18 Best Restaurants in Krakow, Poland
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Kraków's best restaurants are primarily in the Old Town, within walking distance of the main tourist sites. Most restaurants are located in the Market Square and the streets around it; some are also in the Kazimierz Quarter. Cheap fast-food joints may be found next door to upmarket establishments. The streets most densely populated with restaurants include Poselska, Szewska, ?w. Tomasza, and S?awkowska, but you will find some of the most interesting eateries further afield: in Kazimierz and in Podgórze. At all but the most touristy restaurants, the custom in Kraków is to make a reservation, even if you do it just a few hours in advance. Tired of restaurants? An interesting alternative is a homemade dinner (or lunch) hosted by the locals, within the "Eataway" network.
Copernicus
This top-class restaurant in one of the city's top hotels is on one of Kraków's loveliest corners, at the foot of Wawel Hill. The imaginative menu is made up of classic Polish dishes—albeit the dishes you might find on the table of a typically aristocratic table—enriched with a cosmopolitan twist. The menu changes according to seasons or Chef Marcin Filipkiewicz's creativity—at one point it featured, for instance, foie gras roasted with apples and a touch of mead and quail with spinach accompanied by potato blini. You can also get special tasting menus of five to twelve courses. In summer you can dine on the rooftop terrace, with some of the best views in the city.
Petite France
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Aqua e Vino
Venetian owners Roberto and Francesco believe in a hands-on approach to running their restaurant, so they're nearly always present: taking orders, chatting with customers, and checking to make sure that everything is okay. In fact, the homemade pastas, tiramisu, and sgroppino cocktails (made with Prosecco and lemon sorbet) are more than okay—they are excellent. The Italian community in Kraków call this place their second home.
Cechowa
Chimera Salad Bar
Be prepared for some difficult choices at Kraków's most popular salad bar: the selection of nourishing salads and other savory staples is almost overwhelming. In winter, you can pick baked potatoes (free of charge) from an open fireplace in the cozy downstairs cellar. In summer, garden seating opens in the shaded inner courtyard.
Chłopskie Jadło
This restaurant's name means "Peasant Kitchen," but this is the most entertaining interpretation of that theme imaginable. All meals come with complimentary bread and lard, and the menu is an artery-clogging cross section of traditional Polish peasant cuisine. For a starter try the żurek (stone soup) made from soured barley; then indulge in the very traditional main course of cabbage rolls stuffed with sauerkraut and grits in a mushroom sauce. To tell the truth, this is simple, unsophisticated food; and yet it has remained unceasingly popular for more than two decades.
Farina
True to its logo (a sack of flour and a fish), this restaurant offers consistently good fish, seafood, and homemade pasta. In addition to Mediterranean fare, there is also a selection of typically Polish dishes. A special selection of seafood is offered Thursday through Sunday. Whatever you order, first you will get Farina's trademark appetizer of an excellent truffle-and-mushroom pâté to spread on scrumptious little rolls. There's a good selection of wines, including a great dry Prosecco that would stand up to any champagne.
Fitagain Cafe
Marchewka z groszkiem
Nolio
Paese
The only Corsican restaurant in Poland—and one of the first memorable restaurants of the post-communist era—Paese was an immediate success, and it remains so two decades later. The restaurant consists of a series of pleasant, simple, tavernlike rooms. The menu is extensive enough that you're bound to find something appetizing—perhaps Calvi tenderloin, served in blue-cheese sauce and best accompanied by dumplings. Should you decide to sample the excellent tarte tatin, order it at the beginning of your meal, as it is always freshly prepared from scratch. Despite their essential constancy, both the interior and the menu get subtle face-lifts every now and again.
Pod Aniołami
Legend has it that this downstairs cellar was once an alchemist's lab. These days, Under the Angels is one of the more tastefully furnished restaurants in Kraków, with excellent interpretations of Polish cuisine. Try smoked sheep's-milk cheese warmed under the grill, then one of the delectable preparations of pork loin. You will also find well done simple dishes such as traditional Polish soups and the ubiquitous pierogi.
Pod Różą
Built in the converted courtyard of a tenement house, Under the Rose is airy, spacious, elegant, and contained under a glass roof. A seasonally changing, contemporary menu is matched by impeccable service; there is nightly live piano music. Pheasant with foie gras in a French pastry crust is just one of many mouthwatering options. The chefs make their own pastas, ice cream, and bread. Adjoining sister restaurant Amarone serves slightly cheaper, but no less delicious, mostly Mediterranean cuisine, and it offers great price deals at lunchtime.
Studio Twój Kucharz
Wierzynek
Dating to 1364, this was the only upscale restaurant in Kraków during the gray days of socialism and remains one of the city's best-known upscale dining spots, a place where customers (and their dollars) are once again kings. Though still popular, the present state of the food and service makes us cautious. Traditional offerings on the menu include trout with almonds, roast duck with apples, and saddle of deer in juniper sauce. Dining rooms on upper floors are stylishly furnished and decorated with historical paintings, armor, and clocks. The new addition of a grill garden is rather tacky.