Ognisko
SOUTH KENSINGTON BOASTS two of the finest Polish restaurants in London. If Daquise specialises in hearty ‘rustic’ fare, the cooking here, while scarcely less robust, is slightly more upmarket.
Established at the outbreak of the Second World War as a club for Polish officers and émigrés, Ognisko, which roughly translates as ‘hearth’, now fills every corner of its premises in one of the vast, Italianate wedding cakes that loom along Exhibition Road. It remains a lively social and cultural hub for expats to this day.
Given its origins, it’s appropriate that Ognisko feels forever Forties. At once shabby and imposing, it’s the sort of place in which secret agents and forbidden lovers would have rendezvoused as doodlebugs sputtered overhead. With its dinky tables and hugger-mugger seating, the old-fashioned bar is the spot in which parties convene before processing into a lofty dining room stiff with napery and twinkling with tea-lights. While adhering to the general principles of traditional Polish cuisine, the lengthy menu is rich, diverse and occasionally surprising. As one would expect, the array of flavoured vodkas and vodkabased cocktails is impressive. Not exactly ‘smart’, Ognisko possesses an indefinable ‘something’ that’s as rewarding for first-timers as it is for its scores of devoted regulars.
See also: Daquise, Fischer’s, The Guinea Grill
