Drugie Dno

Nowogrodzka seems to have become Warsaw’s very own Beer Street. The mini pub crawl from Cuda Na Kiju  to Piw Paw (admittedly neither of them are actually on Nowogrodzka but that’s by the by) is an excellent way to spend Friday evening. Or Tuesday afternoon for that matter. And Drugie Dno certainly is ideally located, halfway from Cuda to Jabeerwocky. But is it as good as either of those places?
All that design work and the tables still wobble.
It’s certainly bigger than either of them, spread over two and a half floors. And on a pleasant Saturday afternoon at the start of summer I was the only punter in the place. Which was a bit odd given that Cuda had had a queue which was literally out of the door. But there was a much more enjoyable atmosphere too: while Cuda was blaring out Lou Reed at a volume I can only assume was trying, unsuccessfully, to drive the mob of hipsters away by making their ears bleed, Drugie Dno were playing some excellent laid back electronica which had me Shazamming track after track while sipping my beer and trying to make sense of the decor.

Dials that do nothing and pipes that do little
It’s a mark of how far the beer scene has come in Warsaw that we even consider interior design these days. A couple of years ago all most places had was a bar and a collection of mismatched ramshackle wobbly tables and not completely broken chairs. But at Drugie Dno it’s clear that a significant amount of thought and a not dissimilar amount of cash have gone on the design. Although in spite of that investment they’ve stayed true to the wobbly table ethos. The problem, other than slopped pints and the resulting soggy phones, is that the design doesn’t really work: it all looks fake. For example, above the bar there are three massive iron girders, which are usually used to hold things up but these ones are actually hanging from the ceiling on chains. There are a number of large fuseboards, but few of the slots for fuses actually have fuses in them. The toilet doors are reclaimed elevator doors which has been artistically attacked with an angle grinder, but there’s no hook to hang your coat. I’d honestly prefer a place which has even the design much less effort but feels real. Although I do have to give them credit for having a bottle selection which is actually on display in a place you can see. Pretty much every other bar in town hides their bottles away at ground level behind the bar where you need telescopic vision and a photographic memory to know what’s what, but here everything is at eye level and close enough that you can read the label.
Very decent Siren APA from Palatum, perhaps a bit too cold
 The other annoyance at Drugie Dno are the prices. Those are higher than at the neighbours, about a zloty a pint than the likes of Jabeerwocky and a couple of zeds higher than the likes of Czesc (not that there is anywhere really like Czesc). Although I suppose that an extra ten zeds a night isn’t a bad price to pay given that you’re likely to get a table here when Jabeerwocky and Cuda are packed to the gunnels. And it’s certainly a price worth paying to avoid the plague of hipsters which are pretty much guaranteed to end up with you wondering who you know that owns a pig farm.

As much use as a live hipster
So, is it any good? In short, yes. It’s a lot better than Cuda na Kiju, that’s for sure. It’s not quite as good as Jabeerwocky but might be a better choice for people who aren’t really all that into craft beer. The selection here is quite a bit more accessible (and affordable) than the range on offer these days in Jabbers, and the food is certainly a lot better. I’m certainly glad it’s opened and will surely be back soon.

 Drugie Dno
Nowogrodzka 4
Noon - 23.00/01.00 www.drugiedno.pl/en/homepage
http://drugie-dno.ontap.pl/

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