Quick Review: Just Friends (Poznan, Poland)

In my pre-arrival research I had flagged Just Friends as a place to check out. Stellar reviews. Looked like a good vibe and menu. So we tabbed it for dinner on our second night in Poznan. We thought we'd try to get there early and arrived around 7:30. Maybe my perspective has been skewed in Mexico about what is 'early' to eat. Place was packed. It was Saturday night. And they had a couple of big groups inside in the front, but offered a spot on the patio in the back. Weather was nice enough and the spot seemed nice enough, so we went with it.

And then we waited. And waited. Took over an hour to get our food. Everyone else around us was waiting, too. But when we saw a couple of tables that came in after us get served we asked the waitress what was up. She wasn't the friendliest. Kind of explained it off as, sorry, we're busy, will get to you as soon as we can. Not great. But I was enjoying a local porter. Had enough time waiting to order my second before the food finally arrived.

Not sure when I took this pic in the course of things, but I'm positive we had more than one piece of fish.

And it was delicious. The fact that we were starving might have played some small part in how much we enjoyed it. But it was really good. Pretty sure this was the salad that we ordered.

And then the semi-surly waitress came over to express the manager's apologies and comped my beers. Just like that, though I wanted to hate Just Friends for making me wait, I wound up pretty happy with the overall experience. I guess there are a couple of lessons here (fairly obvious, when you think about it): make a reservation if possible, don't just show up at primetime on Saturday night, think twice if you see two tables of 15+ in the dining room. Maybe show up some Wednesday at 6:45 and enjoy a porter with a tasty fish and chips. That could work.

Happily fed we strolled one more time through the picturesque city center.

Feeling like a little quick dessert was in order we got some impulse ice cream at McDonald's. Felt a small sense of accomplishment navigating the kiosk. Pretty smooth use of technology to streamline the process. No Polish, no cash, no problem, here's your ice cream.

On balance, good final night in Poznan.