Cracow, Poland — Food and Dining
Restaurants in Cracow, Poland
Restaurants
Expensive
Cyrano de Bergerac
One of the very best restaurants in Cracow, Cyrano de Bergerac serves fine French cuisine in a beautifully decorated cellar in the Old Town. The ambience is a gentle combination of Polish tradition and French refinement, while the cuisine is decidedly French - and rather haute. Artwork and tapestries add to the romance.
ulica Slawkowska 26
Tel: (012) 411 7288.
Website: www.cyranodebergerac.pl
Wentzel
What many people consider as Cracow's finest restaurant sits high above the Main Market Square and dates back to 1792. With timbered ceilings, Oriental carpets and fine oil paintings all around, it's as classy as it gets around here. The food is excellent, with such offerings as foie gras with whisky and raspberries, duck marinated in zubrowka (bison grass vodka) and many game dishes. Service is of a predictably high standard.
Rynek Glowny 21
Tel: (012) 429 5712.
Website: www.wentzl.pl
Moderate
Paese
Paese is a popular restaurant and deservedly so. Corsican cuisine is on offer here, and the thatched-cottage decor is warm and relaxed; it really feels like a little bit of the Mediterranean has moved in at this address on ulica Poselska. The menu is meat-heavy but there are also a few fish and vegetarian options.
ulica Poselka 24
Tel: (012) 421 6273.
Website: www.paese.com.pl
Pod Aniolami
An award-winning restaurant located in a 13th-century building on the Droga Krolewska (the Royal Route) from the Wawel Castle to the Main Market Square, ‘Under the Sign of the Angels' offers fine contemporary Polish cuisine. The kitchen is particularly famous for its pickled meat grilled in the stove fire with beech wood. A beautiful restaurant decorated with traditional folksy knick-knacks, it is also very popular, so book ahead.
ulica Grodzka 35
Tel: (012) 421 3999.
Website: www.podaniolami.pl
Pod Gruszka
Excellent old Polish and international cuisine is served in the pretty period rooms of this place called ‘Under the Pear Tree'. Located in an ancient house, it's a favorite of writers and artists and has the feel of a private club. The food is gorgeous and very flavorsome. The soups are unbeatable. Try one of the distinctive soups served in small bread loaves.
ulica Szczepanska 1
Tel: (012) 422 8896.
Website: www.pod-gruszka.prv.pl
Cheap
Chlopskie Jadlo
Chlopskie Jadlo, just south of Wawel and on the fringes of Kazimierz, looks like a rustic country inn and serves up traditional Polish 'peasant grub' (as its name suggests). The portions are as generous as the food is well-prepared, and there's live folk music at the weekend. Seating in antique sleighs adds to the rustic atmosphere.
ulica Sw Agnieszka 1
Tel: (012) 421 8520.
Website: www.chlopskiejadlo.pl
Jama Michalika
Once a favorite grazing area and watering hole for writers, painters, actors and other artistic types, this restaurant, established in 1895, is cavernous, with Art Nouveau-style halls that give in to rooms that lead to snugs. The traditional Polish food is of reasonable quality and value, but the Art Nouveau decor and the theatrical etchings and other mementoes adorning the walls are worth a visit.
ulica Florianska 45
Tel: (012) 422 1561.
Website: www.jamamichalika.pl
Miod Malina
This restaurant, with its interesting name of ‘Honey Raspberry', serves Polish dishes with a contemporary twist in colorful surroundings. Grab a window seat and order the duck in a plum and mushroom sauce or their famous pierogi (Polish ravioli). The decor has a rustic but very upbeat feel to it, with warm yellows and reds the dominant tones.
ulica Grodzka 40
Tel: (012) 430 0411.
Website: www.miodmalina.pl
Nightlife
The epicenter of Cracow's nightlife is on and around Rynek Glowny, with pavement cafes a popular place to start off the evening. Distinctions between cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs tend to blur a bit later when cosy cellar bars become party zones, complete with throbbing dance music and sweaty dance floors. Live music tends to be rock or jazz, but there are occasionally more off-beat shows.
Every week sees the launch of a new cafe or a pub, so keeping up with what's happening in the city can be a bit of a challenge. Check the local press or websites such as www.cracow-life.com, www.krakownightlife.com or www.where2b.org for the latest hip venues.
Bars: CK Browar, ulica Podwale 6/7, is a lively microbrewery pub with stone walls and lots of nooks and crannies to hide away in. Pod Papugami, ulica Sw Jana 18, is a vaguely 'Irish' cellar pub decorated with old motorcycles and other assorted bits and pieces. Singer Cafe, ulica Estery 20, near the market in Kazimierz, is the retro-cool hangout of choice among the Cracow cognoscenti.
Clubs: Lubu-Dubu (www.lubudubu.pl) at ulica Wielopole 15 (4th floor) is grunge heaven, with DJs spinning ‘old school' tracks and a collection of objects from 1970s Poland to behold. In the same building on the 2nd floor, you'll find Kitsch (www.kitsch.pl), once gay and now everybody's favorite last port of call in Cracow. Rdza (www.rdza.pl) at ulica Bracka 3/5 is a basement venue attracting many of the city's more sophisticated clubbers, with guest DJs at the weekend. Prozak (www.prozak.pl) at plac Dominikanski 6 was once celebrated for attracting Cracow's rich and beautiful. It still attracts some of the clubbing faithful but word's got out and it's become something of a foreign mecca. El Sol (www.elsol-krakow.pl) at ulica Botorego 1 is Cracow's premier Latino club.
Live Music: Jazz is popular in the city and some of the cellar bars make for the perfect environment in which to hear bands. Jazz Club U Muniaka (www.umuniaka.krakow.pl) in a cellar at ulica Florianska 3 is one of the best-known jazz outlets in Poland, the creation of saxophonist Janusz Muniak, who often performs here. Piano Rouge (www.thepianorouge.com) at Rynek Glowny 46 is quite a posh jazz club and restaurant with a dizzying array of nightly live jazz acts. U Louisa (www.ulouisa.com) at Rynek Glowny 13 is one of the oldest jazz clubs in Cracow. Klezmer Hois (www.klezmer.pl), a hotel and restaurant at ulica Szeroka 6 in Kazimierz, offers nightly klezmer (a combination of traditional Jewish music and 1920s jazz) concerts.
