Let’s start with a bit of history in order to explain the origins of this restaurant. So between 1927 and 1938 within today’s streets: Słowacki Street, Popiełuszki Street and Krasińskiego Street there came into existence a so-called Official Żoliborz. The Warsaw Housing Cooperative created by workers’ PPS took a matter into its own hands, got loans and started building apartments – in the spirit of modernistic functionalism. The housing estate that was destroyed during the war became quickly rebuilt. The housing estate was designed by many architects and even though the district didn’t seem to look like spacious luxury apartments, until today one lives in them quite pleasantly. Currently, this part of Żoliborz is a Cooperative Centre Żoliborz and the tenement that are located in its range are simply called the Colonies. Well, perhaps a disadvantage could be a lack of places gathering the local social life which serves good food. But in this field something finally changes. The Secret Life Café, operating already for two years, firmly became part the district’s atmosphere. They make an excellent coffee, they serve cakes, breakfasts and that could be just enough, if the local after the antiquarian book shop wasn’t vacated. We live here upstairs and we care very much about uniting the residents, not to cause any discomfort, or disturb them, but to complement their lives. We serve for example coffee for PLN 1 each for older persons, we only ask not to smoke outside the block of the VIII colony. So we decided, with a certain anxiety, that will take over the neighbouring premises and we will offer something what Żoliborz district is still missing. Good, quickly served, not too expensive food. Nothing refined, rather an ordinary, but tasty, normal cuisine. The cuisine that is rather light giving energy to the rest of the day.
The menu of the Ósma Kolonia restaurant is rather short. There are three appetizers available: feta cheese baked in the date with an addition of the rosemary, with roasted walnuts on romaine lettuce – delicious! A salad with diced cucumber, a mango with the chili addition and the pumpkin with garlic and the maple syrup (12-15 PLN). There are three main courses: buckwheat blinis with mushrooms stewed in the wine with a bit of the cream and with parsley taste really good – and because of this dish we will surely come back to the Ósma Kolonia. Or, a rice pasta given with the mango-coconut sauce covered with fresh finely wiped vegetables with an addition of Asian Shiso tastes exceptionally fresh, and owners admit they are inspired by cultic Vietnamese Monsieur Vuongiem from Berlin Mitte; a sweet potato with cauliflower leaves and thyme. There are two desserts available. One in the veggiee version: raspberries with apple in a crumble (15 PLN). The other, not vegan one: rasberries with an apple and botch up. The card get changed quite often. Zuza is a vegetarian since always, I am for a year, but we don’t want to dazzle with that – says Michał. We rather run away from that, taken such a cuisine is being associated with a tasteless, boring food. We don’t want the vegetables to pretend to be the cutlet. Vegetables are splendid alone and it is them which should be emphasized, be foreground – adds Zuzanna. Patrycja Piotrowska is the chief at Óma Kolonia. Along with her four other cooks who are workingthere. The dishes appear on the table in a flash after 5-7 minutes. Served in simple white dishes coming from a Polish Karolina porcelain manufacturing. Every day there is a different lunch served for 25 PLN (soup and the main course). Żoliborz district is finally culinary colonized. At last!
ÓSMA KOLONIA restaurant already works!
