Poland
A charming restaurant with superb food great service and Reasonable prices. It also has a court yard that you can sit out in and have your meal - very nice!
www.aperitif.com.pl/
Sienna 9, 31-000 Kraków, Poland
+48 12 432 33 33
Google map: bit.ly/nEK2DE
Beautiful, cozy vegetarian restaurant with a candlelit, cozy atmosphere. You can relax in the stunning interior, while listening to the score from Amelie (well, when I was there anyway). The food is delicious and you get traditional Polish food, vegetarian style! A real treasure!
Wolnica Square 7, Kraków, Małopolska (30-061) (at Krakowska St)
www.cafemlynek.pl
+48 124306202
Google map: bit.ly/ffjt0b
Kazimierz is the old Jewish quarter of Krakow. With its labyrinthine streets and serene synagogues, the area evokes a blend of melancholy and hope - an inspiring literary place. Hidden behind the crumbling facades of pre-war architecture are some of the city's most exquisite bars and restaurants. Of particular note, is the Alef, a kosher restaurant that was regularly frequented by Steven Speilberg during the making of Schindler's List. A traditional band plays Klezmer music whilst Borscht is served piping hot. The decor captures a place and time history has almost forgotten. A place to escape and to reflect, Kazimierz is a truly inspirational place.
Alef Restaurant, Szeroka 17, Kazimierz
Kraków, Poland
www.alef.pl/
+48 12 424 31 31
Google map: bit.ly/fBi08K
The food is wonderful. It takes food in Cracow to another level. Well presented and has such great flavours. It's not even that expensive, though, like elsewhere, once you throw in a bottle of good wine (and they've got plenty of those) it'll add up! The service is also outstanding - especially welcome to those of us of been in Cracow long enough to have experienced the appalling attitude to customers in every other service industry in the city.
It's on the corner of ul. Dominikańska and ul. Poselska. www.ancora-restaurant.com/_pl/
Restaurant, great food and atmosphere, wood burning oven. Ther prices were fair and I had a great meal there.
A relatively new addition to the Krakow Restaurant scene and a delight to find good value delicious food in a pleasant airy dining room with an adjoining characterful bar and garden. Great friendly service.
Kazimerz, just off the main square as you head back to central Krakow underneath the Spartz hotel
Excellent food - a great opportunity to taste traditional, home-made Polish cuisine. Moderately priced, Chlopskie Jadlo is an excellent place for dinner.
Nice description of this and other restaurants in Krakow is here on page 14 www.discoverpl.com/discover_poland_3.pdf
Address: ul. Św. Jana 3 (Old Town)
Krakow
Restaurant website: www.chlopskiejadlo.pl
Map: www.cracowonline.com/7-Chlopskie_Jadlo-Restaurant
Enjoy!
Best beer pub in Krakov - CK Browar (6-7 Ulica Podwale). Best sport bar with good beer and friendly people - Non Iron.(Marka 27). Best cellar bar/restaurant - Piwiica Pod Ztolta Pipa (Florianska 30). We stayed at the excellent Polera Hotel (Szpitalana 30).
All these are in the centre near the main square and everything in walking distance.
A bit shabby on the outside, but go through to the non-smoking restaurant at the back.
Modern, interesting and tasteful decor, the menu not the largest but has a good choice and lovely vegetarian dishes. The best food we have eaten anywhere in the last year, great service and cool music. Excellent wine and all very cheap.
Our meal for two, two courses each, with one large wine and one soft drink came to £24.
ul. Jozefa 14
The Jewish quarter
A lovely, old-fashioned restaurant, very near Wawel castle. Excellent traditional food, especially game, and friendly and attentive waiters with excellent English, who are happy to explain the food and what goes well with what. Prices are about mid-range for Krakow (i.e. very cheap by British standards).
About 12 of us got there at 9 pm on a Sunday, when they were about to close, and they effectively re-opened for us.
ul. sw. Gertrudy 21, 31-049 Krakow
tel. (48 12) 429 40 22
www.podbaranem.com
I have to admit that when I read that Restaurant Kawaleria, “Cavalry” (I believe in Polish), was equine themed, I was worried that I would be sharing a rustic space with a display of horseshoes, horse brasses, horse paintings and, worst of all, cartoons of robust girls on small ponies. I’m afraid I tend to view equine pursuits with ambivalence or bewilderment. However, Kawaleria proved to be an elegant, attractive restaurant specialising in contemporary Polish cuisine.
The first two rooms – a bar and dining room - are quite intimate with cream walls, sepia photos, wooden furniture and subdued lighting.
The room we were seated in is more of a banqueting space, very pleasant - perfect for large groups and parties but a little empty with just the two of us at 6 in the evening. Towards the end of the room is a wonderful old stove and, yes, there are equine themed black and white photographs but actually this gallery, well displayed on the pale blue walls, was both decorative and interesting.
The menu is traditional Polish with a modern slant, starters include crab terrine, Polish sour rye soup, battered sardines and the intriguing but a little gruesome (at least for a non-meat eater like me) piglet in jelly. Main courses take in a selection of meats in sauces and casserole including wild boar, duck and turkey. For non meaties there are fish and vegetarian options, the latter including pancakes and pierogi. The food was extremely well presented and service throughout the evening was excellent. The standard of cooking was good but I am not sure that the main courses we had exactly worked, the carp was tasty but a little overpowered by the strong taste of the mushrooms, the Turkey could have done with a little more garlic and a little more sauce. However it was still a very nice meal and I would certainly eat there again, not least because of the lovely ambience and attentive staff.
