Warsaw – Drugie Dno Ochota
This is the sister bar of the Drugie Dno in the city centre, to which I’ve been a few times and always thought was well-run. It’s located in Ochota which is a little out of the centre, but easily accessible via public transport.
The beer list, which wasn’t quite what they had on Ontap, but it was updated during my visit. That’s a nicely balanced selection of different beers, a decent range of styles.
For the moment, I want to focus on the staff member serving, who was knowledgeable, engaging, personable and downright helpful. He was pro-active in offering suggestions, samples and also explaining the options that were in the fridges. That engagement is exceptional at the best of times, but particularly so for a visitor to the country speaking the native language so badly. And a bit more focus on this staff member, he was a competent a server as I’ve seen, managing to be engaging and also prepare the food as well. His colleagues were also friendly, so there seemed a great team ethic going on. There is a large hotel around the corner (which I wasn’t staying in) and so the bar might be used to be getting guests from there, but nonetheless, the service was excellent.
The upstairs area of the bar, very nicely laid out and this is a handy set-up if they want to close some of the location off for a private location or the like. There are a choice of high and low seats in the bar, which I always appreciate, and there are also seats downstairs. I also liked that the staff member explained that seats were available upstairs and he came up with me to turn the lights on. I accept that’s a simple gesture, but it all contributed to me feeling very welcome.
Also upstairs, looking towards the window.
I went for two beers, both stouts, the Artezan Piwo z Jeżykiem which I’d had at their sister pub a few days ago, and also the Waszczukowe which I can’t find on Untappd (I’ll ask my friend Nathan later as he’s my Untappd expert and he’s getting better at reviewing beers as well, other than when he’s had a few too many and the descriptions get a bit erratic and focus on Monster Munch, but that’s not relevant here), but the bar is saying is an imperial coconut stout. It was a suitably decadent beer, although I was struggling to get much of the coconut bit, although there were other flavours that came to the fore. But, two nicely served beers, both of a very good quality.
I wasn’t going to order food, but I wanted to make sure for my peace of mind that the entire operation was efficient and well managed before I enthused too much about the place. I ordered the ‘Nduja pizza, which is always one of my favourite toppings when I see it. I’m a fan of cherry tomatoes on pizza, but I don’t get to see them very often, so this was a delight. The quality was high, the food service was impeccable and the taste was delicious. In terms of the food, the bar again didn’t disappoint, and indeed continued to surprise and delight.
This rather creepy looking photo was just me quite liking the attention to detail with the plumbing decoration in the toilets. All spotlessly clean again.
Anyway, this is a brilliant location which is on a par with the on-trend bars in London and the United States, with the customer service of my two ‘Pubs of the Year’, The Hop & Vine in Hull and Goose Island in London, which I’ve been pleased in stay in touch with this year. I paid just over £10 for the pizza and the two beers, which I thought was really good value for money when taking into account the quality.
I think I’ve visited around 25 bars in Warsaw and this one is stand-out and should absolutely be visited by anyone coming to the city who wants friendly service and decent craft beer. How very lovely indeed and I’d recommend anyone coming to Warsaw to come here first because it’s so delightful.
