Sense - Warsaw, Poland

I know, I know. The surest sign that Asian fusion has jumped the shark may be that it has reached Warsaw. I am a firm believer in eating the local cuisine when traveling- when in Rome and all that. But we had had our fill of pierogies and were looking for something more. So we headed to Warsaw's version of Rodeo Drive, Nowy Swiat, and went to the trendiest place we could find. It's in all the guidebooks and websites, it's no "find", but we weren't feeling very adventurous. The bizarre menu of Asian and Mediterranean isn't really fusion, more a random mix of entries. But somehow, amazingly, it worked.

Vodka Ginger Wasabi (vodka, ginger beer, lemon juice, wasabi)
Spinach, fig, parma ham, blue cheese salad
Black bean, potato, green chicken curry
Grilled chicken and pork satays
Tom Kha Kai soup
Asparagus salad with feta, orange and pesto
Pumpkin, litchi & sweet potato vegetarian yellow curry

Everything was consistently good. The Tom Kha Kai soup was really near-perfect, although not authentic (it's Thai soup in Poland, after all), and the curries were surprisingly ambitious. I guess the lesson here, kids, is not to judge a book by its cover. Or, man cannot live by pierogies alone. Or, don't go to Warsaw for the food. Or...

Rating: 6.5 / 10.0
Cost: $$

Sense
Nowy Swiat 19
Warsaw
(+48 22) 826 6570

Folk Gospoda - Warsaw, Poland

The words hearty fare are usually framed as a selling point. Who wouldn't want hearty fare? It's hearty. It's fare. Of course, like tagging along with your wife on one of her business trips to Warsaw, it sounds better in theory...

I'm not a dainty man. I throw things at the tv when my alma mater is losing a football game. Yet I have come to the conclusion that I do not like hearty fare. In fact, on the stereotypical male/female continuum, my love of food more closely mirrors my propensity to cry at the end of a manipulative movie than my encyclopedic knowledge of James Bond...

Which brings me to my experience with Polish hearty fare. If Folk Gospoda was in Peoria, Illinois, I probably wouldn't bother to blog about it. But it was in Warsaw and it was the only real restaurant within a walk of the newly built (and first-rate) Hilton. So file this under cautionary tale...

Oscypek Highlands style
Beef Tenderloin rolled in bacon
Russian pierogi (cottage cheese and potatoes)

The butter was mixed with cracklins. The tenderloin was dripping with a heavy brown sauce-type substance. The pierogis (I'd find much better later in the trip) reminded me that I haven't had a cholesterol test in awhile. Combined with probably the worst service I've personally witnessed, this place wasn't very memorable. Sure, there was an Eric Clapton cover band. And the Oscypek (a local cheese) with cranberry and horseradish was a nice sweet/savory combo. But next time I'm in Warsaw (there won't be a next time), I'm taking a cab from the Hilton...

Rating: 4.0 / 10.0
Cost: $

Folk Gospoda
13 Walicow Street
Warsaw, Poland
(+48 22) 890 16 05