From a previous visit I made to Gdynia, some interesting shrubbery (I used that word solely for the Monty Python reference) in the city’s park.
Author: admin
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Gdynia – C Corner Cafe
This cafe looked of a reasonable size and seemed well reviewed, so I accidentally meandered in. I seem to do a lot of accidental meandering into cafes and pubs, but such is life. There was coffee cup decoration on the walls and I liked the clarity of the service, which was to pay at the counter and then wait for the food and drinks to be brought over. This is my favourite style of service, with the staff member being helpful and polite. The customer base was also quite mixed, which is usually a positive sign, with students on laptops and middle-aged women chatting.
Some appetising and delicious looking cakes, although I hadn’t intended to eat anything on this visit.
The latte was well presented and had a richness of taste.
The temptation was too strong. The mango cake, which was served as a large portion and was moist and flavoursome. There were pieces of mango within the cake, with the chocolate accoutrements sticking out the top adding some extra texture. The cake was quite sweet, but was fresh and piquant. It wasn’t the cheapest of cafes, but the quality of the products justified the cost, with the atmosphere being suitably relaxed and informal.
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Gdynia – Film Festival Sculpture
The Gdynia Film Festival (or the Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni) is a substantial event for the area, having been annually since 1974, other than for a couple of years when Poland was under martial law. From 1974 until 1986, the event was held in Gdansk, but since then it has been held in Gdynia.
The names of the winners of various categories are added to this sculpture after the results are announced, so it’s one of the few pieces of public artwork which is constantly updated. It’s a nicely crafted sculpture, something a little different for the park that it’s located in, which is the Council of Europe Park.
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Gdynia – The Future of Ordering…..
McDonald’s have been using screens for ordering for many years, indeed I tested them in 2012 in London when I was sent free vouchers by the company for timing them. And, KFC and Burger King have followed suit over the years with ordering screens, which make it much easier for those who don’t speak the native language or don’t know exactly what they want to order. There are some McDonald’s now as well which have been redesigned to just have one ordering counter, with their staff rarely actually taking orders any more.
It’s only recently though I’ve noticed the trend of fast food outlets putting screens on the counter itself, with the staff now solely performing the role of preparing and serving the food. Marvellously convenient, although it does seem just a little impersonal.
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Gdynia – Morning at the Dock
It’s a little bit cold on the dock at Gdynia where the wind is blowing in, although it’s peaceful since I’m the only one there. Not that I’m going anywhere on the water, I’m going back to the warmth of the town centre….
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Gdynia – Surfburger
Not the clearest of photos of the exterior of the restaurant unfortunately….. Surfburger is a little bit of a local burger institution, having well reviewed outlets in Gdynia, Sopot and in Gdansk. And I do like visiting the highest rated burger and pizza restaurant in a city, so this met my requirements as the best rated burger option.
The menu and my Fritz-Kola, although they do also sell craft beer. The service was excellent as it was friendly, attentive and polite. It’s not a large restaurant, but there was sufficient space when I was there as there were only two other customers. It’s a comfortable place though, all clean and ordered, with customers ordering at the counter. There’s also a nice and simple order number process, which is a piece of paper with the order number on which is then called out.
The burger and chips. They took just over twenty minutes to arrive, which was a little longer than I had anticipated, but if that’s the cost of freshly made food, it’s worth it. The chips smelt like they were from a fish & chip shop, so this pleased me greatly as I could pretend that I was back at Grosvenor.
The caramel burger and it took me a little while to work out exactly what I was getting, with Google Translate producing some slightly inaccurate results. It transpired that this was a beefburger served with goat’s cheese from Norway, which had a caramel flavour. There was also tomato and red onion which added some texture, along with some lettuce and lime sauce. I wasn’t asked how I wanted the burger cooked, but it was moist and flavourful, quite a rich taste. The bun held together whilst eating it, with the burger being well presented.
The price was a little high for Poland, around £7.25 for the burger, chips and drink, but I thought it was perfectly decent value given the quality. There were no real negatives about the visit, I might well visit the branches in Sopot and Gdansk when I’m next in those cities.
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Gdansk – Mały Młyn
Mały Młyn means small mill, although it’s actually a former granary for the larger mill (known as the Great Mill, which has temporarily been closed to the public) which is located on the opposite. The original building here dates from around 1391 and 1407, although it was rebuilt during the fifteenth century. It was modified during the nineteenth century, but unfortunately was destroyed during the Second World War.
