Ćma by Mateusz Gessler — Restaurant in Warsaw

Weird. There's something seriously wrong with this place and it gives off vibe of a shady establishment, despite the name and food. Party of two, we visited for late lunch this Saturday (Easter weekend). The service was good, waitess attentive, the food was ok, though bland and tad heavy on the stomach (stuffed eggs, white sausage, and potato pancake with mushrooms). Waiting time - way too long for not so busy place. But then there was, presumably, a bodyguard who behaved like a total creep. If he wasn't employed by the restaurant, then someone should have removed him from the premises. While waiting for the food and talking to my companion, the guy approached and said 'hi' ('no część, co tam') as if he knew me ... I shook my head notifying he must have mistaken me for someone else and I didn't know him (I live abroad). He then proceeded to circle the place while passing by multiple times and staring; at some point sitting at the counter across the room and ... staring. Weirdly, he was walking around with a beer. After we left, we saw him standing outside the restaurant and staring, again. I just noted to my friend the creep must have been mentally disturbed. What if I were there alone and at a different time? Probably won't come back.

Note to whoever translated the menu: no one uses 'boletus' for borowik; porcini would be less confusing for English...

The food was very good, but sadly, the level of service and the ridiculous additional charges impacted the experience for me. The prices are truly American / Western European, but not the quality of service.

During our 1+ hour stay, we were not checked in on even once. In addition to that, it was very difficult to get the attention of the waiting staff to order something extra. We were given tap water and offered a basket of bread which we assumed to have been complimentary.

At the end of dinner, we were charged PLN15 for the tap water and PLN20 for a few pieces of bread; I was surprised by that. When I asked about why I was charged for a bottle of tap water that is simply just water poured from the sink, I was told that the water was “filtered” and hence the price. I was also surprised by the price of the bread, since it seemed to have been offered to us in a complimentary manner. I will mention that we spent ~PLN500 for...

A good looking, modern restaurant - part of the trendy Koszyki complex. In summer you can relax in the garden amongst a sexy young crowd. Unfortunately, despite having young Gessler’s name behind the restaurant, the food is hit-and-miss… The steak tatare was well prepared and tasty. Now, about the ribs: the meat was cooked to levels of perfection I didn’t realise were even possible - INCREDIBLY juicy, tender and succulent. The sauce, on the other hand, was a complete and utter failure - it had the right colour and consistency, but was totally devoid of ANY discernable flavour. No plum. No any other fruit. No sugar content. No spice of any kind. For gods sake, I couldn’t even discern any salt or pepper. It’s one of life’s great mysteries: how can anyone who delivers such utterly perfect meat f£%k up the sauce to the point of such a monumenal, inglorious...