Top tip!
Not tried the Elvis juice yet, I should imagine it makes you rock around the clock at 6.5%
Top tip!
Not tried the Elvis juice yet, I should imagine it makes you rock around the clock at 6.5%
^ Tastes grapefruity and wipes it's boots on the palatte
An insightful review , I'm sure Hal will appreciate that.
I'd personally opt for the Leffe with a lemonade top (goes down easier and you get a cool free glass)![]()
It’s a bloody great IPA, ignore the naysayers!
Pints of Stowford Press Cider for £1.99 though.
That’d be hard to pass up for the thrift minded amongst us.

A regular home lunch for me, probably at least once a week. A salad of chicken breast, feta cheese, cucumber, red onion, black olives, cherry tomatoes and grapes, in a dressing of light Greek yoghurt, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and garlic.
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That would go fantastic with a smoked mackerel fillet
I should probably create a separate travel thread for these pics, but I only go away to eat and drink anyway, so.
Four days in Warsaw. Last time I was there was this game in 98:
We flew into Amsterdam, took the train train to Berlin and then over to Warsaw. All I remember was that big ghostbusters building as you come out of the station, rampant abuse of vodka and being in some sex show watching one of the fittest birds I've ever seen fingering herself. And the game was about an hour away and was shit, but I still have that bird stored in the bank, so it wasn't all bad, but I always felt I'd like to give it another chance.
Things have indeed changed and the ghostbuster buidling now has some modern friends:
We stayed in the old town back then - and it was summer but still grey and wet - but I don't remember it being so nice:
You'll see the national stadium here. I hate Irish bars when I'm away but this place was next to our hotel and I got chatting to some Dutch fans after their 1-1 draw the night before who said the atmosphere was crap and really sterile. The plan was to have a walk over and get in for a look, but yeah, never made it.
Anyway, the point: the scran and the beer. Made this place our base and got leeathered on beer and vodka and the owner came out and was giving me pours of random vodka from various places in Poland. I'm not a spirits man, but these were good. I still preferred the beer though.
All the beers were around 6% so you had to be careful. About 5 Euros here.
Just over 3 Euros once we got away from the old town:
One thing about Europe, unlike SE Asia, is that you are pretty much guaranteed a good pint wherever you are.
Last edited by hallelujah; 23-11-2025 at 01:49 PM.
Wow.
Just.
Wow.
So, finally, the scran:
Too difficult to edit with commentary below the photos (it's taken me an age already), so in order:
I'm not normally a fan of any kind of SE Asian food outside of SE asia - cos it's shite and overpriced - not least any place calling itself a fusion gaff, but this place at the top was ok. The pho - apart from a random egg - was solid and the bun cha hanoi was good too- I've had worse in Vietnam.
Polish doughnuts- like British ones but with better filllings. Pistachio was the best.
Bigos. Probably my favourite Polish dish and a go to whenever I'm there.
Beef cheeks with mash on the other plate.
Pierogi (surprisingly only one time this time).
Loads of Ukrainian fans in town for a World Cup Under 19s qualifier. Under something anyway.
Potato pancakes with goulash (my favourite meal of the trip)
Smoked ham leg with sauerkraut.
All about 15 Euros each.
And then when I got home, a 3 course meal of solyanka (the soup), a regional pork stroganoff and a vanilla dessert for less than 10 Euros.
You can't beat a bargain.
Warsaw is a seriously underrated city. Decent scran, loads to do and plenty to drink. Already thinking of a return in the summer.
Last edited by hallelujah; 23-11-2025 at 02:33 PM.
^ It all looks really nice... but shitty weather?
I miss wandering around places in northwestern Europe, the good food and nice pubs but I just don't enjoy the winter climate any more.
It's bladdy freezing in Norway right now and I'm actually looking forward to getting back to Isaan.
Every. Fucking. Day.
We're quite fortunate here in that we don't tend to get that crap English winter (a fair proportion of winter days are cold and crisp), but every day over there reminded me why I was on that flight to Bangkok 20 years ago.
We met some Malaysians and they loved it. My missus loves it here too. They can't stand the heat as much as we get fed up of the endless fucking drizzle, wind and cold.
I hate winter, but I love the culture and spring and summer here are wonderful. I also have a good job and plenty of time off, but the plan has always been to return to SE Asia in a year or two (for me anyway). I'm now not sure that's gonna happen tho...
Have the winter markets opened yet? Mulled wine around a hot wood fire is decent.
Fooking hell Hal, you must have smashed through the 100kilo mark with all that fine eating!?!
An American eating Colmans mustard:
I recoiled when he put that much on his hot dog (and so did he).
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