Entertainment in Poland
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Gardzienice Theatre's Ticket Office
Founded in 1977, 28km southeast of Lublin, Gardzienice Theatre is renowned in artistic circles for energetic, heady performances. Under the guidance of artistic director and founder Wlodzimierz Staniewski, dramatic montages derive inspiration from gatherings with indigenous communities throughout and beyond Poland. Check whether they are in town at the ticket office.
reviewed
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Singer Café
Louche hang-out of choice among the Kazimierz cognoscenti, this bar pays tribute to the sewing machine that was once produced here. By day, it's an atmospheric, antique-filled cafe, where patrons sit at sewing machines and sip cappuccinos. By night, they turn up the music and the place hums until dawn.
reviewed
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Kalogródek
Hidden behind some rough-looking wooden hoardings, the big, stepped terrace here is like a playground for students. Darts and cheap beer (the local brew Piast) make sure it’s generally heaving, even when the weather’s uncooperative.
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Wrocław Opera
This venerable and recently restored music theatre is the traditional venue for opera and ballet performances.
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Centrum Hadlowo-Usłagowe
Dive through the archway at ul Novy Śiwat 26 and you'll discover Centrum Hadlowo-Usłagowe, a collection of bars, eateries and shops in stark contrast to the rapidly modernising face of 21st-century Warsaw. Here tiny drinking holes with names such as Pemek and Windigo fill a T-junction of squat concrete bunkers, attracting a young, bohemian crowd eager to avail of the relaxed vibe and cosy retro furniture.
There's also outdoor seating, but the open-air party moves inside at 22:00 due to city regulations. Lining the stomach is no problem either, with Turkish available from Kafefajka and Antalya, sushi from Besuto, and Asian from Cô tú.
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Crikoteka Archive
Even in life it was hard to define Tadeusz Kantor, a master of both performance and visual arts, who blurred the line between genres. Poet, painter, set designer and actor, he delighted and confounded his audiences with his one-man avant-garde extravaganzas. The venue for his performances was the Cricot 2 Theatre - defunct since his death in 1990. But the Crikoteka archive documents his life work, maintaining a collection of set designs, costumes, photographs and videos. Kantor's Atelier is also open to the public, housing a small gallery of pieces that the artist created towards the end of his life.
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Tamara Café
This café, restaurant, pub and wine bar takes the latter very seriously. The food is an indecisive mix of Mexican, Mediterranean and Asian fare lovingly infused with fresh flavour, but it’s all just a prelude to alcohol. If you’re a cultured wine connoisseur, just feel like a cocktail concoction in the courtyard, or are a hungry tippler who wants some vodka with (or in) your meal, this is the place to pull up a chair.
reviewed
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ul Dobra 33/35
Close to the university at ul Dobra 33/35 is a concentration of bars appealing to the city's student population. Here you'll find Aurora, Diuna, and Jadłodajnia Filozoficzna, all housed in what looks like old construction-site offices. Each has its own distinctive musical flavour (live or DJ-supplied), whether it be punk/rock, experimental electronica, or reggae and jazz, but on almost any given night of the week the atmosphere is lively and the beer cheap.
reviewed
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Café Ferber
It’s startling to step straight from Gdańsk’s historic main street into this very modern café-bar, dominated by bright red panels, a suspended ceiling and boxy lighting. The scarlet décor contrasts with its comfy brown armchairs, from which you can sip well-made coffee, international wines, and cocktail creations such as the szary kot (grey cat). On weekends, DJs spin house and chill-out music into the wee small hours.
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Spiritus Sanctus
If you’re tired of beer and vodka, head for this stylish wine bar opposite St Mary’s Church. There’s no wine list to peruse – instead, the knowledgeable waiters suggest suitable tipples from unfamiliar regions of the Balkans. While you’re enjoying your Slovenian white or Croatian red, you can marvel at the amazing décor, a jumble of abstract art and classic objets d’art.
reviewed
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Coffee Karma
Coffee Karma ‘Karma, you nuns and monks, are your intentions’, so the Buddhist saying goes. Few truly religious folk frequent Karma, but at least the café owner’s intentions are pure and simple – thick smoothies, strong coffee and an easygoing air. The intentions of guests are to secure an outdoor table in summer or a low couch behind large bay windows in winter, something that can often prove hard to do.
