As much as we relied on suggestions from locals about restaurants to try while we were travelling around Europe, this method wasn’t always entirely foolproof. People have different tastes, and what’s good for one person, isn’t good for another.
Na Bednarskiej Pierogi in Warsaw was the perfect example of this. It had been recommended by one of the guides we’d met as a place that serves good pierogi, but honestly it was a bit disappointing.
Our visit started off promisingly enough – as we walked into the restaurant, a group of local office workers were walking out. That’s always a good sign of a cheap and reliable local restaurant! However, things got a little more disorganised from there.
There was only one person in the restaurant when there would normally have been at least two or three. This meant that the one waitress would take two or three orders at a time, go to the kitchen to prepare the meals, serve them, and then go back to the counter to take more orders. While she was very friendly, the whole process was remarkably inefficient and a bit frustrating.
K ordered the Meat Plate, made up of a variety of different pierogi off their menu. My pick of the bunch was probably the red-skinned spicy Diavolo pierogi, made of pork, beef, paprika, onion, marjoram, and plenty of pepper and salt! While it wasn’t as spicy as I would have wanted it to be, it was still a lot spicier than standard Polish cuisine. Like the pierogi we had at Polakowski in Krakow however, I thought the pastry was much too thick which made the whole dish a bit too stodgy.
I had originally wanted to order some pancakes, Volhynian, with bacon and potatoes. Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of stock so with a bit of panic as I was forced to make a second choice immediately, I opted for the Daily Meal of soup, dish of the day, raw salad and compote drink.
The soup was a mix of pork and vegetables with a bit of cream in the mix. Unfortunately however, it seemed to be the case that the restaurant had chosen to use more offcuts than the nicer parts of vegetables – so the ends of carrots, and the thick parts of celery. It was as though they had taken all the offcuts that would normally be used for making a nice rich stock, and just added cream to the mix to turn it into a soup.
The Dish of the Day was just as disappointing. While seated in the restaurant, I heard the distinct hum of a microwave, and a cheery ‘ding’. Less than a minute later, this clump of reheated microwaved faux-paella was placed in front of me along with three slices of cucumber as the ‘raw salad’ of the day. Suffice to say that I ate some truly terrible Weight Watchers meals two years ago when I went through my extreme weight-loss period and I would rate this paella in that category.
Locals may like it, but I honestly can’t rate or recommend Na Bednarskiej Pierogi. The daily meal special is extremely disappointing and the pierogi can be a bit hit and miss with their thick pastry. Go elsewhere for a good meal in Warsaw!
Na Bednarskiej Pierogi is located at 28/30 Bednarska ul in Warsaw, Poland.