Warsaw – Zapiecek (Nowy Świat 64)

If I’m being honest, it’s much easier to find pizzas in Warsaw craft beer bars than it is traditional Polish cuisine. I’m not sure that this overly concerns me, but since Richard was coming over for a few days, he wanted an authentic experience that involved restaurants as well as bars. This restaurant is part of a small chain which does have quite a tourist fringe to it, but it also has excellent reviews and so seemed a sensible place to try.

The entrance area to the restaurant, which was relatively large, although not overly busy in the early evening. We were welcomed immediately on entry, with the server offered what seemed a personable greeting.

We were seated in an upstairs area and could see down onto the floor below, well, we could if it wasn’t for all of the Christmas decorations.

The upstairs area that we were seated in, but it did become busier during our meal.

The beer options were a little limited, but I went with the Książęce Złote Pszeniczne which was acceptable, but not exceptional.

The highlight of the evening was Richard ordering four shots of flavoured vodkas. When they arrived he had a Bullingdon Club moment and flung them across the restaurant and drenched the floor in alcohol and glass. In a statement issued by Richard he noted:

“This was not a deliberate act, the glasses were stuck into the wooden holder and were difficult to release”.

Individuals can make their own minds up. The restaurant did let him order replacement drinks, although I was surprised to see that they were served in glass and not in plastic beakers. I did privately think that Richard would be more suited to KFC than the fine dining than I’m used to, but I didn’t say anything.

I’m not a huge fanatic about a lot of Polish food and I’m not sure how authentic this actually is, but the sausages were delicious and I was very pleased with them. There was one white sausage and one traditional sausage, although it was possible to have two the same as well and it was served on Masurian region sauerkraut along with mustard and ketchup. Richard had pierogi, or dumplings, for both his main course and dessert, which seemed excessive to me, although I didn’t say anything.

The chocolate in cherry sauce was a bit less exciting as there was nearly no evidence of cherry, it was just lots of chocolate. Not as decadent as I had hoped, but overall I thought that the food was fine and represented decent value for money given the central location of the restaurant. The service was always polite and helpful, even when Richard had smashed up half of the restaurant’s glassware.

I accept that these restaurants are a little touristy, but that isn’t a bad thing here given the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff. There’s plenty of choice on the menu and the reviews on-line show that they’re pleasing the vast majority of customers. The atmosphere is homely and although I wouldn’t claim it’s the most authentic Polish experience, I’d still merrily recommend these locations. The staff were also very tolerant of Richard’s behaviour and I was pleased that they, like I, didn’t go on about his little errors.