Spotlight interview
Interview to Ian Coll, Founder and Managing Director, Mamuśka! Polish Kitchen and Bar
1. What sets Mamuśka! Polish Kitchen and Bar apart from your competitors?
Mamuśka! is a contemporary Polish Restaurant that specialises in introducing large groups of non-Poles to the wonderful world of Polish food and drink. We’re putting Polish food on the map and creating new Polish food fans every day. We have recently moved to a fantastic new location in South Bank – 600m from Westminster, 500m from Waterloo Station entrance, 400m from the London Eye and 200m from the coach parking on Belvedere Road – so we are more accessible than ever before.
This massive, industrial venue born of steel, brick and concrete is exciting and new, but the menu remains as reassuringly authentic and value-packed as ever.
With our Platform Bar (a space available for private-hire and after-dinner drinks), a bank of 8 toilets and a dedicated kitchen service line for tour groups and parties, we put the needs of large functions at the heart of our offer.
2. What is your Unique selling proposition?
It’s clearly our value-driven authentic menu. We cook using the same bulk-production that is done in Poland for weddings and the adaptation to a UK casual dining concept has always emphasised our ability to host big groups (including tours).
On The Platform, where most tours choose to sit away from our main seating area, we have large table seating for up to 86. We have 122 seats in the Old Arch dining hall and can feed over a hundred people a two course meal in under an hour, as long operators pre-order using our Tour Group Menu and online Order Form.
That order form is very customer-friendly to make bookings easy, and we offer a 10% discount for big groups, plus a free soft drink. And the tour group guide always eats for free, of course!
3. How do you think ETOA membership will help you achieve your business objectives?
Growth! The truth is that we have a long history of serving tour groups, ranging from Polish school trips, Danish choir groups and even British seniors! So tours from Europe as well as groups from the United States have loved and recommended us over the years.
But our Mission is to spread the love for all things Polish – food, art, music, and drinks – to the world, so we are hoping that ETOA membership will help us expand our customer base by making more operators in more countries aware of us, and aware that they can let their tour customers experience a great little bit of Poland, while on holiday in the UK! The way we see it, just like many operators include a trip to Chinatown in Soho in their London ‘must see’ destinations, why not add London’s greatest Polish restaurant to the list as well? We hope to meet lots of new partners and create mutually beneficial, long lasting relationships thanks to the ETOA network.
