MICHELIN Guide's Point of View

Ognisko Polskie – The Polish Hearth Club – was founded in 1940 in this magnificent townhouse; its elegant restaurant serves traditional dishes from acr...
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About
Ognisko Restaurant is on the ground floor of the beautiful and elegant Victorian on Exhibition Road, South Kensington. Our restaurant and bar are both open to the public for lunch, dinner or drinks seven days a week. With a large terrace overlooking communal gardens, we're ideal for alfresco dining during the sunnier periods. Ognisko is positioned on the road of many world-class museums, including the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum. Also the area is home to the English National Ballet, the Royal Albert Hall and the Serpentine gallery, making South Kensington one of the most important cultural destinations in London.
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Gluten Free Options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, After-hours
CUISINES
Polish
FEATURES
Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining, Seating, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service
Reviews (844)
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All reviews pierogi herring chicken livers pavlova sauerkraut potato pancakes rabbit soup polish food albert hall exhibition road imperial college excellent polish south kensington beautiful restaurant starters barszcz
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Reviewed today

Ognisko restaurant is 5mn walk from Natural History Museum and a very good place to go between Hyde Park and the Museum. They offer some Polish meals which makes the Lunch or Donner quite different form the classic internarial London food. Prices are a bit...high but not to much and you can also enjoy a full Duck for ¾ people ! The cocktails are just amazing and made with great talent by the barman. The food itself didn’t left us a strong experience but once again, we were there to test more than anything else.More

Date of visit: October 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 2 weeks ago

Very enjoyable. Good food and high quality service. An old-fashioned place but has lots of character and style from a previous era. the staff take care and are engaged and interested. The food is very high quality. Well cooked simple food, but tasty and well...presented. Second visit and I do like it. The set price is bargain in London!More

Date of visit: October 2023
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Reviewed 12 September 2023

We went after a Prom concert at the Royal Albert Hall. At first they could not find our reservation, but still gave us a table. Food was excellent

Date of visit: September 2023
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Reviewed 4 September 2023 via mobile

Five of us dined here for a business lunch. Great service, food, drink and atmosphere. Highly recommend the Zurek soup and the rabbit.

Date of visit: August 2023
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Reviewed 4 September 2023 via mobile

Never disappoints, always love this restaurant when we’re in town and took a group of friends for their first visit. Pre lunch drinks in the bar were superb and staff welcoming and knowledgeable, recommending the Polish martini which was very good indeed. The food here...is superb, Polish and Eastern European old school cookery done fantastically well in classical surroundings all presented by lovely staff. I had the cold beetroot soup to start, superb followed by the classic chicken Kiev which is always out of this world. Great selection of flavoured vodkas served ice cold. Excellent value for central London and for food and surroundings of this qualityMore

Date of visit: September 2023
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Reviewed 26 August 2023 via mobile

Lovely place for drinks or supper. Visited several times and every time super friendly staff, delicious drinks and good food. Great ambience!

Date of visit: August 2023
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Reviewed 17 August 2023 via mobile

An absolute gem! Beautiful decor. Great ambience. Lovely, friendly staff. Good service. Delicious, tasty, fresh food and good size portions. Reasonably priced. Can’t fault this restaurant

Date of visit: August 2023
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Reviewed 3 August 2023

Had a meal here tonight, with two friends. Food was expertly cooked and very tasty. Our waitress Victoria was attentive and knowledgeable. I followed her recommendations and had a perfect dining experience. Dziękuję bardzo Victoria and the rest of the team for a lovely evening.

