Pera Steak House and Seafood — Restaurant in Warsaw

This restaurant has, at its core, an offering designed specifically to attract high-value customers looking for somewhere to be seen. That's fine. It is unoriginal in this respect, but it is a tried and tested formula in a city that is growing at the rate that Warsaw is. The issue is that it falls down on the details of what a place following this formula needs to achieve without missing a beat.

Charging the kind of prices that they do, almost 500 zl for two people, which included 1 shared Hummus starter, 1 main course each with 3 sides, fries, baked potato and grilled vegetables, 2 Mojitos, 2 Gin & Tonics and a whisky, there is an absolute baseline that the food needs to be perfect in every way.

Raw grilled vegetables, including the aubergine, something that should not be eaten raw, as it is known to cause gastrointestinal discomfort for many people, is just lazy and shows a lack of care only made worse by the price of them!

A server should ALWAYS take a note of the customer's order. I understand that there are some myths around restaurants that the best servers don't need to do this, however, it immediately introduces a margin of error that, no matter how good your server's memory is, leaves the door open to getting your order wrong. Our steaks arrived with the medium-rare tenderloin blue and the blue t-bone medium-rare while a second Mojito needed to be ordered three times with three different servers before it actually arrived. Again, all things that should not be happening in a restaurant charging some of the highest prices in the city.

And while the above does make paying the bill without wincing somewhat challenging, the fact that a customer was allowed to not only bring a dog into the restaurant, but was then allowed to let it run around and even sleep on the floor next to our table while we ate is simply unacceptable. Cool and hip simply does not mean that basic health and safety considerations should be ignored.

Let the pantomime begin! A very loud and angry customer decided to perform an unhinged tour of the restaurant, shouting and screaming and generally being a nuisance. Having seen one of the servers grab him by his hood in an attempt to drag him towards the door, and having seen this achieve nothing but escalate the situation, I went to quietly speak with the person and try to calm things down. This went pretty well and saw a very agitated customer now conversing quietly in one area of the restaurant, near the door while I waited for the police to arrive. At this point, the server who had earlier tried to drag the man around by his hood came over to complain very loudly and very excitably about the fact that I was conversing with the man, pointing out that the police were coming and that the man should just leave. Fine, yes he should just leave, but he hadn't left, regardless of the threats of police or physical violence, so what was the harm in keeping things calm? Of course, I walked away and left the situation to be "managed" by the server who, thus far, had demonstrated nothing other than a complete lack of any ability to do anything but make things worse.

Worst of all, the fact that my wife had spent about 20 minutes prior to his outburst pointing out that the man was clearly behaving oddly, drinking only a glass of water and stinking to high heaven, it seems that neither the server nor any of his colleagues or managers thought to refuse entry to this man in the first place, nor eject him prior to all of this taking place.

This was the same server who dropped a menu on the floor, the same floor that a dog was running around on, and then picked it up and placed it on the table anyway. Funny how those that have a clear lack of understanding of their role are the first to criticise the actions of others.

There were positives, although none helped by things like a "cocktail bar" that is unable to make a Margarita, and those positives are reflected in the fact that I am giving a 3 star review and not a 1 star review, but they are desperately overshadowed by the...

Upon entering the restaurant, we noticed there were only three other guests present. For starters, we had the Carpaccio, which was quite good. However, the main course left much to be desired. We ordered the tenderloin, which was 250 grams divided into three small pieces served on a white hot plate. The first piece was not tender, while the third piece was. The choice of a white plate was questionable, as it did not appear clean. The presentation of the meat was amateurish, resembling the work of a beginner chef. The three pieces of tenderloin were placed on a yellowish sauce, presumably butter, and lacked proper caramelization on the outside.

The fries were served on a common household plate, which detracted from the dining experience. After finishing the main course, we had to signal the waiter, as it took seven minutes for him to approach our table. His communication skills were lacking, and he only asked if he could take the empty plate, despite my attempt to engage him in a conversation about the evening’s football match.

Dessert was also disappointing. The crème brûlée was pre-made, which is typical, but the sugar had not been caramelized just before serving. The meringue dessert consisted of heavy cream sandwiched between meringue layers, with a soggy and watery bottom, indicating it had been refrigerated for several hours. It would have been better served as a Pavlova rather than a dessert one might find at Coffee Nero.

Additionally, the cutlery was presented in a leather pocket where the restaurant's name, Pera, was no longer visible. The table was cluttered with paper napkins and a stack of toothpicks, further diminishing the dining experience.

In conclusion, Pera missed the mark on multiple small details that are essential for an unforgettable evening. I am perplexed by the positive reviews, as our experience was far from...

I've heard about the place some time ago and finally last Friday had the chance to visit. The localisation of the place is just a bit odd but once you enter inside it's a different world. You can immediately feel that no expense has been spared for the decoration and it shows. Furniture, lights, cutlery etc ...all first class. One big plus is that there's a separate room for company lunches, birthdays etc. The menu is not very extensive (always a good sign for me) and is a mishmash of Mediterranean and Thai cuisine plus steaks. Visibly the emphasis is on steaks as there are several dry aging refrigerators . I tried green salad with white cheese, steak and grilled seabass. Steak was served already cut - a bit of shock for me- but it was juicy and delicious. I have later learned that some steak houses in NYC serve it this way. The seabass was only grilled - the best way according to me- and also was juicy. And to finish was chocolate souffle which was absolutely delicious! One could taste that it was prepared on spot and freshly, not something deepfrozen and microwaved. Staff was helpful and professional. Overall, although it is in a strange corner of the city for such a luxury restaurant, it is definitely worth a try. Next time I intend to...