Bar Polski - The Polish Bar (Formerly known as Na Zdrowie) - London - Nightlife & Entertainment Reviews

I'd never actually heard of this place till Shola (MsPurpleRain) mentioned it, which is a bit stupid seeing as though i LOVE vodka!
I was a bit weary of it at first, we were there on a friday night, and did stick out a bit amongst all the business men and women that were there. However, the atmosphere was great! Everyone was really nice, and even though we were being a bit stupid and immature most of the time, they didn't let it bother them!

As for the drinks, there are over 45 different flavoured vodkas. I would have tried all of them, if i hadn't drunk so much before hand!..lol...i will do one day!

We went for the rasberry, honey and mint vodka....made a little traffic light!...lol. The mint vodka was amazing!...I wanted more, but couldn't stand up straight! Luckily, the place also does food, so we bought couple of bowls of chips to sober up!

Overall, the place is quite small and can get crowded pretty easy. They do open up all the doors so the crowd kind of carries on onto the street, which is more of an allyway than anything else. Its great though because everryones really friendly, including the staff. Will definitely recommend it to anyone!

I thought I didn't like vodka, turns out I didn't know what I liked, until I came to this little London Haven and had a lesson for myself in my own taste.

This place came HIGHLY recommended by fellow Travbuddy and close friend Lisa (lisalush) so when it was time for me to meet up with yet another Travbuddy John (Londonstudent) for the first time, we both agreed it would be fun to try out her recommendation.

Since this place does food as well as drink, we agreed to meet for lunch; John put his foot down at lunch any earlier than 12:30, and good thing too; they don't open until then. But he's an awfully smart guy, I could have told you that.

It was cold the day we went, being a rainy day in the beginning of January, and the hot food we got here was fantastic; Polish sausages served with fried onions and mustard, potatoes still steaming on your plate, a very interesting version of Polish cole slaw that was quite good; and the cold with the remarkable heat of the other items was (seeing how I was in London) "Ace".

We had our food with pots of equally hot and fantastic tea; all the while really enjoying our long overdue face to face meet in this cozy location. Outside the huge windows the rain spattered, inside the bar it was quiet; it doesn't get too busy until the evening. (I went again on a different night to see this and sample some more flavors; at £2.60 how can you not? This is the best deal in all of London!)

Once we'd finished our wonderful meals we knew we'd be crazy to not try the vodka! After all, it's what you're there to do. The vodka here, as mentioned in Lisa's review, is remarkably varied; there are about 50 flavors, and also they range in strength from a fairly do-able 18% to an "Amanda will die now" 50% - so you have to know what it is you are ordering. To quote Lisa's Review on the place, since they don't seem to be linking up...

"The Vodka menu is extensive and bizarre. I don't think I've had the same voddy twice
Here's a few examples:

Zlota Woda - vodka flecked with gold leaf, infused with aniseed and herbs
Czarna Porzeczka - sweet blackcurrant vodka
Mysliwska - vodka flavoured with juniper berries
Neibieskie Migdaly - blue almond vodka
Jarzebiak - rowanberry flavoured vodka
The man who owns the place is the best person to be served by and is happy to advise you on which mixer to have with which voddy."

I found quickly that while at home, shots of tequila are what I would do if I was doing a drink at all, with vodka that was not the case for me - just the smallest amount on my lips and I thought my whole throat was on fire. So while John was manly, and did the shot, I got mine the watered down way, with different mixers - juice etc. As Lisa promised, the man behind the counter had the perfect answer of what to put with what. Some of my favorite flavors were black cherry, vanilla, and the bright blue one; no memory of what THAT was about anymore...

By the end of the afternoon, I had a full belly, a very mild buzz, a friend for life, confirmation that Lisa has perfect taste in drinking establishments and plans to meet John again on Friday. What a great bar...