The reconstructed building was completed in 1967 and it’s today used by private companies and groups, so there’s no routine public access to the interior. It’s a pretty gothic style building though.
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Gdansk – Ibis Gdańsk Stare Miasto
The city’s relatively new Ibis hotel, somewhat in the shadow of its sister hotel in the background, the Mercure Gdansk. The hotel has a feeling of being modern and contemporary, in terms of its decor, atmosphere and the attitude of the staff. It also has that set-up of not really having a reception desk, the whole check-in process is managed within the public seating area of the hotel. I’m still not convinced by this, judging by the number of hotels reversing this trend, I’m not sure it’s the ideal first welcome.
The room was the usual Ibis design, all clean and comfortable.
The welcome gift, which were caramel peanuts and they were very lovely. There were also quite a lot more than the packaging might have suggested. They’re in a presentation box specially made for the hotel and it seemed a shame to throw it away, but I have enough things to carry about already.
The view from the room.
The welcome drink, which was Żywiec, poured in the continental style. As usual, it tasted as it was meant to and was at the appropriate temperature.
The restaurant and breakfast area. I didn’t see many people dining in the restaurant, it must be a challenge given that it’s not a large hotel and there are also no shortage of nearby dining options.
The breakfast croissants and rolls, along with apples, which at times seemed to be everywhere. On the first day there was also apple pie, which was a decent addition, although that wasn’t out on the second morning. The choice of bread and rolls also deteriorated on the second morning that I was there.
More of the breakfast options.
The meats, cheeses and salads. I’m not entirely convinced by the meat which Ibis use throughout Poland, it isn’t the best of quality and is bland to the point of, I think, being pointless. The hot options here looked unappealing and the bread selection was a little weak compared to normal. The butter was frustrating, it’s the first Accor hotel I’ve been at where they’ve got a huge slab of it and a knife to slice bits off, although in practical terms, it’s not ideal as the plate makes it impossible to cut from the edge, only along the top. I’d rather they did what their other hotels did and just have pre-cut sections of butter. There were dollops of mackerel in a paste which I had high hopes for, but these were riven with bones of a length that I didn’t particularly want to eat, so that went uneaten. It was all fine, but below the usual Ibis quality, although it was well presented.
The staff here were always friendly and helpful, although the hotel didn’t feel particularly busy at any stage. There were no noise disturbances either internally or externally, although the church bells rang every hour during the evening which I rather liked. The room wasn’t fully restocked on the second day, an omission which was mildly irritating, but not exactly a problem of any particular measure.
The cost of this room was under £30 including breakfast, which was quite marvellous given that it’s a hotel in the centre of Gdansk and just a five-minute walk from the Old Town. There was a friendly environment, a clean room and I liked the welcome gift. I’ve stayed at several hotels in Gdansk over the years and this is certainly one of the best.
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Gdansk – Forum Gdansk (with a canal…)
When I first came to Gdansk a few years ago, this shopping centre wasn’t even under construction. When I last came to Gdansk in 2018, it had just opened and it has clearly transformed this part of the city and it also confused me as I hadn’t expected it to be there, so I thought I was lost. On this visit, the shopping centre isn’t just open, but water is now running through it.
It’s been a little bit of a local issue, as the building owners wanted to have two channels located on top of each other. I’m not a canal expert, but they wanted to not always have water running through if it was too high, as that might make their shopping centre not smell quite right. I don’t understand the whole thing, although I know a civil engineer who might, but that’s why it took a couple of years for it to get resolved.
The water isn’t just a feature like some shopping centres such as the Venetian in Las Vegas, it’s an actual canal which goes through the centre. For various technical reasons, the water couldn’t flow through until November 2019 and I like the whole effect that it has had to the character of the building. It’s the Radunia Canal, which was originally constructed by the Teutonic Knights between 1348 and 1356. Initially this shopping centre was going to be called the Forum Radunia, but it was changed during the construction to its current name of Forum Gdansk.
As an aside, this is an impressive shopping centre and it is of some considerable size. What I also like is that they’ve filled the units up with shops, unlike the Castle Mall in Norwich (now known as the Castle Quarter, with the local joke that it’s named this as only 25% of the units are in use) in Norwich where there has been such a mass retail exodus that they’ve been filling up units with random rubbish.
