52 Best Restaurants in Poland

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.

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.

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.

"The Salmon" is certainly the most famous restaurant in Gdańsk, with a long-standing reputation. Very old-fashioned, it is memorable for its elegant baroque-era dining rooms, well-oiled maître d', attentive service, and perfectly correct seafood (the menu also extends to game and fowl dishes). Try the salmon or smoked eel to start, followed by flounder or grilled trout. You may want to try the famous Goldwasser vodka—after all, this is its original source.

This artsy place at the back of the Zamek Ujazdowski is not for the impatient. This is a busy restaurant—and deservedly so—and the result can be sometimes hectic, even rude service. However, all may be forgiven once you dig into your meal, which will be delicious and well-prepared most of the time. The creative menu includes everything from potato pancakes with Parma ham to pork in orange sauce. The location is simply unbeatable: in summer, outdoor tables overlook a magnificent view of the park. The best strategy is just to work yourself into a Zenlike state and go with the flow, but make reservations.

With a stylish room and some of the best food in the city, this basement restaurant is one of the more popular places to be in Warsaw these days. The tasteful main salon is furnished with antiques and decorated with large bouquets of fresh flowers. You can't go wrong here with the food, especially if you try the homemade pierogi or pike-perch fillet in white-leek sauce. For dessert, the homemade cakes are outstanding.

Next to Jasna Góra is this bright restaurant serving Mediterranean dishes in a warm, friendly environment. Two brothers run the restaurant, and from their kitchen come heaping antipasti platters, chewy pizzas sized for two, and several tender cuts of meat. There are good vegetarian options here, especially the beetroot soup with ravioli. The crème brûlée makes an ambrosial end to a well-priced meal.

The fresh and tasty sushi does not come cheap here, as you'll discover when you add up your seemingly inexpensive, individual pieces for a rather large final bill. However, your little bites arrive in fancy little boats in this floating interpretation of the "kaiten-sushi" (conveyor-belt–sushi) restaurant. Watch the chef at work: he definitely knows what he is doing, and it's like watching an artist work as he produces picture-perfect maki and nigiri. You don't even have to bother reading a menu: just grab the plates as they pass; and try to keep a running total in your mind so you are not so surprised when you get a hefty bill.

Sakana has bar seating only.

You can't go wrong with any of the chef's recommendations, which are usually traditional Polish dishes with a twist. Both the duck breast in a sauce of apples, plums, and apricots, and the pappardelle with boletus mushrooms and freshly chopped parsley are truly delicious and among the highlights on the menu.

Make a pit stop at this quaint café for coffee, tea, smoothies, and scrumptious baked goods. In warmer months the cheery garden, furnished with yellow chairs and round pink tables from Belgium, fills with locals eagerly tucking into beautiful meringues topped with berries and mint leaves, and cooling off with orange and avocado smoothies. Come winter, you can curl up in one of the overstuffed armchairs and sip thick hot chocolate with mini marshmallows while feasting on pumpkin cake, all under the watchful eyes of Czarka, the café's resident black cat.

This establishment is widely considered one of the best Indian restaurants in Poland—and not just by its owner, Charanjit Walia. Tandoor Palace serves North Indian food, mostly tandoori dishes, as the name indicates—including excellent butter tikka masala, and a selection of jalfrezi (a vegetable curry), biryani (a sweet and spicy rice dish), and other recipes where green chilis, ginger, and coriander are used generously. Curries can be washed down with Kingfisher beer. The restaurant is the favorite haunt of foreign residents, who attend the monthly Curry Club and the Comedy Club.

A scale-model sailing ship outside leads you into a series of wood-paneled dining rooms overlooking the Motława Canal. This is a pleasant place to linger over lunch or dinner. Tawerna's fresh trout is always reliable, but ask the polite, multilingual waitstaff about the fish of the day. The only complaints most diners have regard the price of the meal. Be aware, though, that this is a very touristy spot.

A short walk from Częstochowa Museum, this light-filled eatery opens at 7:30 am on weekdays, making it a great place to bring early-rising kids—or for those suffering from jet lag to load up on coffee and eggs with a side of Wi-Fi. The menu covers the classics with pasta, pizza, fish and meat dishes, and salads. Start with the antipasti board and end with tiramisu for a meal that hits all the right notes.

This long-established wine bar on the Old Town Square has been turned into a curious—though ultimately inviting—network of elaborately decorated dining rooms. There's a talking parrot in a cage here, and candles adorn all available shelf space (sometimes set dangerously close to diners' elbows). The decor is, admittedly, lovely; the food is okay but overpriced "Light Old Polish." Expect to find such standbys as oven-roasted carp, sautéed veal liver, and crabmeat crepes. As with most places in the Old Town, sadly, you don't really get you're money's worth. Nevertheless, there's no denying that this is still one of the most famous and popular restaurants in Warsaw.

If you dine here, go in with your eyes open and your pocketbook full.

The faux-medieval interior decor may be kitschy, but this restaurant has the most beautiful terrace in Szczecin, so it's a must when the weather is warm. Food comes in huge portions, particularly when you order the Knight's Trophy, which includes three kinds of meat served on a sword. The adjoining pub under the same management has live music and entertainment.

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.