OUT AND ABOUT | KRAKOW #2

On to round #2 of my favourite foodie finds in Krakow. 

4. Ambasada Śledzia

As a student in Krakow, I used to hang out here pretty much every evening... It was the watering hole for my friends. At the time, it was open 24/7 and we'd start the night here and then somehow end up returning on the way home to sober up with their hearty grub.

Ambasada Śledzia translates to 'The Herring Embassy' as it is situated just across the road from the American Embassy in Krakow (look for ul. Stolarska). Noise was always an issue and the bouncers would tell us to "spokój" or we would get kicked out.

Whilst this bar is still open, it now shuts at 12. There is however a new offshoot bar which has opened just a bit further in a courtyard down the road which is open til the very early hours.

With a series of vodka and herring bars popping up all over the city, Ambasada Sledzia is still #1 for me! A small unpasteurised beer (300ml) or a large shot of vodka will set you back 4zl a pop (that's 80p!).

Raw pickled herrings are a Polish delicacy and can be purchased in all manners and forms. Popular choices are herrings in sour cream, beetroot, curry and oil and are just 8zl each (£1.60). They serve other food round the clock too, including some traditional Polish snacks and light tapas dishes.

On to the food! The beast that got us going was this devil below. The Potato Pie with Spinach (10zl - £2). A cheesy mass of potatoes and spinach. So simple but an almighty dish in all its glory.

The garlic spinach was pungent - you can smell this dish when it's being made in the kitchen - but that's just the sort of thing that gets me pretty damn excited. This may just be a rather haphazard take on the potato dauphinoise, but it is surely comforting and will leave you wanting more.

5. Horai

This was another old favourite of mine. I absolutely love Thai food and this is the one place that did it very well in Krakow.

With an extremely over-imposing menu (at least ten pages!) you might initially be put off. If it was any other restaurant I would. How can one restaurant make good dishes for several Asian styles of cuisine? I've never ventured outside of their Thai menu, but I can tell you now that their Thai food was and still is very good.

Situated in a rather derelict square in Kazimierz, Horai is found on Plac Wolnica. The staff are attentive and the service is very good - I was also remembered by the same waiter on my return this time round! 

On this occasion I opted for the Chicken in Black Pepper Sauce (22zl - £4.40). The chicken was moist and the sauce was a good consistency - it looked and tasted fresh - no gloopy sauce here. Tossed between al dente onions and peppers with a garnish of coriander this peppery dish was a pleasure to eat and at a very good price too.

My counterpart ordered the Pad Thai with Tofu (23zl - £4.60). This came as a highly piled portion of fried egg noodles laced with vegetables. A good strong flavour and we loved the addition of the crispy onions as well as peanuts to lace the dish.

As a side we shared a portion of Thai Fried Vegetables (19zl - £3.80). This is actually a main dish in itself but I couldn't resist it. I love vegetables when cooked in a Thai style and this dish contained an interesting combination of ingredients, including seaweed and pineapple.

6.  Antler Poutine&Burger

This is a new joint in Krakow that has opened in the last year. I had seen pictures and heard good stories about it which made it high up on my to-do list of places to check out this time round.

A very small bar indeed situated on ul. Gołębia just off of the Main Square. There are stools and raised shelves to eat at around the corners of the room. It could perhaps seat no more than six people at a time.

We went twice in one day...! The first stop was to get our hands on some Poutine. I had never tried this dish before but had heard about it a few years back from a friend who studied in Canada.

Fat chips, mature cheddar and lashings of fresh gravy where the style in this place and we ordered a large pot (9zl - £1.80) to share. The chips did not seem overly fresh, but they had a bizarrely nice soggy yet crisp consistency to them. More stodge, more comfort food and good lethargic vibes all round.

We returned later that evening. My veggie cohort is always on the look out for interesting and exciting vegetarian fare. Earlier that day we had spotted a Vegetarian Burger (the only one on the menu) which we then could not stop thinking about for the rest of the day...

For all you cheese lovers out there I hope you are ready for this.

