Kotlownia is an Italian restaurant that is a bit out of the way for centrum dwellers (Żoliborz),…read moreand is a bit expensive as well. I think the price for my dish was around 30 pln. Ultimately, I really did like the food here and the portions were huge.
The dish I had was pasta with duck, which sounds strange but ended up being completely satisfactory. The duck was grilled with red chili peppers and pickled miniature onions in white wine and oil. There was a white truffle paste and a lot of Parmesan along with a lot of cilantro, which was surprising. I would eat cilantro with absolutely anything. Cilantro ice cream, cilantro chocolate, cilantro yogurt..
Cilantro duck pasta. I really enjoyed it. I also tried one of the cheese plates that in the land of Brie could be hailed as the king of all cheese plates.
Besides three or four different kinds of cheese, there was three or four kinds of meat. I specifically remember salami and Parma ham. Plus there were walnuts, apricots, prunes, pickles, pickled onions, artichoke, grapes...it was a mountain of finger food. They also brought bread with oil, so I was absolutely sure that I wasn't going to be able to eat the pasta by the time I was done exploring the cheese plate. (If you're curious I did manage, but I have a hollow leg.)
The restaurant itself is a bit on the fancy side. My first impression is that it felt like a train station: gray paint, iron joists, exposed brick. There were lots of old pictures on the wall depicting sepia scenes of industry from the past. Generally, it is expensive, and it's a place where you have a glass of wine and keep your elbows off the table. Yet, overall it isn't stuffy and you definitely get generous portions and tasty food.
