There’s a new restaurant opening somewhere in Warsaw almost every week. It’s hard to keep up. This time I decided to visit Ćma located in Hala Koszyki. The restaurant won because of it’s opening hours. It was late in the evening, I was meeting a friend and was really hungry. Most of the spots were already closed. But not Ćma! This one is open 24/7.

Ćma is run by a well-know restaurateur Mateusz Gessler. I’ve been in one of his restaurants before. I used to go for breakfast to Warszawa Wschodnia which is also opened all day and all night. I really like going there so as soon as I heard Gessler is opening a new spot I knew I had to check it out. What’s important, there’re actually two of his restaurants in Hala Koszyki, opposite of each other. The other one is called Warszawski Sen. They opened simultanously, but I have yet to visit it.

Grabing a bite at night

Eating at night in Warsaw have been a problem for years. In the summer there are some alternatives on the river bank, but most of them are not open all night long anyway. But in the winter months there’s not much to eat except ubiquitous kebabs or pho soups that you can find in one or two places around Warsaw (but those are open at night only on the weekends). Recently there have been a few 24/7 restaurant popping up here and there, but it’s still not enough. That’s why I was so excited when Ćma opened. The interior design and layout remind me of above-mentioned Warszawa Wschodnia. You can sit either at the bar, where you can watch the chefs working in the kitchen, or at one of the tall tables.

View my food journey on Zomato!

New and exciting Polish cuisine

There are not tons of options on the menu. Which usually means the food is going to be good. The menu actually changes seasonally so be sure to try everything that piques your interest, as it might be gone soon. There’s a variety of cold and warm starters available. They’re all based on traditional Polish dishes, but with a modern twist. There were many different classics to choose from: eggs with mayo, smoked eel or traditional Polish bigos. After taking a look at the menu we decide to go with gołabki (made from boiled cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling of minced pork or beef, chopped onions, and rice or barley) served in żurek soup (sour rye soup). We order beetroot carpaccio and roast beef with horseradish sauce as well. I would order something more, but the waitress was so rude and so fast that I didn’t manage to do so.

 

Ćma Hala koszyki

I really enjoyed gołąbki served in rich thick soup. It was full of flavour and aroma. Beetroot carpaccio had too much vinegar for my liking and I wasn’t able to finnish it all. Hopefully my friend helped me with that. The roast beef served with spicy horseradish were truly delicious. They were definitely my favourite out of all three.

This time we only tried the starters, but there are also main on the menu such as steaks or duck. I definitely have to come back to try one of them. The soups on the menu looked interesting as well.

 

Żurek w Ćma Hala Koszyki

Ćma Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

We definitely recommend this restaurant. It’s a good place to meet up with friends and just eat and talk for hours straight. The restaurant never closes so you don’t have to worry that you’ll get kicked out in the middle of a conversasion 😉