You may have ventured past Hala Koszyki, seen the towering glass windows and stone facade, and wondered what’s inside.
What you may not have realized is that, unlike other gastro-halls around Poland, which put most of the focus on food and drinks, Hala Koszyki is also a verifiable cultural Eden in the center of the city.
Top class little independent bistros sit next to some of Warsaw’s restaurants, like Sobremesa Tapas Bar, Port Royal, Zachodni Brzeg, and the biggest restaurateurs including Mateusz Gessler's gastronomic outposts - Ćma and Warszawski Sen. The main hall has some brilliant food on offer, with stalls offering flavours from all over the world. There are of course some shops here too, however, in reality, they'll always play second fiddle to the top class dining area.
Irrespective of one’s thoughts on whether such a concept, more commonly associated with cities like London or Barcelona, can fit comfortably into the cityscape of modern day Warsaw (no matter how much we love our city, London or Barcelona it is not) the one thing that is absolutely mindblowing is the restoration and design work carried out by JEMS Architects. Their love of the original market hall – designed in the secessionist style by Juliusz Dzierżanowski in 1906-09 – is apparent in every last detail, right down to the cleaning and the reusing of original individual bricks, restoring original lattice metalwork and sculptural details relating to products on sale in the original market by sculptor Józef Zygmunt Otto.
Even if you can’t find a table at any of the cool eateries and bars, we urge you to spend some time taking in this stunning market hall. Don't forget to look up, down, sideways etc. as beautiful hidden details abound!
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