Woosabi Kraków — Restaurant in Krakow

Beautifully arranged old hall and the use of infrastructure elements to create an atmosphere and breathtaking decor that looks like a mix of Asia, India, and old American movies with Al Capone. You walk in and feel pleasant, the staff smiles and invites you in - great! But wait, something is off. There were so many stairs along the way that a person in a wheelchair would probably not be able to come here. Sitting at the table, you start to look around and realize that: All the plants - which look so nice and add to the atmosphere - are artificial! The decor on the walls supposedly refers to Asia, but the tables and chairs… remind me of furniture in expensive PRL-era hotels or some old movies from the USA, and even the bamboo-covered bar doesn’t change the impression that something is wrong here. The fringed lamps… well, they are just there - it’s unclear if they were supposed to mimic bamboo and Asia? After a while, it starts to get cold - the thermometer on the phone shows 22-23°C - with 30°C outside, you can experience thermal shock. Never mind, it’s time to order something. Hmm, the menus do not indicate the weight of the dishes - I’m not talking about exact grams, but an approximate value of whether I’m ordering a 200g or 1200g meal. At least there are mysterious letters indicating allergens.

Here, the situation is saved by really understanding and helpful staff. The waitress who served me bravely tried to answer the difficult questions of a picky customer :) Eventually, she went to the kitchen and came back with the amounts of ingredients in the selected dishes written on a piece of paper - bravo! While waiting and getting bored, further analysis of the layout and leaflets raises questions: Do people come here to eat or to drink? The bar is huge, and there are tons of bottles. The guy behind the counter is conjuring up some colorful elixirs, and there’s information on the table about “drink happy hours.” In addition to the food menu, you get a second - more extensive - alcohol menu, so it’s actually a “drinking place.”

When the drink arrives… supposedly good - I didn’t try it - but, in the middle of summer, the ice cubes in it didn’t melt even after 30 minutes - so it’s definitely cold here.

Time to try the food. Spring rolls… weak. Not much filling, which is generally cheap, you’re mostly eating rice paper - so it’s appropriate for the price. “Bowl alla sushi” - fresh ingredients, initially tasty. However, while eating, it turns out that in a dish that weighs about 540g, 180g of lettuce is too much… like for a rabbit. At least the raw salmon is tasty.

Before leaving, a quick visit to the restroom. The decor is okay, in the men’s room there’s one urinal and one stall, which unfortunately lacks any kind of hook.

I give this place one more chance - I’ll come back to try the Bao, but I need to boost my budget, as the prices are modern, i.e., around 100 per person, and that’s...

Woosabi was advertised in an in-flight Lufthansa magazine I read some months ago, and knowing that I'd be in Krakow soon prompted me to take a pic so as to go to it once in the city. I had some second thoughts after reading the negative reviews here, but as we were in Kazimierz anyway, I decided to try it. And to be frank, I have no idea why there are those negative reviews - I write this as a fairly discerning palate who's lived in SE Asia for 25 years. I was definitely NOT disappointed. The red curry was perfectly spiced, and the portion would easily, I think, feed 2 people. I also bought the plate of 3 bao buns and the sweet potato fries - both delicious - and brought home 2 of the 3 buns. So lunch at Woosabi turned into lunch with dinner left over. I chose the vodka-limegrass cocktail, and it was the perfect accompaniment to the meal - cleansing my palate and itself refreshingly tasty. As for the ambience of the restaurant - yes, the plants are plastic (except for one palm), which I hope the owners will reconsider over time. Bathrooms were both spotless and the wallpaper attractive. Service was polite and attentive, patient and accommodating (I asked to leave the leftovers until I could pick them up later in the afternoon). 9/10 - only one mark dropped because of the...

Beautiful place catching attention with outstanding interior. Fair to mention that the cocktails were nice, however food was not exceptional.

To get there you need to make reservation online only, bear in mind to book the table will cost you money and it is not a deposit, you literally pay for the table. In my case it was the biggest disappointment as I reserved table in advance for 4 people and we got the worst table ever (at the entrance and the stairs) while there were enough empty tables close to the windows. I asked the waiter if it was possible to change the table since we could see plenty empty ones without reservation and she said she will try to reseat us but she never came back with this matter, however her colleague arranged a new table in 2 minutes. The rest of the experience with employees was really pleasant!

In general the place is nice to visit once, but probably it just didn’t meet my personal...