Rondo – Fancy Bagels in Powiśle

If you’re used to thinking of bagels as a straightforward and familiar concept, I’m happy to disappoint you: the new Rondo will easily convince you otherwise. And it will do so in style.

Fancy bagels, a selection of alternative non-alcoholic wines like Feral and Muri, a great location, and visuals that stick in your memory – sounds like a pretty decent combo, at least on paper.

Everything looks incredibly striking. Lots of bright details, metal, wood, marble, paintings by Roman Gelo, and arrangements of fresh flowers by the Bulb project – there’s no way you’ll mistake Rondo’s interior for anything else, even if you try.

And, in my opinion, that’s about the best compliment you can give.

There are exactly six bagels on the menu, and they’re not quite what you might expect either: they’re open-faced. The advantage of serving them this way is that you can fit in much more filling and experiment more with toppings; the downside is that sometimes you can lose the feeling that you’re actually eating a bagel.

The recipes can be roughly divided into morning options (hello, scrambled eggs or salmon) and evening ones (mussels for breakfast probably won’t be for everyone).

Although, I’ll admit, starting the day with a roast beef bagel (48 PLN) alongside a glass of Muri’s red beetroot wine is a pretty interesting option. I tested it. There’s also cream cheese, slightly charred cheddar, apple chutney, pickled cornichons, and even grated horseradish; the idea and execution are both great, although the whole thing definitely sits on the slightly acidic side of the flavour spectrum.

The confit tomato bagel (38 PLN) is a universal crowd-pleaser. A huge amount of slightly sweet tomatoes, cream cheese with blue cheese, lemon zest and breadcrumbs, thyme – this is one of those cases where the bagel will probably appeal to just about everyone.

Fjord (44 PLN) is a continuation of Scandinavian traditions. Excellent house-made gravlax, fermented lemon and jalapeño, cream cheese with the obligatory dill – it’s seemingly a classic, but a couple of striking touches open up the flavours in a completely new way.

Even the scrambled egg recipe (32 PLN) comes with a little twist: a topping of dried egg yolk for greater contrast and more vivid flavours. There’s only one dessert on the menu, tiramisu (18 PLN) – perfectly pleasant, although in my case the portion contained just half a “stick” of Savoiardi biscuit.

A separate word on the service: it’s simply exemplary. When a waiter at a bagel shop can recommend a non-alcoholic pairing, remember what the same guest ordered on previous visits, and know their own menu inside out – that’s a rarity you can’t help but be impressed by, even on your second visit. By the third, you’re already coming to Rondo like you’re dropping in on familiar faces. 

The main downside and current pleasure killer is the cutlery. It’s beautiful, of course, fits the interior perfectly, and all that – but physically impossible to use for cutting anything. You can saw with it. Most of the time, you can saw away unsuccessfully.

I also really liked the approach to drink pricing: when both filter coffee, an Americano and a cappuccino cost 16 PLN, people will choose based on what they actually want, rather than looking at the price line. Exactly the same applies to the non-alcoholic wines – both Muri and Feral, as well as Copenhagen-based Sparkling Tea, cost 28–29 PLN per glass.

And, honestly, I’m very curious to see how Rondo develops over the next few months – simply because, despite having very good impressions after my visits, I’m still left with quite a few questions. Is this a finished concept operating from 8am to 4pm, or will there eventually be an evening menu and natural (now alcoholic) wines?

Will they introduce some kind of build-your-own format, allowing guests to order half a bagel with one flavour and half with another – simply because so many guests around me were specifically ordering bagels with two different toppings and then swapping them?

And, most importantly, when are they finally going to replace the cutlery with something usable? Because that seems to be the only thing right now that can actually put a slight dent in the experience.

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