Epoka Warsaw Poland

Epoka

 · 13 mins read

Epoka, I hope, needs no introduction. Soon this one of the best restaurants of Fine Dining class in Poland will celebrate its second birthday. We’re looking forward to the birthday menu, as last year’s was delightful, which you can read about. The chef of Epoka restaurant is Marcin Przybysz (@przybyszmarcin), who presents his original tasting menu inspired by Polish cuisine in 15 or 20 recipes versions.

This evening at Epoka restaurant was special for us because we had pleasure to spend it in the company of Kamila and Cezary (@finediningpl) and Krzysztof (@taste_life_always_again). For which we would like to thank everyone once again.

Our table decided on a tasting of 20 recipes and a non-alcoholic pairing, which turned out to be an interesting proposition. We are extremely pleased that more and more restaurants pay attention to the fact that not everyone likes or can drink alcohol. Some people are simply not fond of wine, so the option of matching interesting non-alcoholic beverages to the meal seems to be a great solution. That’s why this article will feature drinks that were matched with certain dishes.

Degustation:

1926

Bread/Butter

We started with bread and butter. This time it was wholemeal wheat bread with wild garlic, and lightly salted butter. 3 eggplants.

A loaf of bread laid on a white napkin, on a wavy white plate.


  

Westphalia’s mutton ham

A very interesting and tasty [amuse-bouche]. It was an andrut with lamb ham, mayonnaise and mint. 4 eggplants.

On a black and white plate, on a napkin, there are two discs of thin wafers with ham on top.


  

On a black and white plate, on a napkin, there are two discs of thin wafers on which a ham is placed. The same wafers as above only from a different angle.


  

Granita

It was, I must admit, a shocking experience. Tartalette with Granita made of wild garlic, goat curd and radish. A refreshing granita with great taste, however we were told to eat it all at once and it was a bit of a painful experience. However, I prefer granita and ice cream slowly. 3 eggplants.

A small tartlet with green granita lies on a white ceramic pedestal.


  

Garlic braised lamb

Something between a croquette, a donut and a roast. Perfect! With a crispy crust and served still hot. It was roasted lamb shoulder with pickled lemon and wild garlic. The Order of the Happy Eggplant is most deserved for this original donut. 5 eggplants.

Two donut-shaped croquettes placed on transparent spoons, which lay on a glass stand.


  

Spit-roasted mutton

Yakitori, which in this version is mutton from the spit, served on a pancake with young cabbage and lime juice. You had to slide the meat off the stick and wrap it in a pancake by yourself. Surprisingly I managed to do it without disaster. This kebab-style roast was absolutely fabulous. Additionally, the first non-alcoholic drink, Ayran, was brought to us. The milk is baked for a long time at a low temperature, thanks to which it obtained more creaminess and sweetness. The milk had bay leaf oil added as well as spinach, nasturtium and tarragon. For a perfect dish and a perfectly matched drink, we of course award the Order of the Happy Eggplant. 5 eggplants.

On a flat white plate, a pancake is placed on white paper, a salad with dressing is placed on it and a meat skewer is placed on the salad. A small fork is placed at the top of a wooden stick from the skewer. In the background is a glass of Ayran.


  

Photo above of a white plate of kebab and a glass of Ayran.


  

Ayran glass. The white Ayran is in the glass and on top of it is a green layer of flavored oil.


  

1932

Waffles the other way

Waffles with whipped cream, topped with wasabi from a Polish farm. 4 eggplants.

A small bowl filled with sesame seeds on which two green waffles are placed. The waffles are topped with whipped cream and garnished with green leaves.


  

Beef broth

Beef broth (from oxtails) with shitake mushrooms. Very good, essential and quite fatty. Polish wagyu with pickled turnips in the middle. As a pairing, green tea kombucha from Nepal, to break up the fattiness. A great, balanced kombucha. 3 eggplants.

