Belvedere can be found at the outskirts of the beautiful city park Warsaw Royal Lazienki where you also find wonderful greenery, almost domesticated red squirrels and the summer residence of the last Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski.
Belvedere is located in the New Orangery and it feels like entering a botanical garden or a greenhouse when you walk through the foliage into the Victorian orangery with huge windows and high ceilings. There are several dining rooms and you can choose to dine more secluded in a romantic setting or have outside dining which is recommended for lunches where big peacocks will come up to you for some dinner company and free food as well.
The restaurant is one of Poland’s most exclusive, but there will not be any high quotes if you compare to most other parts of Europe. The cuisine is Polish and International and Executive Chef Adam Komar performs with most of the dishes. You should absolutely order in a plate of traditional Polish starters; herring with baked potato, beef loin tartar, venison pate with cranberry and roulade of Polish cottage cheese with tomato confiture. The starter with beef loin tartar with pickled milk caps and boletus is also a safe bet for a pleasant hors d’oeuvre and you should pair any of the starters with a vodka shot of Belvedere vodka that fits perfect, especially to the herring courses.
One of Belvedere’s most famous dishes is the beef tenderloin with boletus according to a recipe by Tremo the Head Chef of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, but you should have a soup before that with crayfish broth with “uszka” dumplings stuffed with crayfish or the “Zurek” that is traditional Polish sour cream with country ham and egg.
Restaurant Manager Tomasz Szczepanowski has been with Belvedere since its start almost 20 years ago. He does a splendid job keeping everything up to top standard, but there should be more waiters taking care of the more than 100 guests to make sure that no food is served with wrong temperature or having any guest waiting too long. Artur Bidzinski is the restaurant’s young sommelier and he has much more to learn before he can compete with any sommelier on an international level. He does not do a bad job, but there is much more to learn when it comes to presentation of the wines.
Belvedere is another typical example of a more traditional fine dining restaurant where it would be great with some stronger international influences and less uncertainty that can be found all over Poland. The restaurant is on the right track, but more has to be done before flavours and service can compete with the very best of the world. Still Belvedere is doubtless one of the best restaurants in Warsaw.
Written by Andy