Golebia 4 - a short walk from the Rynek Glowny
www.kawaleria.com.pl
Situated along the walk from the Rynek Glowny to Wawel Hill the restaurant Balaton at ul Grodzka 37 provides excellent value Hungarian and Polish cuisine.
The surroundings are simple but pleasant, white walls, wooden chairs and benches, black and white photos on the wall and an array of hanging wooden fishes. The menu comprises a variety of soup - brought to your table in a metal dish suspended over an open flame from which you ladle it into your bowl – herrings, salmon and salami for starters followed by main courses of meat - including veal and wild boar goulash - poultry and fish dishes many incorporating potato cakes and dumplings. There is, however, only one vegetarian dish, potato cakes with mushroom sauce.
Service was understated but friendly and with a touch of flourish, for instance, when a main course of chicken Hungarian style was brought out sizzling from the kitchen and served ceremoniously from a platter onto the plate. As for the food itself it was great, tasty, filling, well cooked and well spiced. The main course of trout was perfectly cooked, crisp skin with melt in your mouth flesh underneath. Each main course also came with a side order of refreshing carrot, red and white cabbage salad.
And the price for two people for two courses, beer and vodka each – 99 zloty including a tip (approx. £17.00/$33.00). Excellent.
ul. Grodzka 37
www.balaton.krakow.pl
Tel. (012) 422 04 69
Do not bother with the Alef. You will find the food bland and the service surly. An excellent trio - The Saints - saved the evening.
If you want Jewish food, try one of the others around the square.
Kazimierz
We went for new year's eve and no surcharge, just the regular first class Mediterranean menu. Relaxed atmosphere and good location behind main square. It is, apparently, the best restaurant in Krakow at the moment. Not expensive.
Great veggie food, very reasonable and just down from the tourist office on the Market Sq.
14 Mikolajska street, Krakow
E-mail: krakow@greenway.pl
Krakow is a city wrapped in legend, where time flows differently, and where every moment becomes a moment of history.
For centuries, Krakow was the capital of Poland, the seat of kings, drawing great scholars and artists from the whole world. It is their talents and imagination we must thank for the city's rich legacy of unique historical relics, which reflect the most important trends in European culture.
The renaissance Royal Castle at Wawel, the gothic St Mary's Basilica, the historical trade pavilions of the Cloth Hall, the former separate Jewish city of Kazimierz, and even the Nowa Huta district, absorbed by Krakow together with its socialist-realist, industrial architecture, are all places which make a visit to Krakow extremely worthwhile.
Although the city no longer plays such an important administrative role, for many people, thanks to its rich history, Krakow nevertheless represents a synthesis of all things Polish, connecting tradition with modernity.
In the special atmosphere of the beautiful and mysterious streets of the Old Town and Kazimierz you will find everything you need to allow you to escape from everyday life.
Galleries full of exhibitions, cafes, pubs and restaurants: all of this is an integral part of any visit to Krakow.
This restaurant is on the market square, and compared to everywhere else you eat in Krakow, is pretty extortionately priced.
However, this place served the best meal of my life, taking in everything from the food, the service, the ambience, the environment. Everything about it was just 5 star.
They offer a 4 course traditional Polish menu (which ends up being 5 courses with an additional one brought "compliments of the chef") which is just outstanding, from fantastic pierogi to a broth full of flavour and tender beef fillet. Dessert is magnificent and comes with a large glass of cherry vodka to help it down.
Despite this being the most expensive restaurant in Krakow, 5 courses for two plus two bottles of wine and vodka came to £66 in total.
For service better than any michelin starred restaurant in London and quarter of the price, you must come here and experience it. They are so friendly and unpretentious that you could walk in in your jeans and trainers and you wouldn't get a second look from anyone. Definitely worth paying the extra just to experience this place.
Market Square
A fantastic vegetarian restaurant on the edge of Kazimierz. Try the chocolate cake with sunflower seeds.
ul. Dietla 49;
tel: 0609 685 775;
www.krakow.zaprasza.net/wegetarianska/momo
Krakow (wrongly or rightly) claims to be the birthplace of the bagel. Well, these are pretty damned good. A bit more expensive than your average meal in Krakow, but worth it! The owner chats away whilst cooking. The place is small and cosy. The bagels delicious. Also serves what looks like amazing Mexican food - doesn't skimp on the servings! Closed Mondays.
Bagelmama ul. Dajwor 10, 31-052 Kraków, (Kazimierz district), Poland
tel. +48 12 346 16 46,
www.bagelmama.com
Google map: bit.ly/c5K9pt
For five years there has been one restaurant which i have always happily returned to. A five minute walk from the Rynek Glowny, along ul. Florianska and through the Barbakan, you will find Nana.
A bright, airy space with outside tables, this is a small bar which serves some of the best pierogi and placki in Krakow, and all for less than 10zl for any meal. Try any of the main meals with the unique 'hunters sauce'. With side dishes for under 50p, and enough food to leave you satisfied for less than the price of a coffee from the city centre, it is highly recommended, and I will be definitely be returning on my next visit.
pl. Matejki 3
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