Warsaw – Hopito Parkingowa
This is one of two Hopito outlets in Warsaw and this is their newer venue, which I usually always visit when I come to the city. The service is always personable and efficient, it’s a comfortable and on-trend atmosphere as well. The venue’s craft beer list is available at https://hopito.ontap.pl/. There are usually twenty-one taps available with a well curated range of beers, including sours, porters and some rarer beer styles. The team members are knowledgeable, keen to engage and willing to offer samples. I’m not entirely sure why it’s named as Parkingowa, but that’s the name they use on Untappd and so that’s what we’re using here, although I’m sure there are better things to name it than after car parking. It’s located on ul. Żurawia and it’s won numerous awards over the last couple of years.
I haven’t had a flight here before, but there were a number of tempting options (including from my favourite brewery, Funky Fluid) and so I couldn’t choose just one. The flight was branded with the Hopito logo, as were the individual glasses.
The beers, from left to right, are:
Gelato : Royal Orange from Funky Fluid and I wish that all orange juice tasted like this. It was a smooth beer with a suitable level of sourness, with flavours of mango and peach in addition to the orange.
Crisis Identity from Browar Monsters, like a sweet, malty chocolate delight, with a rather decent lingering flavour.
Born in the USA from Funky Fluid, clean, light and tropical. A credible beer, although I think that Funky Fluid’s strengths lie elsewhere.
Mochi Green – Kiwi, Banana & Mochi from Magic Road. A rather lovely pastry sour, with the kiwi and banana being evident and it’s a nice and smooth beer.
The Last Call from Harpagan, an oaty and roasty beer.
This was an interesting selection of beers, it’s always a delight to see what they have here.
This is the n’duja pizza and it’s the first time I can recall having burrata on a pizza and it was quite marvellous. The heat from the n’duja was in contrast to the creaminess of the burrata, with the base having a richness of flavour and suitable leopard spotting. The pizza is the equivalent of less than £10 and for the quality, I thought that was a bargain, even though it’s one of their most expensive options. Decadent and delicious, I might come back and have this pizza option again at some point later in the year. It would be hard to eat this without a knife and fork, it’s something of a creamy and saucy delight.
There’s quite an artistic feel to the interior and although it was quiet when I visited in the late afternoon, it gets busy in the evenings and on weekends. The toilets are a little challenging to get in given the arrangement of their beer barrels, but where there’s a will then there’s a way. The atmosphere is informal and relaxed, with customers needing to order their food and drink at the bar. The venue’s pizza oven is visible behind the bar to add to the authenticity of the whole arrangement.
The venue is centrally located and under 100 metres from one of my favourite hotels, the Novotel, although that’s been a little pricier than other options recently so I have stayed there for a couple of years. I will definitely be coming here again, it’s in my opinion one of the best craft beer bars in Warsaw with an excellent selection of craft beer and some delightful pizza.