Date of visit: August 2023
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Reviewed 28 July 2023 via mobile

Enjoyed the proms menu which was perfectly judged before a prom - great choices, reasonably priced and really good quality food and drinks/wine. But best of all (after recent sexist experiences!) was our lovely waiter Marek assuming that because I chose the wine, I would...also be paying! The table of energising women next to me shared my excitement about somebody who might think that women can pay for dinner! Or even be the main breadwinner - shock horror! Thank you Marek - we need more people like you!! #inclusionMore

Date of visit: July 2023
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Reviewed 21 July 2023

This was a delight. I was looking for somewhere quick before the Proms. I stumbled on this restaurant and am glad I did. The surroundings are lovely, the staff were very friendly and accommodating without being imposing. The food, traditional Polish but with a modern...twist, was delicious. A great place to round off a day at the museums of prior to an event at the Royal Albert Hall.More

Date of visit: July 2023
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Reviewed 15 July 2023 via mobile

This deserves a 5-star review on every level. Fantastic menu and food, excellent service, great space and atmosphere and don’t forget the vodka cocktails. The menu is filled with so many small plate that are irresistible- blinis with smoke salmon, caviar or picked herring; delicious...dumplings, salads and soups. They also make one of the best martinis in town. If you don’t want a sit down meal in the restaurant or garden terrace, you can enjoy the small plates and cocktails in the bar. I also forgot to say that it seems to attract a great clientele - who allow you to have a calm and quiet conversation without losing the atmosphere.More

Date of visit: July 2023
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed 25 June 2023 via mobile

Polish food lovers have a couple of options in London, Ognisko being one. We stopped here upon the start of dinner hour on a Friday evening. It turned out that the main dining room was being used for a private party, so we were accommodated...at a very small table in the bar. We were also advised the standard menu would not be available, rather a bar menu would guide our choices. Still, we ordered more food than our table could accommodate. We enjoyed herring with blinis, potato and cheese pierogies (among the creamiest we’ve ever had), dumplings with forest mushrooms, and a raspberry nalewka. While we didn’t get the standard dinner experience, we enjoyed our meal.More

Date of visit: June 2023
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Reviewed 17 June 2023

Hearty food, great menu, excellent service, fantastic setting. A lovely discovery, will definitely be back!

Date of visit: June 2023
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Reviewed 10 June 2023 via mobile

Second visit to this beautiful restaurant. It’s such a delight. Lunch on the terrace, overlooking the public gardens. Food was excellent, service friendly and welcoming. We had a bit of a wait for our main course which was unfortunate - it was however, a very...busy Saturday. This place is my first choice for lunch when visiting this part of town. Very handy for my occasional visits to the Albert Hall.More

Date of visit: June 2023
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 3 June 2023 via mobile

Packed house on a Friday night. Had two types of pierogi - the cheese/onion and duck. Cheese/onion was the winner. Salmon blini also good. The shared whole duck was outstanding- some of the best we've had. Cod dish was good. Cheesecake was nothing special. Would...have been 4 1/2 stars, except for... Poorly organized service. We counted at least four different (and indifferent) servers for our table - none who introduced themselves and none who actually said they were our server. (Just one example. When they cleared the plates no one came by to clean off the table until we flagged them down.) Found the lack of professionalism of the staff incomprehensible at a restaurant of this classMore

Date of visit: June 2023
Helpful?1  
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Questions & Answers
Ask a question
silvertraveller22
17 February 2022|
AnswerShow all 2 answers
Response from futtock21 | Reviewed this property |
Non members can even eat in the restaurant without booking especially on weekdays. Unlike Steins in the Goethe Institut next door they don’t tend to run out of food either.
2
Votes
Coggles2014
10 January 2019|
AnswerShow all 11 answers
Response from anita3695 | Reviewed this property |
It is a smart restaurant but they are easy going without a dress code.
0
Votes
835colind
12 July 2016|
AnswerShow all 11 answers
Response from 66Nikki | Reviewed this property |
Hi. I've had a meal in both areas; both were lovely but for a summers evening, I'd go for the outside terrace.
3
Votes
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OGNISKO RESTAURANT, London - Kensington and Hyde Park - Updated 2023 Restaurant Reviews, Menu & Prices - Tripadvisor

Frequently Asked Questions about Ognisko Restaurant

Ognisko Restaurant is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travellers:
  • Food: 4.5
  • Service: 4.5
  • Value: 4
  • Atmosphere: 4.5