Round wagyu slice on pickled turnip before pouring over broth.


  

In a deep white plate is a dark broth with a slice of wagyu in the middle.


  

There is brown kombucha in the glass.


  

Green salad

A light, summery and beautiful dish in salad form. Sorrel and parmesan foam, hare and red oxalis, asparagus and radish sprouts. As a complement, rye bread with sunflower seeds. We really enjoyed this salad and for that we award it by the Order of the Happy Eggplant. 5 eggplants.

A glass bowl resembling a sea urchin. Arranged slices of green asparagus in the center, on which is a white foam decorated with leaves and two red balls.


  

Top photo of the same salad bowl. Next to a white plate with a slice of bread with sunflower seeds.


  

Cucumber “mizerja”

The Mizeria in the form of a frozen foam. With cucumber juice, sour cream and elderflowers. We had a similar Intermezzo, just in a different flavor at Epoka’s birthday. 4 eggplants.

In a white bowl, two teaspoons filled with frozen white foam.


  

1910

French buns and Asparagus in butter sauce

French rolls, or in this case a croissant as company for asparagus in sauce. Pickled asparagus with some rhubarb, sea trout tartare and butter sauce. 4 eggplants.

Na dużym białym talerzu ułożony jest krążek, na którym znajdują się cienkie plasterki białych szparagów i rabarbaru. Therefore, halfway up the disc is white and then pink. The disc is surrounded by an orange rim made of dried sea trout meat. Behind the sea trout meat there is a caviar rim with alternating black and orange caviar balls.


  

We were offered white tea with a fusion of jasmine and pickled and candied lemon for this dish.

A glass with a clear, slightly white drink.


  

Stockfish with vegetables

Cod with burned cucumber powder, topped with cucumber and dill salad and a generous amount of five star Antonius caviar. Complemented by a wonderful fish stock sauce with sepia. A beautiful, slightly dark dish that tasted sensational. Naturally, the Order of the Happy Eggplant is due. 5 eggplants.

Pieces of white fish are placed in a large, white plate, surrounded by black powder and arranged in the shape of a circle. There is a portion of sturgeon caviar on the fish. There is a black sauce around the fish and it is decorated with purple and yellow flowers and green leaves.


  

Lapsang tea from China was served with the cod. It had the addition of smoked syrup, which made it tasted a bit like Christmas tea from dried fruit.

A glass of tea.


  

1893

Fresh mushrooms stewed with cream

They were chanterelles with caramelized cream and a sauce based on poultry with the addition of green peas. A very tasty dish with warm buttery brioches. 4 eggplants.

In a large transparent plate, there are chanterelles with sauce and green peas. In the background in the glass you can see a yellow, creamy drink and small brioches.


  

An unusual drink was matched with the mushrooms. It was passion fruit juice, mango, peach and frothed milk. A bold combination, which has worked.

A glass with a creamy yellow liquid.


  

Fried potatoes

This dish consisted of two parts. Ice cream made of caramelized bacon and onion with bay oil, and potato cake with truffle. A fresh summer truffle from Umbria was grated in front of us to top of the ice cream. 4 eggplants.

On a white plate, stylized on marble, there is a white ice cream topped with coarse grated black truffle. Next to it, on the same plate, is a triangular piece of potato cake.


  

White pot-au-feu

Sensational, melt-in-the-mouth veal with a sauce based on white borscht with black garlic, potatoes and marjoram. For nibbling we were served sticks made of flour after sourdough from borscht. 5 eggplants.

Two semicircular pieces of meat, pink in the center are placed on a white plate. One piece is covered on top with orange and yellow crumbs on top of which is placed a sprig of dough decorated with small purple flowers and green leaves. On the second one are arranged three flowers cut from carrots, decorated with green leaves. In the background are glasses with orange drink.


