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.

Second day exploring Poznan, Poland

We had an open Saturday to explore Poznan. No planned tours. No specific places to be at any specific time. But I had a few things I wanted to check out. After a quick breakfast at inna.piekarnia we started by doing a brief spin around Wolnosci Square.

I'm a sucker for trams, so of course I took a few pics of them as they passed through.

From there we did a brief pass by the Royal Castle (aka, Zamek Królewski w Poznaniu), which looks to be an interesting museum that would be worth some time during a longer stay in town. But we did Wawel and I would be doing Malbork in a few days. So in Poznan we kept the castle part of the agenda to exteriors only.

On our ~15-minute walk to the next castle, we took a few vibe shots. You can see the cloudy cool weather was with us again.

Next stop, the Imperial Castle, which I was surprised to learn is just over 100 years old. When I think 'castle' I think hundreds of years plural, not just 100. For my money, the prettier of the two castles in Poznan. Nice fountain feature. And it seemed a bit like a park. Some benches on the grounds with people sitting down for a chat with their coffee. Saw a couple of people walking their dogs in parts of the garden. Just your local neighborhood castle.

My next objective was to visit a couple of neighborhoods west of the city center, Jeźyce and Łazarz. Rynek Jeźycki would be about a 20-minute walk from the Imperial Castle. And I was intent to take a tram at some point during my time in Poland. Lot of walking and scooting made the tram mostly irrelevant to our getting around. But I had done my research, learned about the Jakjojade app from Zuzanna's YouTube video, and wanted to test it out. So we got ticket for the 8 tram and rode it over. Bypassed the Bilety machine because we had what we needed on the app. Almost waited on the wrong side of the street which would have sent us off in the wrong direction. But in the end we took an uneventful 5 minute tram ride to Jeźyce.

We hopped off the tram and took a look around the open air market that is right on Rynek Jeźycki. Authentic. Struck me as a good place for locals to get their basics, nothing more, nothing less.

Did a spin around the stalls, then a quick walk around the block before we found a pick up point for some scooters.

We made our way south along Szylinga and then Matejki, as illustrated in the google route tracking shot here.

One downside of scooting is I can't really capture pics of what we're seeing as we go. Occassionally we hop off and grab some shots. But you're too busy navigating the sidewalks, people, cars when you're in the street, etc. Not a best practice to scoot one handed with a phone in the other. At least I can't do it. Especially since the throttle is on the right and I'm a righty with my phone. Anyway, really liked this area. It was early afternoon on a cloudy Saturday. Low key vibes all around. Definitely had the feel of the part of town you'd want to live in and spend some time in.

For example, there is Wilson Park. That day they had some kind of weekend fair going on with family-friendly activities. Number of people out walking their dogs. Just a pleasant place to have in your community.

As we worked our way back north we snapped shots of things and places that caught our eye. Mowish Mash Specialty Cafe, for one, which has stellar google reviews.

Miscellaneous side streets hiding some great looking small townhouse / rowhouse type residential buildings. With your local fruit stand + mural nearby on the main drag.

Couple of hip Asian places side by side (Min's,, and & Kim Chi Ken) across from a bagel place.

We dropped the scooters and planned to grab a Bolt back to the hotel.

But we were having bad luck. For whatever reason it was showing all cars were going to take like 12 - 15 minutes to come get us. And it would be a 20-minute walk back to the hotel. So we sucked it up. About halfway we were ready for a bathroom and coffee break. Right on cue we found Gwara. A quiet, cozy joint that was toasty warm. Enjoyed an espresso, tasty hot chocolate, and a pistacchio & raspberry macaron that we couldn't wait to chomp into before snagging a pic. Would recommend.

Quick Review: Why Thai (Poznan, Poland)

Our original plan for dinner this night was to drop into a place we saw on the Rynek earlier. Its promo signage outside had gotten our attention. When we returned and peaked inside, however, it was dismal. Empty, dark, vibes of a sad club that pushes 2x1 well drinks. We quickly pivoted and scanned Google for options. Why Thai popped up as well-reviewed and the first few pics looked appetizing. So we pointed ourselves in that direction to the north of the square. Turned out to be a great call. Throughout the meal I was reminded of our days in Chicago seeking out nice but not over the top places that you can find throughout the city. Not the Michelin-starred places and not the traditional 'restaurant row' places. Spots like Dorado in Ravenswood circa 2006, when I was very proud of my Yelp Elite status and one of the first 10 people to review it. Or Sol de Mexico, in 2008 (which I see is still open and seems to be doing well).

The vibes start with the little 3-story townhouse type building where it's located.

Inside vibes are great as well. Cozy but not tiny. Sharp, but didn't feel overly stylized.

And importantly, the food was delicious. They start you with some rice crackers and a peanut sauce, winning me over immediately.

We followed that with the chicken satay. Also delicious.

For the mains, Judy got the massaman curry, which she enjoyed just a little bit less than the one she ordered at Bonjour Pho in Krakow (which was a very high bar, so that's no slight). I wavered between a few options, but landed on the bao buns with pulled teriyaki pork and was happy with my choice.

Service was friendly. They had a primitivo on the menu, so I availed myself of a glass. All in all, very good experience. Nice meal to wrap up a full day followed by a quick stroll through the scenic center back to the hotel.