agata Wojda, who has worked before at another Kregliccy restaurant - Absinth (which no longer exists, and specialized in the French cuisine).  It is a cosy place with a huge tradition dating back to 1960s (Ksiegarnia Literacka), but mostly as a bookstore / cafe.  It still looks a bit like it with a small bookstore in the front with a few tables.  In a back, there is a bunch of smaller tables with a view of an open kitchen.  It definitely is a low-profile, business casual place (but with white table linen).  I have ordered pumpkin cream soup with sliced oscypek cheese and dill, and a duck leg confit served on a bed of the black currant sauce with baked potato tart topped with sheep cheese.  Without a doubt, this was one of the best pumpkin cream soups I have ever eaten.  No lumps, perfect cream, mild pumpkin taste, with a perfect addition of the cheese, floating on top.  The duck confit was served on a black currant sauce with 4 wild berries, a thin slice of potato had a melted slice of cheese on top of it, with a a few leaves of spinach and other greens.  The duck was perfect; very tender, going very well with the black currant sauce.  I am not a huge fan of potatoes, but a combination served was really good.  At this point, (as you can tell) I was really impressed and happy.  So, I decided to order a dessert: a pear in chocolate cake with pear sorbet on a side.  It was simply awesome.  I did not have wine as I was there for lunch, but the selection looked promising, yet somewhat limited.  Service was professional and swift (which is such a rarity nowadays).  I will definitely be back there.

Why Thai, ul. Wiejska 13, Warsaw, Poland

A never ending argument about the authenticity of this or that restaurant virtually never ends.  Never more so than about the Thai restaurants in Warsaw.  Is it Sunanta, which I found always lacking in both taste and authenticity? Is it Suparom near MDM (the oldest and the most traditional one)?  Was the Lemongrass truly Thai? Etc. etc.  My best experience to date actually was at the Little Thai Gallery on pl. Dabrowskiego, right next to the Italian embassy; a small hole-in-a-wall place serving truly awesome and simple Thai dishes.  Thus, when a friend of mine suggested we go to Why Thai, which has just opened I was a bit doubtful, and curious at the same time to see what this place is like.  The first impression is very good.  The restaurant is roomy and bright, and the color scheme emphasizes the overall positive effect.  It is an open kitchen restaurant, but the kitchen is located in the back, so the smells of cooked food don’t invade the main room.  Yet, it is really cool to watch the actual Thais cook their food for you.

What is interesting about this place is that it serves cuisine, which I would call Thai light.  Relatively small portions, light on the heavy sauces and carbs (even the rice is optional).  I have been there a few times since my first visit, so I have had an opportunity to taste a variety of the dishes served there.  The tom yum soup rocks in whatever combination you like to have it, but my all-time favorites (which are also a good test for the taste and authenticity of Thai dishes) are the fresh spring rolls. At Sunanta, they are truly disappointing.  At Why Thai, they are the way they are supposed to be.

When at the Thai place, one, of course, must have Pad Thai.  My favourite there is the “all in” option, which explodes with the variety of tastes and truly stimulates one’s almost all olfactory senses.

The duck with the pineapple in red curry sauce (specialty of Chef Jiraphon) was a bit dry for my taste, but the chicken dishes are exemplary, with the beef dishes a bit too tough for me.  The curries are proper, and the garlic shrimp really awesome.  I am not a big dessert fan, but I must say, the fried ice cream had a really interesting texture and the daily selection of sorbets with a touch of lemon grass was great.  However, the sticky rice with mango reminded me too much of the blobby rice they were trying to stuff my throat during my kindergarten years.

Overall, a good place to try, with some really nice Thai food.

http://www.whythai.pl/

Best espresso in Warsaw, Evergreen boutique, ul. Tamka 49 (Ordynacka), Warsaw, Poland

A friend, whose culinary taste I truly respect, tried to convince me to go together to Starbucks. “Why? Is their coffee so great.”  “They serve a really outstanding cheesecake.” And I think this is the best thing that can be said about Starbucks and its coffee.  I am not a big coffee drinker, but I loooove a good espresso.  In Warsaw, even at San Lorenzo, they don’t know how to make a decent espresso.  At Java Coffee at PWC building they occasionally have a truly outstanding blend, but they lack in execution, the final stage of making the perfect espresso.  Thus, imagine my surprise, when the other day I stopped by my favourite interior designed boutique (Evergreen, near the Chopin museum), and discovered they serve a “7gr” coffee.  I have never heard of “7gr” brand, but in Italy there are 800+ firms roasting coffee beans.  I thought I give it a try.  An unusual place to serve coffee, but maybe this special environment will produce something interesting.  I must say that I was blown away.  First, of all the smell of the grounded coffee was outstanding.  It looked and smelled like  a truly outstanding blend.  Second of all, the barista actually cared and KNEW what he was doing.  To the most, preparing an espresso is a mechanical process, largely dependent on the machinery involved.  Here, the care taken to prepare a cup of espresso was admirable.  And, the espresso itself: rich, flavourful, a perfect uniform crema without a single bubble that stays like that to the last sip.  Awesome!  Truly awesome!  Who would have thought that I would find a perfect espresso away from the fancy restaurants and cafes.