  

Two semicircular pieces of meat, pink in the center are placed on a white plate. One piece is covered on top with orange and yellow crumbs on top of which is placed a sprig of dough decorated with small purple flowers and green leaves. On the second one are arranged three flowers cut from carrots, decorated with green leaves. In the background are glasses with orange drink. In the background is a view of the street and two, long cake fingers in a tall white container.


  

A suggestion from the non-alcoholic pairing to the veal was consommé with carrots, broken up with lemon and apple, with ginger and bay leaf oil on top. Great match for the dish and very tasty.

A glass with a rose-orange drink, more transparent at the top and denser at the bottom. Greenish oil circles float on top of the drink.


  

1686

Rusks

French pastry rusks with yogurt sorbet. I love rusks, I waited a bit for the sorbet to melt, so I wouldn’t get the same shock as before. The rusks were served together with a pre dessert “cold milk”.. 4 eggplants.

On a small white plate is a white napkin on which lie two round rusks. On top of the rusks lies a white portion of ice-cream, which is beginning to melt slightly. Around the ice-cream portion there are green dots of gel in which dark leaves of hare's oxalis are stuck.


  

Cold milk

Dessert perfect for summer. Light, fruity and not too sweet. Milk foam with elderberry flavor. In the middle a foam made of sorrel and Polish strawberries. Ideally, there would be more cutlery to the dessert than just a spoon, because I’ve been chasing that foam on my plate for a while. ;) 4 eggplants.

Arranged on a white plate with an uneven surface there is a square shaped white foam with the center cut also into a square. There are green gel dots on the edges of the foam, and three of them contain a wild strawberry. Another white foam is applied inside. The dessert is decorated with several pink petals.


  

Lemonade and Rose “ulep”

The lemonade was prosecco with lemon juice from a siphon. Next we were served “Rose Ulep”, that is rose mousse with compressed and a pickled rhubarb and a rhubarb juice. Yet another non-alcoholic drink was served. Rooibos long brewed broken by balsamico and the addition of strawberry. 4 eggplants.

In a deep glass, In a deep transparent glass bowl, pink rhubarb slices with a rose petal on top lie arranged in the middle. Two glasses stand next to it. One with a yellow drink, the other with dark brown rooibos.


  

A close-up of a bowl of rhubarb dessert.


  

1682

Wety

At the end of the dinner, we had a little sweet treat. This time, however, it was completely different than usual. It was rhubarb and blackberry jelly in sugar, a danish pastry with blueberries, and sorrel ice cream, really great. 3 eggplants.

A white plate in the shape of a maple leaf with a portion of green ice cream on it. Next to it a white mug, and in the background two small plates. One with two danish pastry baked with berries, the other with two pink jellies in sugar in the shape of flowers.


  

Two small saucers. One with two blueberry danish pastries, the other with two pink flower-shaped sugar jellies.


  

Summary:

The evening at the Epoka restaurant was once again a fantastic experience. We are glad that the pandemic here has not caused the lowering of standards that we see in some restaurants. The service is still at a high level and the cuisine continues to surprise and delight with taste and appearance. True Fine Dining. The Epoka was enriched by its own bakery, Chaud Pain (@piekarnia_chaudpain), which is where the baked goods served at dinner came from. Earlier that day we had been to Chaud Pain for breakfast and tested a variety of croissants, all were delicious.

Thank you to Chef Marcin Przybysz and Chef de partie Adam Lizoni and the entire Epoka team for a wonderful evening. Of course Epoka once again deserved the Order of the Happy Eggplant. We sincerely hope that soon they will be able to enjoy a more prestigious award (@michelinguide). We keep our fingers crossed.

the Happy Eggplant Badge

Link to the restaurant Epoka

Address: ul. Ossolińskich 3, Warsaw

The tasting date: 17.07.2021

Title picture: White pot-au-feu

Restaurant: Epoka
Location: Poland Warsaw
Tags: Fine_dining Happy_eggplant_badge Luxury_restaurant Restaurant Tasting_menu