EsSence earns top marks for its drinks Bartosz Bajerski

This article started out as a review of Kukabara, a funky Australasian place on ul. Krucza, just next-door to Tomo Sushi. But when we arrived at the place, we found it had been transformed into “EsSence,” an offshoot of Nowy Swiat’s Sense. Sense’s founder Ray has loaned his golden touch to the place – the evidence is everywhere, from the interior design to the menu. The garish orange-tiled wall and open kitchen have been replaced by Sense’s cool gray pillars and chic furnishing scheme.

We started off with a table-load of drinks mixed by Danny Undhammar. There was the Bloody Mary based on celery-infused vodka with all the trimmings, a fine caipirinha, an elderflower collins, a classic champagne cocktail and extra dry martinis for the boys. I was afraid the change of décor might have been accompanied by price hike, yet the drinks are reasonable at zł.19-20, with the martinis at zł.22. And they’re brilliant.

On to the food. The vegetable samosas (zł.21) are a holdover from Kukabara. They are piping hot, filled with a seasoned mix of veggie filling. The hallumi salad (zł.21) was good, although there was a bit too much wasabi mascarpone for my taste. The tartar “marinero” (zł.21) is based on the Sense version, filled with a dollop of savory goat cheese. The quesadilla with smoked turkey, bacon and cheddar (zł.21) was impressive and the Malaysian stir-fried rice with shrimp, served with chicken satay (zł.26) was flavorful, but the best was the chicken curry (also zł.26), which was creamy and not too spicy. The Obama Burger (zł.35) is an intriguing spot on the menu, but no one in our party was feeling up to the 200-gram prime beef challenge that particular evening.

Obviously, this place is setting itself up to be Sense’s younger cousin. The fact that there are a dozen great wines priced at zł.11 per glass confirms that the price is right. After being a total bore and insisting on sampling all 12, I can whole-heartedly recommend the Mapu Sauvignon Blanc, Otra Vida Malbec and both the Leopard’s Lookout red and white. Even the sophisticated Chablis 1er Cru is reasonably priced at zł.290.

But whatever you start with, you should definitely bid your friends adieu with a toast of mango shooters.

SW

EsSence
ul. Krucza 16/22
tel. 022 434-2083, www.essence-cafe.pl
Open daily 9:00-last guest