My host said that she knows a friend who knows the owner so she managed to score a table for us at Zoni Restaurant, widely regarded to be one of the best restaurants in Warsaw. Otherwise, the reservation wait list is long. Be sure to make reservations way in advance.

ZONI Restaurant is situated in a historic rectification building in the former vodka distillery called Koneser, located in Praga district in Warsaw. The first floor of the restaurant is designed with barrels—very cute.

Beef tartare, truffle, pickled cucumber, pearl onion

It is just beside the Poland Vodka Museum so make sure you time your visit so that you go to the museum first, and go to Zoni for dinner. It’ll be a nice complement to visit Zoni for its extensive vodka collection.

The restaurant is helmed by the 27 year-old Michał Gniadek, who won the “Young Talent” for Gault & Millau Polska guide. His cooking focuses on simplicity of ingredients, letting them speak for themselves.

Cauliflower, burned butter, almonds

For starters, we tried both the beef tartare and the cauliflower, the du jour vegetable at the moment (many chefs and active people are using it for cauliflower rice).

Indeed, they retain the original flavours of the ingredients without much salt. The flavours come across as a little bland for my palate.

Mushroom soup, creme fraiche

Beef broth, sour cabbage, mushrooms

Both the broths, similarly, are more consummé than broths. They are very light, although I prefer something rich and robust. However, the beef broth is interesting because it has a sort of cheese dumpling, and Polish food is famous for dumplings.

BBQ ribs, roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, shallot

Seabass, capers, roasted potatoes, brocolli

It’s interesting that for each course–appetiser, soup, main, dessert–there is a choice of vegetarian. Here for mains, the vegetarian option is the seabass. It’s cute that they consider as a vegetable.

In any case, what is lacking in flavour in the first two courses is made up in the mains.

The meat from the ribs falls off the bone, and the BBQ sauce is sweet like American version. This is a very American dish, but I wonder what it is doing on the menu.

Now, the seabass is delicious. The flesh is light and fresh. But this particular species of seabass has many bones. Wonder if they could have use another species?

Carrot, plum, yogurt, orange

Between the two desserts, carrot and cheesecake, the cheesecake is better although for both, I don’t get much flavours here except for the sweetness. The carrot is dry.

Cheesecake, chocolate, blackcurrent

Overall, I am rather disappointed with the food here. It’s not terrible, just that it doesn’t live up to its reputation. Mokotowska 69 is the first restaurant I ate at in Poland and Zoni is the last. Between the two, I’d much prefer the unpretentious, homely food at Mokotowska.

Prepare to spend about 150 zloty (S$60) here.

Food: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Price / value: 7/10
Ambience / decor: 8/10

You may be interested in…
–10 Best Food You Must Eat in Poland (Some Have Been Around for Centuries)
–Where to Stay in Warsaw, Poland: Hotel Mercure Warszawa Grand

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.