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Poznan really delivers as a city for a good night out, with a breadth of choice and high bar for quality. Furthermore, the locals are spending their time socialising with a determination and energy you could find in the UK in the early 00s.

Za Kulisami is a place that fits in nicely with informal post-uni drinking. The style is somewhere between ramshackle and psychedelic, with large bookcases, old tattered sofas and yet also a backroom with neon lights, and some rather moody and trippy decorations.

The crowd are lively, friendly and hang around by the bar. You will occasionally need to lean over shoulders to order but don’t be afraid to, there isn’t the same conservative personal space issue as there is in England.

The beers are a variety of regional medium sized brewers like Fortuna, Miroslaw and Brackie, middle ground between the Euro Lager giants and craft ale. They are decent enough quality and superbly cheap.

Quite a lot of the locals are into beer + vodka orders, and many places in Poland offer the combo at a slightly reduced rate, making it barely more expensive than ordering a craft beer, but far more effective at getting you drunk. We stuck to the beer, and found each visit to be relaxing and enjoyable. The place has a club-type character, and I got the impression a great many of the regulars knew each other well. A few visits to the place would soon ingratiate yourself, and as with a lot of other Polish cities, there are a surfeit of young people who speak great English without much opportunity to use it.

Za Kulisami is a great pub that seems to naturally filter out unsuitable types, and is so close to the Rynek as to be tempting almost every time you walk past. It feels much more like a friendly backstreet pub, word of mouth based with a regular cast. There aren’t many large cities where such a venue would be so central. It would hover around the top 3 choices for a pint in Poznan.