This year during the winter holiday I came up with the idea of a family lunch on the beach. For obvious reasons, this is a difficult task to realize in February. Outside it was minus 6 and even the light wind and moisture created a chilly feeling. On a map of the Tri-City, which was given to us by a nice woman in the museum in Gdańsk, I found a restaurant which looked like it was nearest to the beach. This took us on to Gdynia Orłowo. The winter beach under a beautiful cliff entranced me at once. The Pier with icy puncheons and loads of ducks and swans swimming around looked picturesque. Silence and calm, which is rarely met here in the summer, encouraged us to take a walk. We didn't let the frosty weather defeat us and spent a lot of time soaking up the atmosphere of the winter seaside.

Although it was enchanting, our frozen noses and hands, and our children's rumbling bellies, forced us into the nearby restaurant – Tavern Orłowska, which really is placed on the beach. In summer you can eat lunch in the beachside open porch. Now it was closed, so we ate in the spacious but cosy dining room, with decorative maritime equipment. For small children, a big aquarium with lobsters was the centrepiece of the restaurant.

I don't know who invented hot winter tea, but it was what we needed the most at that moment. It was big and strong with orange, honey, cloves, cinnamon and ginger, served pleasantly in a round stein, which warmed our hands up nicely.

Invigorated we could focus on the comprehensive menu, which featured mainly fish and seafood. If somebody doesn't like this kind of food, he doesn't need to worry – on the menu he can find meat dishes, vegetables and salads. We are lovers of fish and seafood, so a good, reasonably priced seafood restaurant is a rare treat for us.

For starters we ordered three kinds of fish soup. Two of them were creamy: the first was with salmon, and the second was with cod sausages! The third, in my opinion the most tasty, was with lobster and shrimps. They were all yummy and recommendable. The steak tartare ordered by my husband, beautifully served with caviar and toast, was my sister's favourite. The mistake was that he ordered only one serving. I think I know what will be the most welcome dish after the winter holiday.

Everyone ordered a different main course in a different style. My son, a gourmand of fried fish, ate a dish from the kids' menu: fish and chips with beloved carrot salad. Despite the sizable potential of my son, he would have to be a very big child to measure up to this portion. It was excellent, but it could have been half the size.

My daughter relished the dumplings with lobster filling. Neat, well seasoned, and so dainty-looking, that for a moment I was sorry that I hadn't ordered them. But only for a moment, because in a while I got my favourite halibut with garlic butter and spinach, and there was nothing else I needed (except a piece of lemon of course). My husband was tempted by the stew with fish and seafood with shrimps, mussels, squids, pieces of fish and octopus and fragrant tomato sauce. The garlic toast was excellent in keeping with that. Everyone found something good on the menu and wasn't disappointed.

To tell the truth, after such a satisfying dinner we refused the desserts proposed by the nice and direct waiter. We only managed some aromatic coffee. Even my children decided to order hot chocolate with whipped cream only. But maybe it was a mistake... The apple pie with whipped cream and ice cream looked so inviting...

We will try to come back to Tavern Orłowska. The picturesque setting and excellent food will be nicely associated with this year's winter holiday.

I recommend it!

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