Monday

On our first evening in Poland we headed over to The Taps, a craft beer bar. Eric had #15, Funky Fluid Funky Fruit, with nectarine & yellow kiwi, and then a passionfruit and pineapple sour from Ziemia Obiecana (one of our favorites of the trip). Bartenders were chatty and convinced Leandra to get an IPA. The weather was cool but sunny so we sat outside.

For dinner we went to The Alchemist (Grzybowska), known for their cocktails. We split their cocktail for two, a rum punch that was very nice and had great presentation!

For food Leandra couldn’t resist the beef tartare, while I went for the Teriyaki chicken with purple cabbage slaw. Both were quite tasty, and the service was quite good too.

Tuesday

After visiting the university library garden we made a quick stop for pastries at Galeria Wypieków Lubaszka- rugelach for me (nut and raisin) and a spinach pastry for Leandra.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at Piwpaw beer, where all of their 70 draft beers were 10 zloty on happy hour from 4-6pm! Can’t beat that pricing, so we each tried two beers: I went for the Moczybroda Light Sour Delicious (Guava passion fruit imperial sour ale), then Lubrow Brewery Darker Thoughts (cherry dark sour ale). While Leandra started with the Inne Beczki Brewery Cookie Monster (a chocolate oatmeal stout), and then the Pivovar Náchod Brewery Primator Double Porter (very sweet). Their interior is quite colorful, and they were starting to get busy after 6p.

By now we were hungry and wanting traditional Polish food, so we got an outdoor table at GOŚCINIEC Polskie Pierogi. My potato pancakes and pork goulash was really tasty, and Leandra’s spicy paprika pierogi hit the spot too. We split a very reasonable sangria as well.

 

After dinner we noticed Pijana Wisnia – they specialize in sour cherry wine, and it is amazing!
We opted for the warmed variety, and also got two spoonfuls of sour cherries at bottom (with pits!). We were lucky to find a booth seat in the back right across from the red bottle light display.

Czupito Shot Bar serves 6 zloty shots and was two doors down from our apartment, so we had to try it. We ordered a Rob Roy (kinda like NyQuil, licorice) and a Manhattan… definitely not our favorite, thankfully they were small!

 

Wednesday

Before our trip to Łódź I ran over to Galeria Wypieków Lubaszka for pastries including a heavenly poppy seed sugar roll.

Tired after a full day, we arrived rather late back into Warsaw in need of dinner. La Cantina was near our apartment and open later, so we gave it a try. I was drawn to the lahmacun (more tomato and onion then usual, but good) that paired nicely with a Sauvignon Blanc, while Leandra ordered the Italian tartar and a glass of Sangiovese.

Thursday

Our morning was more leisurely, so we decided on a full breakfast at Bułkę przez Bibułkę. I got the scrambled eggs with ham, brown bread, and a salad with sunflower and pumpkin seeds, plus a mint lemonade. Leandra went fancier with a raspberry-filled croissant and a glass of prosecco. This place was bustling, and all the bread was excellent.

With some time to kill before our train I convinced Leandra to stop at Chocolate Cafe E.Wedel. We grabbed a table in the back and each ordered a hot chocolate – milk chocolate with coconut for me, and a semi-sweet chocolate with raspberry for Leandra. Both were excellent, the consistency of a light pudding, and not overly sweet. The cafe itself was also quite nice with tall ceilings and attentive staff.

Tues (again):

We started our final night back at Piwpaw beer for happy hour – inflation was in effect, as it was now 12 zl for happy hour! Still worth it. This time I tried the Moczybroda Jungle Fruits Nectarine & Peach (not too sour, but lovely fruit) and the Browar NOOKYum! Sour Pina Colada (like a beer cocktail, with apricot, pineapple, coconut). Leandra started with the Browar TankBusters.Co Pastry Killer Vol.3 (some hops) and then the Browar Palatum Captain Oat English Porter.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get in to our preferred restaurants without a reservation, so we eventually ended up at a Georgian restaurant, Chmeli Suneli. We started with khinkali, Georgian soup dumplings with a large doughy top – we tried the beef (our favorite), cheese, and mutton.

Next we tried the a kachapuri, similar to a folded pizza, with bacon and cheese. We each tried a Georgian wine, Rkateskeli for me and a Saperavi red for Leandra.