Restaurant reviews in Warsaw and real life ?

My parents and my sister & her boyfriend were here in Warsaw a few days and we were eating out three nights (for me the max...I am no not used to that) and it yet again showed me how reviews in "Warsaw In Your Pocket" and "Warsaw Insider" do not always reflect always how everyday people (no expats) experience the city.

People do not need Sense or Tortilla Factory or whatever eggheaded place around Plac Teatralny. They want a place without pretentions where they feel good and at ease.

So here we went:
- Podwala Piwna Kompania. As always full house. Not enough seating place. But I think the food was quite OK and they loved it
- The Mexican - also on Podwale. For sure not up to standard for the Mexicanists among us. Even less for the expatists who adore WTF (God knows why, such a pretentious place). OK, not 100% Mexican food. But on a warm Friday evening a lovely place full of happy people

- Jazz Bistro in the Old Town. My personal favourite since many years. But my family's observation: The glass roof cannot be opened so not enough ventilation.

Because of this it was extremely noisy (piano plus people talking). All sounds "echo back".
First time I noticed this though.
But they liked the food. And so did we. They have never let us down in all these years.
General observation: All 3 places in the Old Town. I know all snobists look down on the place. But after finishing your meal, it has a charm to walk with your partner through the cobblestone streets...see Zamek Krolewski in the moonshine...Nice.

How would you know how "everyday people" rather than expats experience the city given than you are actually an expat yourself? As for your comments about the reviews from the Insider, what can you expect from a publication which can't even spell the word "Jalfrezi" correctly and which says that curries "are the right choice" in a particular Indian restaurant.

Interestingly it seems that "everyday people" really do not share your thoughts about The Mexican being "a lovely place full of happy people". gastronauci.pl/5252-the-mexican-warszawa shows that the food gets an average of 1.7 out of 5 and the quality/price gets 2.4 out of 5. And those marks would be even lower if it weren't somebody giving a review that awarded 3 fives for the four review categories! Comments from this year are "Give a wide berth to this place" "Not impressed" and "Strongly advise against".


Probably because: the service is good (staff perform or get fired fast); the food is reasonably priced and good quality; when you order "spicy", you get spicy; the cocktails are hugely dangerous; and, unlike every other 'Mexican' or 'Tex/Mex' place in Poland, there is no cabbage anywhere!


I can sit in either of those places wearing anything from a plain t-shirt to a suit and feel perfectly at ease. Perhaps your own insecurities are colouring your assessment of places in Warsaw?

I know this thread is about Warsaw, but when you tossed in "Poland" I have to disagree. In Gdynia and Gdansk there are two Pueblo restaurants, and while I've never eaten in the one in Gdynia-yet-the one in Gdansk is very good. It comes very close to Mexican food in Southern California, and there's no cabbage anywhere. I really like the place, and it's hardly an ex-pat hangout.

Cabbage with Mexican food is SO wrong.

Have to say I generally find In Your Pocket reviews reliable - I often travel in CEE and will make it my business to pick one up when I land. They are biased towards curries, Irish pubs etc but then so are their readers.

WTF - its not 5 star but I have eaten there probably 30 times and never had bad service or a bad meal.

Sense - normally I just drink there, but on the few occasions when I've eaten I thought it was good.

Speaking of Mexicans, anybody tried that new Frida place - walked past it a week or so ago and looks quite nice

I'll have to be the judge of that comparison, when I visit Warsaw in August. In Southern California, we seem to have a Mexican restaurant on nearly every city block. The hole in the wall, mom n pop establishments seem to have the most tasty food.

I still like The Mexican, even when it is Mexican food with cabbage. But on a warm Summer evening the one on Podwale is really nice. The location is really unbeatable. It has to be that I have the wrong type of friends because they all think Sense is very pretentious.

Anyway on the end everybody has to see for himself where he likes to eat and drink...

I am not an expatist by the way. I emigrated from Belgium to Poland with the intention to stay here.
As it goes with drinks in Summer I like nothing better than sitting outside "U Pana Michala", corner ul. Freta and Dluga, with a cold beer and my Edmund Burke, watching the tourists, and later cycling back home to Bielany. Most definitely not trendy but comfortable.

Or on a warm Saturday evening see the free Jazz concerts on the Rynek and later with a bunch of friends take a stroll down the city walls and go for a drink...

That is so true. I had Mexican 2 times in Wroclaw and it was good but not great.

It was missing the right cheese.

Never managed to find decent Mexican food in Wroclaw. The Mexican themed places are god awful, La Luz/Abrahms is hit or miss.

Best off leaving the Mexican food to your home kitchen.

I know what you mean about the mom n pop places, and I agree 100%. I lived in San Diego for 25 years. And I said "very close", not "as good as". That ain't gonna happen here. And I was speaking about only two restaurants in the troj-miasto, not Warsaw. Surprisingly, I haven't seen carnitas or taquitos on any menu here.