If there’s one thing we just love about researching our Best of Warsaw issue (coming soon, don’t you worry!), it’s the chance it affords us to visit old, established favorites such as Ale Wino.

If there’s one thing we just love about researching our Best of Warsaw issue (coming soon, don’t you worry!), it’s the chance it affords us to visit old, established favorites such as Ale Wino.
Their story, while not exactly rags to riches, does have a feel-good ring to it: what started out as an online wine portal caught the city’s attention – a physical space followed, along with a few tables, and a menu featuring bitey pieces of this and that. The public loved it. But the biggest step was the addition of chef Sebastian Wełpa, a man who has taken this venue to that next extra level. Regarded as one of the top chefs in the country, his menu is an uncompromising work of outrageous ability.
And yes, in that respect not much has changed. True, in our case we can’t help but feel the herring starter was a little unspectacular by his usual standards, but any fears this is a restaurant resting on its laurels were swiftly blown out of the water with the arrival of the main: flat rib with marinated cabbage and a horseradish mousse so smooth and cloud-like in its softness that it had more akin with a floaty piece of heaven.
And the rib itself? Wow almighty, and even better for being topped off with a demi-glace poured table-side by the server.
Desserts, meanwhile, are always stunning in Ale Wino, and this visit proved no exception: a boozy rum baba with tonka beans and pickled fruits proving to be something you’d kill for. A great meal, and a timely reminder of just how good this place really is. The follow-up visit is already in the pipeline!
ul. Mokotowska 48