Put on your wódka wellies

It is almost a quarter of a century since Elaine Stritch made the BBC TV series, Two's Company, in which she played a brassy, liquor-swilling American writer, Dorothy McNab, living in London and constantly sparring with her quintessentially English butler played by Donald Sinden. She's just made her return to the London stage in an autobiographical account of her life, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, at the Old Vic.

She will find Southwark much changed. For one thing, the smart new Southwark Tube station has linked this former outpost of southeast London to the rest of the city. And, fast on the rails behind this important development came the Baltic bar and restaurant, the creation of Jan Woroniecki, whose sister venue Wódka has been lifting the spirits of Kensington folk for as long as they can remember.

Baltic is a dramatically modern bar and restaurant venue dedicated to the finest gastronomic and libational delights of the East European states. A long, narrow bar area (finished in stark white decor) leads to a lofty atrium which was once the workshop of coach builders. Here there's a further bar with refectory-style furniture, and beyond that the Eastern European restaurant of much repute.

Poland leads the way on the beer front with the excellent EB pilsner beer (£2.75 for a 33cl bottle), Okocim pilsner (£2.75) and the blond beer Zywiec (£3). The Latvian offering is Zelta, a strong (5.2% alcohol by volume) lager beer at £2.75. But it's the vodka (or wódka, as they spell it in Blackfriars Road) that distinguishes this place from other modern style bars.

Around 30 different brands, mostly from Eastern Europe, form the serried ranks at the back of the bar, and the menu helpfully categorises them into 'plain' (unflavoured), 'sweet and spicy', and 'premium' which are available as shooters, or as base ingredients in their extensive cocktail list - try the Instant Karma, a Martini made with caramel-flavoured Wyborowa, apricot liqueur, fresh lime juice and Amaretto (£6).

And then there's Baltic's own creations, made on the premises from the base vodka Wyborowa, and infused with fresh fruits and wine to provide some tasty, cheeky little numbers in flavours such as lemon, ginger, dill and the ever-so-slightly challenging mix of peppercorn with lemongrass. But at just £2.25 per shot, the list is well worth exploring.

The bar food includes snacks of mixed pickles and dips, Ukrainian barszcs (a spicy beetroot soup), rock oysters with a shallot vinegar, and blinis with anything from aubergine to oscietra caviar.

The single-star awarded to Baltic would be improved with table service which seemed to be non-existent on my last visit. I can imagine Ms Stritch popping in for a sharpener between shows, though she might not be best pleased at having to hunt high and low for a menu.

Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Old Vic, Waterloo Road, SE1 (020-7369 1722).