I got back from Poznań at night. A short business trip, 12 hours, all done in a hurry and we haven’t seen much apart from a part of ul. Półwiejska and familiar red brick of Old Brewery. But even though we only had 20 minutes x 2 to eat, we managed to eat something tasty and in places I would be happy to recommend. But that’s not what I want to tell you about today. Poznań is becoming one of the best spots for food in Poland and I’m finally motivated to write about one of the most intriguing places we visited on our trip to the city back in April.
Vine Bridge. Place we visited in the very end which turned out to be the most surprising one. It was Sunday and we have just finished our tour in Porta Posnania and a walk on Ostrów Tumski. We crossed the bridge and landed on Ostrówek street, one of the streets of Śródka – a district which seems like it only recently became bearable.. There’s plenty of restaurants here now and Vine Bridge surely is one of the most captivating ones. Until recently it was known not only for great food but also for being the smallest restaurant in Poland with just 3 tables! Right now they have another rooms but it’s still small and cosy.
During Sunday afternoons they set up a smorgasbord outside along with bain-maries and serve brunch with a view of Ostrów Tumski. Let’s check the menu.
Vine Bridge serves ‘new Polish cuisine’. We’ve been there, right? Many chefs choose this path which often aims to bring back the forgotten products and flavours in a different way. We keep supporting this idea because we believe that Poland doesn’t have to be associated with a pork chop, cabbage, pierogi and sausage. Let’s start with the soups then. We already see that it’s going to be super original. There you go: smoked trout cream soup, honeydew honey and lemon tagliatelle, parsley powder (PLN 26). That’s for me. Łukasz goes for sorrel cream soup, goat’s buttermilk ravioli, horseradish (PLN 22).
sorrel cream soup, goat’s buttermilk ravioli, horseradish – 22 zł
smoked trout cream soup, honeydew honey and lemon tagliatelle, parsley powder- PLN 26
Both soups taste really good but I prefer the smoked trout one. I never thought a soup can be so good! Sweet ‘tagliatelle’ breaks the smoky fish flavour. It’s magnificently creamy, filling and makes me hopeful for the food that’s yet to come. Sorrel cream soup is also great!
As for main courses, I get goat’s cheese dumplings with stellaria and apple and pear mustard (PLN 28) while Łukasz goes for sous-vide veal, lime tree flowers ash, buckwheat pasta, cress and sage sauce (PLN 57). I quickly google what’s a stellaria – turns out it’s a plant from carnation family. My dumplings look appealing and prove to be a good choice. Soft dough, nice filling, even though I expected a more distinct goat’s cheese flavour. Łukasz loves he’s perfectly prepared veal (and say something about the best veal h ever had) and sage sauce. But he doesn’t like the slices of buckwheat pasta at all – stiff and tasteless. Most of them stay on the plate…
Vine Bridge also gets extra points for the approach to children. Every restaurant which serves all sorts of weird foods and avoids classic dishes raises doubts – will Maks be able to find something for him? You can say whatever you want but my child prefers a tomato or chicken soup to sorrel and trout cream soups. A round of applause for Vine Bridge here: Maks got an ordinary and simple pasta with chicken and tomato sauce which turned out to be so tasty that we nibbled on it too 😉
sous-vide veal, lime tree flowers ash, buckwheat pasta, cress, sage sauce – 57 zł
Maks’ exclusive
Dessert menu was equally intriguing and unusual. I quickly decided to try sous-vide rhubarb, oatmeal paskha and buckwheat ice cream (PLN 21). We also took tradition ice cream with elderberry jelly (PLN 22). The taste and texture of rhubarb was a bit disappointing – too gummy and sour. I guess I prefer rhubarb served other ways. As for the looks it’s a bit messy and chaotic, I’m a bit lost. Oatmeal paskha turns out to be great though as well as the ice cream – solo ones and the side for rhubarb alike.
traditional ice cream, elderberry jelly – PLN 22
sous-vide rhubarb, oatmeal paskha and buckwheat ice cream – PLN 21
Vine Bridge is a place you just have to visit while in Poznań. We haven’t seen equally creative and innovative cuisine anywhere else. There’s plenty of places serving modern Polish cuisine right now – some do it good, some don’t. There’s a lot of those really creative ones but still, we haven’t been to a place like Vine Bride before. Only here, we have found so many plants, pest and herbs we didn’t new even existed, on the menu! Also, when you get here, be sure to try their sausages and cold cuts. They make it on the spot.
na przekąskę
homemade cold cuts
PS. PS. they also do lunches during the week – cheap and less ‘freaky’ 😉 Hope they’re equally tasty 🙂
PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
ul. Ostrówek 6
Poznań
tel. 0 61 875 09 34
* We visited and tasted Poznań thanks to The city of Poznań.
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