In comes the game changer of all vegetarian burgers! This burger was 16zl (£3.20) and contained a WHOLE mini grilled Camembert of oozing goodness. The burger was cooked fresh before us. A lightly toasted brioche bun, topped with a spread of mayonnaise, lettuce, rocket, a mini Camembert, sun dried tomatoes and lashings of pesto. 

This was rather exciting to eat and all the different ingredients worked in harmony. We were not even back from Krakow for a week before an attempt to recreate this at home took place.

Their other burgers also looked very good. From your basic beef burger to your all singing all dancing crazy poutine filled burger, they certainly had an interesting selection. I also liked the fact that you could choose how you wanted your meat cooked and their emphasis on sourcing locally their ingredients where possible. 

7. Everything else...

Lody! Aka ice cream. Fresh ice cream is served from little vendors down most of the side streets leading off of the Main Square. At 2-3zl (40-60p) a scoop you'd be silly not to get some.

We were also snapping away at all the street art we stumbled across. If you take a wonder down through Kazimierz or even further along to Podgorze you will find tonnes of the stuff. These were my favourite pieces.

Cars! I love old cars and there are plenty of them about in Krakow. This Ford Capri racer got a good perving on by my camera.

Whenever you go to Krakow, there is ALWAYS something going on in the Main Square. It doesn't matter whether it is a public holiday (it was Labour Day whilst we were there) or whether it is the annual pierogi festival - you will always have some form of entertainment to watch. For us it was this lovely military brass band and an opera singer driving in on the back of what we could only describe as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

...and to finish it off... the beer!

This picture was taken in a little hidden den in an underground bar with mezzanine hideouts. I would tell you where it is but it's my favourite hiding place.

Why haven't you booked your ticket yet?

OUT AND ABOUT | TWISTED BURGER COMPANY

I am probably one of the last invited bloggers to re-visit Twisted Burger Company at its new residency at Aire Bar in Leeds. Invited at the beginning of the month to the press launch night, it was extremely busy, hyped and not a great chance to test the food so I was asked to come back to do a follow-up review.

I'm just going to say this now. I have honestly not eaten or ordered a burger in about four years.

I also find the 'lets stick everything greasy and crazy' burger phase which has been sweeping Leeds for a good year or two now extremely unappetising, overdone and unnecessary.

...so why did I accept this review? I genuinely wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Hopping over to a new city, Twisted Burger Company which is usually found in The Harley in Sheffield has now taken up a residency at the riverside basement haunt Aire Bar in Leeds. Bringing the same menu to Leeds, the burgers of giant proportions and of quirky combinations join the Leeds burger gang with the aim of going bigger and offering more beserk options than what the city already plays host to.

Seeing on other blogs a mixture of all singing all praising reviews and then some which were less than impressed, I could see an inconsistency emerging. Going with as an open a mind as one can, I went with my friend Liam (not a burger fiend but one who most definitely enjoys and knows a good burger) and we ventured down to Aire Bar after work on a Wednesday evening.

The menu at first glance is garish, bold and at times a little headache inducing. A bit overwhelmed by the menu we worked our way through slowly to make sure we both ordered exactly what we wanted.

I went for the Baby Got Guac burger (£6.50) one of two vegetarian burgers on offer which contained a Porcini and Button Mushroom Patty, Grilled Mushroom, Asian Slaw and Guacamole. The "no mayo, no cheese burger" appealed to me as I was not after something that could have a high possibility of busting some arteries in one sitting.

Arriving, my burger resembled an overflowing tower of Pisa. The bun was a nice consistency, hefty enough to wield the filling it contained but also soft and buttery in the mouth. The asian slaw was lovely, not too overpowering but had a nice crunch and filled out the burger well. The guacamole was smooth and creamy, usually a fan of a chunky guacamole this didn't bother me too much as it complimented all the flavours really well. A grilled portobello mushroom added a nice texture and chew.

The main man of the game however was of course the porcini and button mushroom patty... Piping hot, this was a dark, earthy and extremely powerful and flavourful beast. It's hearty meaty texture was also welcomed. I was very impressed by the strength of the flavour. For most it might be too overpowering, but as a vegetarian burger, for me it had a confidence and an air of 'oomph' which I think similar burgers in other places would lack.