My quest for a perfect espresso in Warsaw is officially over J

China Garden, ul. Kazachska 1, Warszawa, Poland

A friend of mine claims there is no such thing as a purely Chinese restaurant in Warsaw, i.e. one that would not be influenced by the cuisine of the significant Vietnamese minority living in Warsaw.  The latest count on the Chinese / Oriental / Chinese-Vietnamese restaurants and bistros in Warsaw stands at around 250.  Out of those, I was aware of only one that was run by the Chinese, and actually serving the Chinese food of both the Chinese and American-Chinese variety, but without the Vietnamese touch to it: the Bliss Garden.  However, quite a few people have recommended to me the China Garden in Miateczko Wilanów, which specializes in the cuisine of the Yangzhou region of China (Yangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing).  It has a characteristic, yet unassuming entrance (not revealing the surprisingly roomy interior).  The host and the waiters are not the students trying to make some extra cash, but actually professional waiters, who know what they are talking about and can recommend a bit more than pho soup or the sweet and sour chicken.  The appetizers are of the cold variety (here, the seaweed in garlic sauce, the marinated duck tongues, and the dried soya cheese take the prime spot), hot variety (this time baked duck tongues and the garlic squid are recommended), and, by far, my favourite - the soups (the wonton soup with the shrimp-stuffed dumplings rocks as does a simple seafood soup).

The choice of main courses can spoil the most picky diner; for those ready for a truly new experience the restaurant even offers the bull’s penis and the bull’s testicles with sprouts (hopefully not harvested at the same time…).  Putting aside the bovine genitalia, the beef on a hot plate, and the spicy beef with wonton dough take the prize. 

In the pork section, I find their selection of ribs and the kidneys in the dark sauce particularly enticing.  The last time I was there the waiter has recommended the seafood of the day – the abalone sea snail, served in broth with hot peppers, which was simply delicious.

As far as the poultry goes, I never got beyond their different versions of duck, which I simply find delicious (and I still am not ready to explore whatever stands behind the “goose jaws”…).  The selection of vegetarian dishes is decent with the crunchy tofu and celery with cashews topping my list.  Good stuff overall.  Now, I am truly torn now between the Bliss Garden and this place for Palm d’Or  of the Chinese restaurants in Warsaw J

http://www.chinagarden.pl/

Sowa et Przyjaciele, ul.Gagarina 2, Warsaw, Poland

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.

Zurawina, ul. Zurawia 32/34 (corner of Marszalkowska), Warszawa, Poland

One of the reasons I love living in Warsaw is the expectation that things will get better, and they actually do.  On the dead stretch of Zurawia street, a new place has appeared that invites inside with the big window panes, and a bright, clean, if a rather austere interior.

The service was brisk, as there were not too many people inside.  This time around, we decided not to order from the selection of today’s specials but from the menu. For starters, we went with the pumpkin risotto, and a vegetable tomato soup with croutons and parmesan.  Both were very good.  Buying a soup at any restaurant is always a rather risky proposition for me, as I have a sensitive stomach that detects any “enhancements” that the chef may add to it.  This one was very tasty (and safe), with a touch of parmesan making a difference.  The risotto was done perfectly well (it’s nice to see the chefs have learned to make a proper risotto; I am still waiting for a universal approval of the al dente pasta…).

My companion has stated that to test a new place one always has to order a steak, as it is a simple dish, but the one truly testing the quality of ingredients and skills of the chef.  The steak was rare.  The meat was perfectly prepared and perfectly tasty.  So was my leg of lamb with the parsley puree and vegetable ratatouille.

Overall, a great experience for lunch, but... then I went to dinner couple of times, and:
- the pasta was basically glued together;
- the fish swam in the water on the plate.
And I really wanted to recommend this place...  I guess I can recommend it for lunch, but the dinner time offer seems rather uneven
https://www.facebook.com/zurawino

L’Arc, ul. Pulawska 16, Warsaw, Poland

Since Michel Moran closed his bistro on Grzybowska, and retreated  to his restaurant in the opera building, I have been looking for a nice, good, and not too fancy French bistro.  A decent French treat; simple, yet very good; the one that you find on every other corner in Paris.  I was hoping that L’Arc will be like that.  Well, it is not.

It certainly looks like a French bistro.  It feels like a French bistro.  But the food that is served there did not taste like French food to me.  I mean there is an attempt to make the menu look French with the oysters, snails, foie gras, etc. However, it does not taste like anything I have eaten in France.  I certainly am not an expert on the various kinds or regional aspects of the French food, but what I ate at L’Arc did not resemble anything I have tasted to date.  For instance, the leek cream with the Cantal cheese was good, but it was just a regular leek soup that could use some seasoning actually. 

The same goes for the veal sweetbread.  It was OK, with the chanterelles nicely complementing it.  But, again, the overall effect was rather flat.

The pasta was too soft / overcooked, and the sauces that went with the meats uncharacteristic of any sauces I have tried in France (and the sauces are one of the essences of the French cuisine).

Thus, it is with a great disappointment that I cannot recommend this place…

http://www.larc.pl/