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Tantra
Forget those Gothic bricks – this bar takes the colour red to new heights in its astonishingly decorated interior. It’s done out in an Indian and Tibetan theme and layered with cloth and other artefacts from the subcontinent, including some tastefully rendered images of erotic temple statuary. Sit on the cushion-strewn divans, order a drink from the long list and meditate on the infinite.
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PRL
The dictatorship of the proletariat is alive and well in this tongue-in-cheek venue inspired by communist nostalgia. Disco lights play over a bust of Lenin, propaganda posters line the walls and red-menace memorabilia is scattered through the maze of rooms. Descend to the basement – beneath the portraits of Stalin and Mao – if you’d like to hit the dance floor.
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u7
Taking the American under-one-roof concept to extremes, U7 offers much more than your average bowling alley: a snack bar, a gym, a sauna, a solarium, pool tables, darts and even a shooting range are packed into the subterranean space by the market hall. Unsurprisingly, the heady combination of tenpin and live ammo is a magnet for Gdańsk’s younger citizens.
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Fantom
Poland’s longest-running gay club, Fantom has been on the go since 1994 and stages a huge party every Saturday starting at 10pm. It’s a steamy, full-on experience, complete with sauna, Jacuzzi, sex shop and video lounge; the inconspicuous entrance (a black door with ‘Fantom’ stencilled on it) is in the courtyard behind Między Nami.
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Atmosfera
If you’re on the run from the Foreign Legion, or just trying to escape the hordes in the Stary Rynek, you could do worse than head for this hidden-away café in tiny ul Mokra. The décor is a faded blue showcase of floral wreaths and abstract art, just worn enough to give it character. To become even more unfindable, head to the upstairs room.
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Café Art Deco
Tucked away at the quiet western end of Monte Cassino in a small courtyard back from the street, the tiny Art Deco serves some alcoholic tipples, but it’s the coffee that makes it special. It’s an atmospheric update of the classic Polish kawiarnia (café) that defies the current onslaught of cookie-cutter café chains.
reviewed
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Klub Sarp
The riverside area around the southern end of the Old Town is a hotbed of pubs, clubs and restaurants, and SARP is a top contender. This split-level setup in a former granary is run by the local Association of Polish Architects and, with its blackened wooden beams and whitewashed walls, looks as though it’s been transplanted from Tudor times.
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Cheder
Unlike most of the other Jewish-themed places in Kazimierz, this one aims to entertain and educate. Named after a traditional Hebrew school, the cafe offers access to a decent library in Polish and English, regular readings and films, as well as real Israeli coffee, brewed in a traditional Turkish copper pot with cinnamon and cardamom.
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Christopher Columbus
This bar-restaurant, boasting an attractive timber-lined interior, overlooks the river and its less than fascinating dockyards, but you can always turn your chair to face the nearby Naval Academy. The curved bar resembles a boat, and there’s a vast beer garden. Jazz and swing music is on Monday and Tuesday evenings, respectively.
reviewed
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St John’s Centre
Housed within the massive Gothic interior of the former St John’s Church in the heart of the Main Town, this spectacular venue is administered by the Baltic Sea Culture Centre as an exhibition space and auditorium, showcasing everything from classical concerts to world music. Check the posters outside for upcoming events.
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Jadłodajnia Filozoficzna
Jadłodajnia Filozoficzna housed in what look like old construction-site offices.It has its own distinctive musical flavour (live or DJ-supplied), whether it be punk/rock, experimental electronica, or reggae and jazz, but on almost any given night of the week the atmosphere is lively and the beer cheap.
reviewed
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Czarna Owca
Calling your pub the ‘Black Sheep’ hardly encourages good behaviour, so sipping a quiet pint is seldom on the agenda here. When you’ve finished boozing in the dark, intimate bar, join the herd on the downstairs dance floor for DJs playing house, pop, rock, Latin or retro sounds, depending on the night.
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Lizard King
Simultaneously happening and laid-back, this venue is easily located by the big guitar on its outside wall. Friendly crowds sit drinking and eating in the split-level space, casting the occasional glance at the lizard over the bar. There’s live music most nights, usually from 9pm, including rock, jazz and blues.
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Coctailo
Bright little drinking space hidden from ul Bohaterów Monte Cassino at the back of the Crooked House, with a cosy light-filled interior and a peaceful outdoor seating area. The drinks list contains Italian wines by the glass (6zł to 15zł), along with good coffee, smoothies and ice cream sundaes.
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