Barbara: A Breathtakingly Beautiful Restaurant from the Team Behind Bibenda

Barbara opened about a year ago, and it was quite an experience.

The new project from the highly experienced team behind Bibenda somehow managed to hit the full bingo card of opening mistakes: dishes arriving without parts of the intended tableware, food served on dirty plates, guests being expected to eat soft-boiled eggs with a fork, feedback being completely ignored – and the list went on.

Honestly, I was so baffled that I ended up writing a separate piece about how a soft-opening period is not an indulgence for every possible mistake, but rather an opportunity for an honest exchange of feedback between guests and the restaurant. After that, I more or less filed Barbara away as a terrible (albeit very beautiful) dream.

Recently, however, the buzz around the place has returned with renewed force. Posts and stories from bloggers (half of whom still haven’t learned to label invitation-based content with the word «zaproszenie»), recommendations from actual guests, events hosted by fashion magazines – all of that over the past few months.

So I was genuinely curious to return and find out what exactly was going on: was it the work of Lepont Agency, the PR firm hired by Barbara’s owners? Was it genuine improvement? Were the opening mistakes finally fixed? Or was it all of the above?

The first thing you realize every time you step into Barbara is that the visual side of the project is outrageously beautiful. 

Pastel walls paired with vivid scarlet accents, rounded shapes, elegant wooden panels, tons of stone shimmering in the sunlight, and a huge mosaic by Magdalena Łapińska-Rosenbaum – to my taste, this is one of the most impressive interiors in Warsaw, full stop.

And if the sun happens to be shining outside, it becomes even better – the perfect place to meet someone, at the very least for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, things have become genuinely good.

A thoughtful menu, plenty of egg-on-toast variations (including a seasonal asparagus and stracciatella version that caught my eye at 44 PLN), an excellent brioche with roasted peppers, caramelized onions, egg, and mint (38 PLN), a lovely little chicory salad (23 PLN) – it finally feels like a complete concept rather than a random collection of small plates.

Bonus points for the merguez sausage.

Dinner starts with oysters (19 PLN each), served with raspberry mignonette and an oyster emulsion. No joke – one of the most enjoyable oyster preparations I’ve had in the casual segment lately.

The beef tartare (49 PLN) leans heavily into a distinctly Polish flavour profile (hello, pickles!) while adding a couple of subtle twists: Japanese nameko mushrooms, lightly smoked sour cream, plus the usual supporting cast of capers, onions, and the like. Easy to enjoy, though not exactly revelatory.

The herring (26 PLN) deserves an award for Minimalism of the Year – and it wears the title well. Excellent fish, potatoes, a kefir-based sauce, and leek oil. A very straightforward flavour palette, put together with real understanding.

The asparagus as a main course (69 PLN) breaks the unwritten rule of blanching and serving asparagus al dente – here, it quite literally falls apart into fibres. Around it sits an army of additions, from shiitake mushrooms to a poached egg. The portion is enormous, the execution interesting, though again not quite enough to inspire outright enthusiasm.

The kogel-mogel (32 PLN) with strawberries and Timut pepper, on the other hand, is wonderful. Deeply comforting, strongly rooted in childhood flavours, yet remarkably balanced. The oat crumble provides the texture, while sorrel brings a welcome counterpoint to the sweetness.

A separate thank you for finally making the operating hours for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners clear. In the early days, it all felt completely random – to the point where I once had to postpone a visit because of it. The menu being pinned in the highlights is another welcome improvement – it’s finally convenient.

By my own criteria, Barbara still falls quite a long way short of its older sister, Bibenda. But the absolute chaos that defined its first months has, thankfully, disappeared.

Would I recommend it to absolutely everyone? Probably not.

Would I recommend that people who were burned by Barbara during its opening months give it another chance and form a new opinion? Absolutely.

I’m speaking from personal experience here: after avoiding the place for an entire year, I came back for a couple of review visits and eventually caught myself scheduling a few genuinely important meetings at Barbara. And I never regretted it.

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