Liam went for the Holy Cluck (£7.50) which was described on the menu as Double Chicken, Chorizo, American Cheese, Guacamole and Jalapeno Salsa. Arriving before us was again another impressive looking burger. 

On doing a little deconstruction, Liam was in fact rather a tad disappointed. What was this double chicken that lay before him? An unidentifiable mass of processed meat topped the burger. Certainly not what he had been expecting at all. Upon taste it was even more of a disappointment. Rubbery in texture and anonymous in any chicken way, Liam's closest resemblance was to a cheap 'chicken' takeaway burger or even a vegetarian 'fake meat' burger... in all honesty, for my recollection, it reminded me of a spam fritter (which I have unfortunately had the displeasure of trying).

I can actually tell you that this burger was made of 80% chicken thigh and 20% chicken livers to give it a bit of mojo. However the appearance AND the taste certainly did not make ones mojo jumpstart at any rate.

On to the sides! I went for the Harley House Fries (£2.75) which come as skin-on fries with cajun seasoning. On all their fries they have an option to upgrade to sweet potato fries for an extra £2 and I decided to go for this so the portion would have been £4.75 in total.

These were bloomin' FANTASTIC. I have thought hard and strong about this and I can truthfully say these are the best fries to have ever found their fatal plight in my mouth. They were fluffy, crisp, golden, rugged, well-seasoned and addictively moreish. Everything fries aspire to be but usually fall short at on one level or another. The portion sizes were indeed made for sharing. A huge basket piled high of these wonderous creations even two of us struggled to get through. These were great and I would definitely go back just to have more chips...

Liam went for the Crack 'N' Cheese (£3.75) as his side which is essentially Macaroni Cheese with Bacon Bits and Diced Jalapenos. Disappointment round #2 for Liam - ding ding (the poor sod)!

Rather than any macaroni cheese we were both familiar to, this was more of a pasta in a white sauce job. For starters the pasta was overcooked and then the sauce on the pasta had only the faintest taste of cheese. 

Macaroni cheese to us is also a pasta bake of sorts - pasta part-cooked then added to a sauce and baked in an oven to be served up in crispy glutenous wedges. But that was not the state of affairs here. The bacon bits added a bit of a texture and jalapenos made for a new and interesting take on the dish. Edible and filling, Liam devoured this, but again it left much to be desired. 

On to pudding. Both pretty full we had a good breather. On to the puddings we then went.

I ordered the Brownies with Ice Cream (£3.25) and Liam went for the Rocky Road Dessert Pot (£4.25).

Both puddings were served in a matter of minutes. My brownies came out on a hot plate (from what I could tell they were fresh out the microwave) with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

The brownies unfortunately were not like any brownies I have ever tasted. They reminded me of the chocolate traybake puddings you might have once had with your school dinner. Liam's description summed it up nicely with him wondering which packet mix they were from. A disappointment for both of us.

The rocky road dessert pot was described on the menu as brownies, cream and chocolate. The chocolate was the only component of the traditional rocky road that I recognised. The dessert came in a chilled glass topped with a generous layer of whipped cream and a glace cherry.

Too much cream for my liking. After finally a lot of scraping we both got into the dessert itself to find a dessert which I can only describe as a cold cookie dough/mousse. There was no crunch or rocky road texture to it. The odd cherry popped up here and there but there was nothing rocky road about it in the slightest. It was too sweet for me but Liam appeared to enjoy it. An interesting dessert indeed.

So we've got a pretty mixed review here. All in all not a bad experience but an odd one to say the least.

I'm still not a burger convert and probably wouldn't find myself out ordering a burger any time soon... but saying that, these guys have also produced the best fries I have eaten to date.

I am still as confused over the whole ordeal as I was when I first entered... but then again, maybe burgers are just something I will never understand?

Disclaimer: I was invited to review this restaurant with a complimentary meal for myself and a guest, however all the views within this review are my own honest opinions.