6 Best Restaurants in Krakow, Poland

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

$$$$ | Stare Miasto Fodor's Choice

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.

Cechowa

$ | Stare Miasto

To some extent, visiting Cechowa resembles time travel. The decor, the menu, the hairdos of the staff (as well as the staff themselves) have not changed in decades. This is the place to sample traditional dishes such as raw beef tartare (always fresh), bigos (sour cabbage and meat stew, a traditional hunter's dish), or a meat roulade wrapped around pickled cucumbers and served with buckwheat and gravy. It's all honest, no-nonsense, traditional Polish food. Furthermore, Cechowa will not bankrupt your budget since prices remain very reasonable.

Chłopskie Jadło

$$ | Stare Miasto

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.

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Marchewka z groszkiem

$ | Kazimierz

It may be difficult to find a better dining deal in Kazimierz—or, indeed, in the whole of Kraków. Carrot with Peas focuses on simple dishes, many of the milk bar variety, meaning fresh and inexpensive food such as pancakes, potato cakes, and soups. The atmosphere, though, is not that of a milk bar, but a grandmother's dining room with wooden tables and chairs. Homey and cozy, it's very busy most of the time.

Pod Aniołami

$$ | Stare Miasto

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.

Wierzynek

$$$$ | Stare Miasto

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.

Krakow

Krakow

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