RESTAURACJA U KUCHARZY

"Tonight, we'll just eat in the kitchen!" 

I wanted to write about this restaurant in Warsaw for a while now, but never had the time to do it. But before that, I want to share with you a secret: When I travel I like to do two things: eat and eat more! I turn into a gourmande and nothing gives me more pleasure than a delicious cooked meal. Yes, not even a shopping spree! 

So before my trip to Warsaw I did my research and found this cool place with an open kitchen. "Open kitchen?! Oh la la!! That should be interesting!" I thought. Two words were enough to get my attention and the second I got there I started asking people about it. Apparently it was a popular place among both tourists and locals. 

Located in the old kitchen of Hotel Europejski, the restaurant has an actual open kitchen, with white cracked tiles, bare walls, simple furniture and not so very clean tablecloths. The whole concept of the place is to look like the kitchen you always feared a restaurant could have - a bit dirty and messy. Don't get me wrong, it is clean enough, just not impeccably clean. When you enter the building there's an old fashioned bar , a cloakroom and a small hall of fame (Woody Allen and John Malkovich ate there). You go inside the restaurant through a corridor, passing by the fish room and the salad room. The best place to get a table is in the main room where you can get a clear view of the big kitchen. And if you're lucky enough, you can find a table even without reservation. 

When I got there, it was quite late, so the place was almost empty, with just a few customers left. You could tell it was posh restaurant, so I suggest if you go there, you might want to put a little effort and dress up. I actually felt a bit underdressed, but I like to give myself the excuse that I was a tourist. The atmosphere was unique, an old guy playing the piano, while the chef was preparing the food in front of us and inside the kitchen they already started preparing for the next day.

The menu is pretty limited, they serve just a few types of dishes, mainly traditional polish food. I ended up choosing some beef in paprika sauce. No matter what you decide to order, you should try the steak tartare, which is freshly minced in front of you. I heard it's the best in town and I can confirm it was extremely good!