50°03,7 N • 019°55,9 E - in nautical terms. What an old port is doing in Krakow I know not, but perversely, once you’re inside, it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Descend the dingy concrete steps under the unremarkable sign, and find yourself transported to the swarthy bowels of a galleon, or the miasmal burrow of a dockside opium den (minus the opium). Now I may have mentioned gloom before (it’s difficult not to when describing bars from this haven of subterranean vaults) - but this place takes the biscuit. At some point in the afternoon, just before the history students from over the road bundle in for tea, the lanterns flicker grudgingly into a dull gleam. But anytime earlier and like me, you may find yourself in a Cimmerian cove, navigating the bitumen laced backrooms by touch and inference alone, exploiting the faint trail of tabletop candles as beacons along a rocky peninsula. But don’t let this put you off, gloom has its charm. And yes, they’ve gone with a nautical theme, plenty of timber and other seafaring goodies, but its not overkill. The live shanty music they lay on from time to time will either guide you out from the doldrums or force you to abandon ship. Any blackbearded skallywag guaranteed to feel right at home.

4.3 / 5

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