Warsaw – Hoppiness
Another pub on my little craft beer tour of Warsaw, this is a centrally located bar which is well reviewed and a little understated, which I like. It wasn’t particularly busy when I arrived, although a Friday afternoon isn’t perhaps really ever going to be a time when venues are packed out. Other than some Wetherspoons, which seem permanently busy and sometimes I’m never sure where all their customers come from.
The beer menu was clear, with a well balanced choice of options, all nicely curated. The staff member was friendly and engaging, as well as speaking perfect English.
The first beer I went for the pastry stout, a beer which had a suitably sweet taste, although no real depth to it. The flavour was though pleasant and the ABV is only 2.5%, so the lack of richness wasn’t surprising. Perfectly acceptable though. As a positive, the bar has placed its beer list on-line, so customers can see what’s available before they come in and they can also see when it was made available.
I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between an imperial stout and a baltic porter and my main source of information isn’t to hand, but I suspect that they’re similar. However, I decided that I didn’t really need a 8.5% ABV beer in the afternoon, so I switched to the lemon tart sour ale from the Pracownia Brewery in Krakow. This was beautiful, a rich and smooth taste of lemon which ran through the beer, with the beer not tasting too sour. Very drinkable and it didn’t feel like it had a 6.2% ABV, very lovely.
I then thought that I’d better get food, so I went for the Texan burger which had cheese, bacon and onion rings in it. Pleasingly presented, I liked that I was asked how I wanted the burger cooked, since the best way is always medium in my view. I was also offered a choice of bun, with the food being brought out promptly. The burger itself was way above average, indeed one of the best I’ve had. It might not have been the largest burger patty that I’ve had, but it was tender, full of flavour and cooked just perfectly. The bacon had no uncooked fat on it, so I didn’t have to meticulously pick that off, with the cheese adding that extra bit of taste. The onion rings were fine, albeit generic, and the tomato was unexciting, that mushy type which seems to be almost commonplace now. However, those two minor elements apart, this was an accomplished plate of food (well, tray of food) and everything was hot.
Overall, I liked this bar very much, so it’s my first entrant into the 2020 Pub of the Year award (that I compile to amuse only really myself). The service was friendly, the food was decent and the beer selection was interesting and appealing. The cost was around £11, for two large beers and the burger & chips, which isn’t unreasonable given that I was in the centre of a capital city. I try not to revisit the same place, given how many restaurants and bars there are to choose from, but I may well come back here, especially if there are some tempting beers….
