November looms, and the weather has already given us an inkling of what’s in store. Not much złote polskie jesień this October, sadly. But we mustn’t grumble after the superb summer we’ve enjoyed, and there’s always the new extension at Galeria Mokotów to cheer us up, girls! Peek & Cloppenburg AND Marks & Spencer AND the bagel shop all under one roof – it’s almost more than a girl can take in at one go. There’s even a posh cigar shop – don’t tell Harold, I’ll be buying his Christmas present in there (and another nice beige cardi from Marks, you can’t go wrong with beige, it goes with everything).
Back to the weather. In the heatwave which enveloped us earlier in the year, Harold dug out his Nelson Mandela shirt and his Ecco sandals and we headed out into the fresh air to enjoy a bit of the old al fresco. One delightful place we found is down in the heart of Lazienki Park, close to the Palace on the Water: it’s called “Le Trou Madame”, which can only be translated as “Madam’s Hole”. A rather unfortunate choice of name, but try to contain yourselves. They serve light meals, beverages and a wide range of ice-cream sundaes with Versailles-inspired names such as “Fanfan Tulipan”, and “Pompadour”. Imagine my delight when I spotted one called “Dafne” ! I was immensely flattered to have an ice-cream named after me, which proves my fame has now spread the length and breadth of Ujazdowskie Avenue. The tables are set out under the shade of the great chestnut trees, and it is a delightful place for a light lunch or afternoon refreshment after the Sunday Chopin concert. “Dafne” was delicious - of course! Harold passed on the ices and went for his usual “Duze Zywiec”.
Now the autumn has set in, it’s time to look for warm cosy nooks not too far from base camp, to load up on carbohydrates. Lokanta, the Turkish restaurant at Nowogrodzka 47a, will no doubt be well-known to our friends at the WCC (or the “Dubya” as Harold now refers to it), but was new to us, and we were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is quite modern, none of the phony oriental decor one might expect, and you would be hard-pressed to guess what kind of cuisine was on offer if you judged by the interior. The background music is a sort of Turkish pop, but fairly unobtrusive, and there are NO belly dancers, much to my relief, as Harold wouldn’t be tempted to try and stuff 10-zloty notes into their orifices. The menu is quite varied, with plenty of choice for vegetarians, although meat eaters will be amply served by the variety of meat kebabs cooked on the wood-fired stove. As we hadn’t a clue what to order, we shared a selection of cold “meze”, or mixed cold starters, followed by a plate of hot “meze” (or mixed hot starters). The cold meze consisted of stuffed vine leaves, hummus, and cold fried aubergines served with a basket of pita bread. The small plate at 17 zloties, which is recommended for one person, was plenty for two if ordered as a starter, and the same goes for the hot meze, which consisted of two kinds of “kofta”, or meatballs, a yogurt sauce, and a sort of rolled pancake stuffed with spinach and nuts. The wine list was rather pricy, apart from a Turkish red at 60 zlotys, which was surprisingly drinkable, and somewhat akin to an Italian Bardolino or Valpolicella. Before departing, I had to check out one thing … and to my immense relief (in more ways than one) I can report that the toilets are definitely not Turkish.
Jazz Bistro, on Piekna, seems to be the canteen of the so-called English-speaking embassies. But if you get there early enough you can grab a table before the colonials arrive. The atmosphere is young, modern and trendy (so moi!) and the menu is extensive. I’ve never braved their main courses, which look huge, but the salads are delicious, fresh and beautifully presented, and the toasted sandwiches are scrummy. It’s the sort of place where one should be seen drinking Perrier with a twist (rather than a pint of lager, Harold). Singing the Lumberjack Song is not recommended, as a number of our colleagues from the Canadian Embassy eat in there on a regular basis. And some of them are quite large ice-hockey players.
There is a vast choice of good, inexpensive restaurants within walking distance of HQ. Radio Café, almost next door to the Dubya at Nowogrodzka 56, is yet another pleasant lunchtime retreat. Their spinach quiche is delicious and the portions very generous. Compagnia del Sole at Żurawia 6/12, is an upmarket Italian variation on a milk bar: you collect your food and drink from various counters – pizzeria, salad bar, hot kitchen – collecting squiggles on your card in the process, then carry your tray to your table. At the end of the meal you take your card to the cashier and pay. It saves all the worry about how much to tip, but you end up spending more time walking about with your tray than sitting down. Which is fine if you’re with somebody you don’t like much.
The Bavarian restaurant Adler is a funny little round building at Mokotowska 69 which had a very pleasant enclosed terrace throughout the summer. Inside it’s very cosy and warm with a chimney, and the portions are quite massive. Good old German bellyfillers such as Wienerschnitzel and sauerkraut will keep the cold out. Our next door neighbour Dr Klampwangler swears by the Gefluegelbeinbratl – and believe me, her swear words are even longer than that. She took Harold to the October Beer Festival and they returned quite the worse for wear, singing Bavarian drinking songs and slapping each other’s behinds quite unnecessarily. They sat up late into the night listening to James Last records and drinking Jagermeister slammers, but come the dawn the Anglo-German Friendship Pact had collapsed, largely due to Harold’s chanting of “Ingerland, Ingerland, Ingerland”. Dr Klampwangler saluted stiffly and marched out of the house, insisting she needed some lebensraum. I called downstairs to ask if everything was all right. “It is now”, sighed Harold, as she roared off down the drive on her Norton 750.
