Soul of the street

Okay, so I hoped to have a table inside. But this place is seriously booked up for a reason. So… ‘street food’ it is. Soul Kitchen comes with a good reputation. Let’s see how it holds up to a slight breeze on a mild evening in Warsaw.

A Polish red wine would be first up for the test. This Pinot Noir comes with a ‘minor‘ in the name (the blurred effect is to preface my later condition):

On first taste I can’t wait to try the major. Influenced by Burgundy so I’m told. It’s good to know France is useful for something in the world of wine, not just denigrating others!

This one comes with so many ‘legs’ it could double for a consortium of octopuses (or is that octopi… no, apparently not).

Anyway, onto the kitchen stuff. The Beef Tenderloin Tartare was an obvious choice of starter, though albeit from a very strong field of competition.

It’s the additional lovage in the recipe apparently. Though it comes with a guy at your table putting the finishing touches (even out on the street). That’s got to add a few plus points to the experience.

As for a main, the short but perfect menu of options presented another First World dilemma. As ‘Daisy‘ had been so good to me already, I couldn’t let any of her go to waste. So, Beef Cheek it is.

Not to be put off by the ‘oil slick chic‘, and veggies with a distinct ‘nuts and bolts bite‘, I strapped in for an industrial experience of the most sumptuous kind.

Yes, for my dessert conscious readers, there was another short but perfectly formed (why are the best menus in my image 🤔😂) list. But, I had only one serious option to compliment a machiatto… yet another glass of the ‘Dobre Minor‘ (to fulfill the earlier blurred image effect).

Until we speak again, I’m not into licking plates, but damn, this was close!

And all of this just around the corner from a quintessential Warsaw vista.

Street food served from a Soul Kitchen. It deserves a thank you from the soul ❤️

Look through any window

It may be a famous old Hollies track, but the instruction also offers a taste of nostalgia. Here is a bygone age, when Brains were truly great beers to challenge the best around…

look-through-any-window

But this scene in a Cardiff Coffee#1 shop just got me reflecting back on a recent trip to Llanelli in west Wales. This was once a boom town built on heavy industries with a specialist focus on tinplate, but now it’s a faded shadow of itself. Perhaps it might still look like a big place to someone steeped in the rural ways of life, but to the average urban dweller Llanelli leaves you asking “what’s the fuss?” If you look closely enough you might find something resembling a modern welcome…

thomas-arms-hotel

But then again, as the first image implies, Brains used to be something once, but what’s the fuss? Better to settle for a smooth New Zealand Pinot Noir when the beer offering is the range of modern day corporate Brains!

fire-and-wine

Come to think of it log fires were something once, but now they have succumbed to a strange elevated form of designer chic as a centrepiece of a room…

fireplace

Then again, pork chops were something once, but what’s the fuss? Now they have to be Harissa spiced with a side of creamy slaw!

harissa-pork-chops

It’s good to know that a hearty cooked breakfast still is something, even if beans now have to come in a gravy pot!

Full Welsh breakfast.jpg

If you find yourself in the time warp, aka Llanelli, The Thomas Arms should provide that comfortable reality check that the 21st century is soon to make an appearance. Meanwhile, looking through any window provides me with a nostalgic remembrance that it was a favourite pastime of Juno…

sunshine-at-14-3

Until we speak again, remember that nostalgia is a thing of the past. Spare yourself a moment or two, and look through any window…