Traditional polish eating in Krakòw

Traditional polish eating in Krakòw


I put together a list of a few places to eat traditional polish cuisine in Krakow all the while avoiding touristy places. There is a lot of restaurants in this city… Most of them are Italian. Surprised, this I was aha. So here you go for the polish restaurants!

Well, before starting maybe I could give you a few tips.
– It’s often written « self service restaurant » in front of Polish restaurant, when it does : sit wherever you want, look at the menu and then order at the counter. You’ll be called by your order number when your dishes are ready.
– It is very common to give a 10% tip to the waiter/waitress, if you can, do it.
– As in many Eastern countries, bread or water are not included, you pay it all in supplement so think about it when ordering.

Let’s dig in! A traditional restaurant in a calm little street :  U babci maliny. The owner loves boxing so he keeps a lots of portraits of him and boxing stars in the restaurant, kinda funny but the cuisine sure is polish and generous. You can get a lunch offer for 19PLN (4,50€) : soup + main dish + juice. It is really worth it. So here is what we ate.

You get no choice for the soup, it is the soup of the day. This one was borscht style with mushrooms, pork and a lot of spices! So delicious I could’ve eaten two bowls.

Then we got Spinach and cheese stuffed Nalesniki (polish crepes). So good and filling! It came with a super delicious garlic sauce.

This is the polish schnitzel, kind of. Less dry than what I ate elsewhere before. Covered in a gray type sauce, it was good. But the mashed potatoes? SO DRY. They just mash potatoes and boum, no butter, no nothing. Dip in sauce if you don’t want to choke.

I also got some breaded cod served with.. Mash again! The cod dipped in the garlic sauce we got with the Nalesniki was incredible.

And a sweet cranberry juice to wash it all down.

Now a milk bar because we are in Poland after all. The Bar Mleczny Pod Temida : a cantine type of thing, you order, they give you the food, you go sit and eat and you leave. Packed full at noon because Polish usually eat there during their lunch break.

For 2 to 3 euros a dish, you’ll get this sort of thing. Ground pork, seasoned and deep fried. Served with mash, peas and carrots.

I got the porc and sausages stew in hunter sauce served with buckwheat. It doesn’t look good but it was really nice!

Another self service restaurant, a few steps away for Rynek place : Pierogarnia krakowiacy.

Pictures were taken in low lighting with my phone, I’m sorry.
We had mushrooms, spinach and eggs pierogis. 10 pieces for about 4€. A little too greasy but not that bad.

We also got Bigos for 2€. It is a meat stew with hunter sauce served with sauerkraut. This was really good!

That’s it for the polish restaurant! I’m working on a post with all the little cafes and cake shops we tried. Stay tuned.