New Turkish grill/pizzeria a hopeful work in progress
Sister Bertrille and her colleague Sw. Anna were stepping out for a cup of coffee one Tuesday when I hijacked them. I pulled them away to help sample the wares of a new place that had opened near the WBJ office. Steakhouse Safir is located on a walkway from ulica Pulawska to ulica Chocimska, on the sunny side of the new Europlex/Silver Screen cinema. This is a location that has been begging for a lunch spot to satisfy all of those hungry suits in the Pulawska Financial Center, the soon to be filled Europlex, and other offices in the neighborhood.
I have long stared at the hole left by the sklep spozywczy, which mostly sold beer to the neighborhood alcoholics and construction workers who erected the tower next door, and then went out of business about the time construction slowed down. I remember thinking this was a "can't-fail" spot for a cafe and would catch the overflow crowd from the new multiplex as well as employees from the WBJ.
Since the Karat Hotel bar lost its beer license, we thirsty journalists have longed for a nice spot to tilt one back after work. Steakhouse Safir has seized on this opportunity and opened a Turkish grill and pizzeria.
Thinking we could escape the office crowd, the sister and I unintentionally wound up joining half the WBJ staff. Tex was sitting with Barbie against the wall. Fred from advertising was joking with the Night owl at a table in the widow. Even Catwoman, our former network administrator, was there on a lunch date. It took half an hour to exchange greetings from the door to our table, and later half the circulation department walked through during our meal.
The decor is very simple, good for a lunch place. The floors are tiled in earth tones. The walls are painted in warm colors and are practically bare, except for a few art posters the kind you buy in a shopping mall gallery with paintings by Van Gogh and Nicholas Verrall. Hand-painted clay jars inverted and hanging on long cords from the ceiling were turned into light fixtures over each table. Wooden beams were added to the top of the room to disguise the ventilation and add a little charm. Salt and pepper were already on the table, as well as three sauces, oil and vinegar, toothpicks, and napkins.
Now, if the food holds up you will be able to buy all the good press you want at Steakhouse Safir. The menu was simple, in fact printed on a laminated placemat. It's a shame they were coated in plastic, though, because they covered the nice cotton tablecloths in shades of coffee and salmon.
Light breakfasts are served for zl. 5-zl. 6, salads zl. 10-zl. 13, soups zl. 5.50-zl. 6, main dishes (with salad and fries) zl. 13.50-zl. 18, pizza zl. 9-zl. 16, dessert zl. 10, and special dishes under the heading "we recommend" for zl. 17-zl. 30.
Sw. Anna ordered one of these specialties of the house the spinach with tomato garlic and eggplant (zl. 17). She was expecting something special but all she got was a bowl of spinach, with garlic and eggplant, and cheese melted over the top. She liked it even though it seemed more like a side order than a main dish. Pita bread was needed to compliment the bowl.
"I think it was not worth the money," she said, "but it was good."
Sister Bertrille ordered a pizza prosciutto (zl. 12). The taste of the pizza is very similar to that of Pizzeria UFO's, with a slightly sweet sauce and bubbly crust. The good sister was chomping away happily when she discovered the wrapping from one edge of a slice of prosciutto. They sliced the meat without taking off the wrap! Had there been a few more slices, we probably could have identified what factory in Poland this brand of Italian ham came from. This discovery only stopped the good sister momentarily, then she went on happily eating.
I ordered the Shoarma Sultan (zl. 15), a pile of meat with garlic and cheese, whose variety neither the menu nor my taste buds could specify. But the french fries were fantastic, crisp and golden. They made up for every soggy, undercooked spud I ever doused with ketchup at McDonald's. Sister Bertrille was also gleefully grabbing them from my plate, murmuring something about giving them up for Lent. The side salad was dry and slightly bitter.
We washed down the meal with three cappuccinos (zl. 5). The foamy head on the espresso was only about half a centimeter thick, so there was very little steamed milk. I was about to complain when I tasted the coffee and it was very good. The coffee was strong but mellow and needed less milk.
Lunch for three and coffee came to zl. 67 ($16.34). All told, each one of our plates had faults but it might just be chalked up to opening jitters. This was only their second day of operation and there were many kinks to iron out. For instance, Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) has yet to give them phone service and a few suppliers hadn't delivered the juice or beer either. The prospective beverage menu includes EB and Grolsch on tap and Guinness and Corona by the bottle. The wine list includes four reds and four whites ranging from zl. 45-zl. 145 a bottle and by the glass for zl. 7-zl. 9. Sparkling wines cost zl. 39-zl. 240 a bottle and zl. 17 per glass. "Next week" is when they will have all this, according to our waitress, and though she never promised us a rose garden, she did promise an outdoor beer garden by summer.
Safir could prove to be a casual place to sit out on sultry summer evenings to enjoy a beer and a kebab after work or before the movies. This is clearly a work in progress and we will be watching for it to improve.
