Warsaw – Jabeerwocky Craft Beer Pub

I was looking forwards to visiting this bar, as it’s one of the best rated locations in Warsaw and it has a formidable reputation for its beer and offering. It’s a relatively large venue, with a large main room at the front and another at the rear, although I read from reviews that it can get very busy in the evenings.

My first impressions were positive, the beer selection was well thought through and there were a variety of different styles available. I went for the Oatmeal Stout, which is made in-house by Jabeerwocky, which was served at the appropriate temperature and had a suitable depth of flavour. There were some notes of caramel and it was a smooth beer, with some richness to it.

The service at the bar was warm and friendly, with the staff member being knowledgeable about the beer options. The atmosphere in the venue was also relaxed and comfortable, it seemed a well managed premises.

I fear that my problem here was visiting too soon after the pub had opened, as they didn’t feel entirely ready. I asked about food, as they serve some apparently excellent pizzas, but was told that the kitchen wasn’t opening for around fifteen minutes. I was in no rush, so tried to pay in advance, but they weren’t entirely confident when the kitchen would be ready so didn’t want to take the order. That’s all fine, but I returned to the table to wait to discover when the food would be served, either being told verbally or by being given a menu. Neither of those happened, so assuming that food wasn’t being served, I started to explore other food options on-line (hence the review of Hoppiness where I hadn’t intended to eat).

When I went to pay for my one drink, the staff member did ask if I wanted to order pizza now, which seemed a little late in the proceedings. At that point some other pizzas came out from the kitchen, so they had probably been ready to serve food for some time. Not that the lack of food really mattered, as this is primarily a location known for its excellent beer, but the lack of communication did mean that I considerably shortened my visit.

I did see this review:

“Really this place is less that I expected. Beer have not natural taste. We take 7 different beers, and only one was good. So I couldn’t recommend this place.”

It’s one of the most ridiculous reviews that I’ve seen, I can’t see how anyone can go through that many beers and decide that the beers didn’t have a natural taste given the experience of the owners. This venue, which has a classy name I think, is clearly doing a great deal for craft beer and they also now have an outlet in Poznan. I don’t think that it was open when I last visited Poznan, but I’ll try their outlet there when I next go back.

The bar also has a marvellous way of showing what beers they have available, which is by having a camera pointed at their beer list behind the bar, which is updated throughout the day. An innovative way of presenting the information and ideal for those planning what to have before they arrive. I did like this bar, but slightly regret not arriving around fifteen minutes later, as I suspect that I’d have stayed for a couple of beers and pizza. But, nonetheless, a rather lovely place to try craft beers.