What we ate: Krakow edition

I am a sucker for lots of things but one of my main weaknesses are dumplings. I don’t discriminate. I love dumplings of all shapes, sizes, fillings and textures. I love reading recipes for dumplings and I love watching TV shows/pixar shorts about dumplings. I love chicken gyoza and pot stickers and Mandu and Xiaolongbao and kartoffelknoedel and samosa and ravioli and suet dumplings. When I was in Budapest years and years ago, I ate a really delicious soup in the Jewish quarter with little pike dumplings in the bottom of the bowl that I still think about regularly. And so, our first food stop in Kraków was a pierogi restaurant: Pierogarnia Krakowiacy. 

Pierogarnia Krakowiacy is a very cute little place on a busy street called Szewska in the Old Town. Inside it is painted with lots of beautiful flowery murals with vaulted ceilings and wagon wheels and tools hanging on the walls. The menu was available in English (I always die slightly of embarrassment at how limited my capabilities are when it comes to speaking other languages) and it was short enough that it didn’t seem at all overwhelming. We ordered 2 lemonades and 2 plates of pierogi from the counter one was smoked cheese but I can’t remember what the other one could have been, I think perhaps pork, cabbage and onion. And after that A ordered another plate of pudding pierogi which was apple and cinnamon. The dumplings were delicious, very filling and tasty and on the back of the menus there was a poem all about dumplings which I won’t share here- partially because although I did take a picture of it, the flash was on my camera which reflected off the laminate- so you’ll have to visit to read it. But it was very sweet and funny.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. This was included in our stay but it was opt in or out so if you chose to stay but don’t want brekkie included then you’re under no obligation. I always find it really handy because it means we needn’t wander around for ages in the morning looking for coffee and it’s not something we need to budget for. We didn’t used to do this but I’m so glad that we do now, it really makes a difference. The breakfast at the Avena Hotel was the best we’ve ever had in a hotel. A buffet with lots of cheese, cold cuts, bread, rolls, doughnuts etc. The usual things like fruit, yogurt and cereal and there was so hot food which changed a bit each day but for example: bacon, scrambled eggs and those bright pink sausages that are so tasty; smokey and salty mmmmm. AND THEN there was lots of salad type things, millions of pickles (one of my other major life loves, even at breakfast time) and seeds and olives etc. So, a really really good breakfast. Oh and there was a coffee machine and lots of different tea options and juice. So, that’s how we started each of our days on the trip. When we used to travel when we were a bit younger and we used to go out drinking and things we always used to sleep through breakfast. I dread to think of all the tasty breakfasts we have missed out on over the years, but these days we always make sure we are up in time! We had lunch in a cute little art café in Kazimierz called 2 Okna which was a hummus-y meze platter plus coffee for A and mulled wine for me- very very delicious and the café was full of interesting drawings and paintings which is right up my strasse. We returned to 2 Okna for a drink later in the week when we returned to explore Kazimerz in the day light. Then that evening we went for pizza. Pizza is my go to if we don’t know what to eat. I hvae absolutely no idea what that restaurant was called but it was good and they had montepulciano d’abruzzo by the glass which is a good sign if you ask me. I had done a bit of research into Polish food before we left and I’d made a list of things I wanted to try. One of which was Pączki and there was a specific place I wanted to get them from which was a hole in the wall called Gorące Pączki which is on the same street as the Pierogi restaurant we had visited the night before. I think A had a custard donut and I had cherry and both were delicious. I love the idea of having dinner in one place and pudding in another.

The next day we visited Auschwitz- which I will write a whole separate post about. With regards to food though, you obviously can’t eat in the museum in Auschwitz 1 or in Birkenau unless you have a compelling medical need to do so, for example if you were diabetic. There was a restaurant I think at the museum (but outside) and there is a sort of service station in a car park over the road from the museum with a couple of restaurants- though as we were on an organised tour, we’d not have had time to eat in them. Anyway, we bought a couple of sandwiches from a bakery chain in Krakow the night before which we ate on the bus. It was really odd to be honest and I felt quite uncomfortable eating or even planning to eat on a trip to Auschwitz. But as far as food goes- I’m glad we bought something from a bakery rather than a shop because I think it was nicer and it was very inexpensive.

In Krakow, particularly in the Old Town there are lots of little beigel stands. Polish beigels are different to those in the UK, or to the bagels I have come across anyway (of which there have been many). Rather than the chubby New York beigels, these are a bit bigger but thinner and more twisty so a real ring rather than a cushion of dough with a proper chewy crust. And they are called obwarzanek. Needless to say, beigels on every street corner was music to my eyes, especially poppy seed beigels.

We visited a little café one afternoon called Siesta Café because A desperately needed some pudding. Siesta Café is an extremely cosy little vaulted café, down a couple of steps from the pavement so it felt extra snuggly and it is painted in bright oranges and yellows inside with lots of tables and chairs with floppy cushions and benches haphazardly scattered and on little platforms and round corners. We loved it. It was very busy both times we visited and we were lucky and happy to get a table. The first time, we got mulled wine, an incredible hot chocolate and a slice of apple pie. Then more mulled wine, some normal wine and more pie. We were in there for hours. The next day we returned for… you guessed it! More pie and wine and again, we were in there for a long while. We felt so welcomed and comfortable. I really would recommend popping in for a pudding if there’s a table!

On our last full day we ate lunch in a place I had had my eye on from the start, since before the start in fact: Milkbar Tomasza. So, for a little bit of history and context: milkbars are a Krakow gastro staple left from the city’s days in the Socialist Era. Milkbars were essentially government funded canteens which provided cheap, nutritious and filling food for Polish workers. They were around in various guises before the rise of the Soviet Union but they really are a relic of communism. For more information please see this article from the culture trip. Anyway. We visited Milkbar Tomasza and it was glorious. First of all, the atmosphere was great, it really reminded me of an English Greasy Spoon (of which there are so few these days). The cafe was full of all kinds of different people: different ages, nationalities. It was noisy and busy and sharing tables is encouraged or expected if you want to eat. We ordered pierogi (surprise!) which was the best I’ve ever had.

Like Polish pot stickers, so steamed or boiled and fried and crunchy and chewy and hot and steamy. All the good stuff. A also ordered a fried camembert which was good- it was coated in broken cornflakes which I thought was excellent but if I had been on my own I’d have ordered the chicken livers. The cheese came with some sharp and vinegary shredded vegetables which I was very much into. We drank little cups of hot strong coffee but also glasses of very tasty lemonade. You order at the counter here too by the way in case you visit. After this, we walked to and through Kazimerz where we found Plac Nowey- a market square, and A bought a strudel-ly pastry type thing from bakery shed. It was an apple pastry and good, I think, but I didn’t try any.

On our final night, we visited a different pizza restaurant. It was Valentine ’s Day and we had failed to book anywhere and everywhere was so busy (can you tell? We are very romantic…) so even though the place we visited was actually excellent, we would probably have gone elsewhere if we’d put some thought it to it. That said, I love pizza, I love chewy yeasty dough and I love melty cheese so it was an excellent dinner. Also, we were sat next to a couple who were very much in love and a man in the couple had the biggest fanciest watch I have ever seen in my life. The watch face was genuinely about 7cm across and so glossy and sparkly. I was mesmerised.

That just about wraps up our food experience in Krakow I think. There were a couple of things I’d have liked to have tried that I just didn’t get a chance to have. When I return in the future, I will definitely go on a food tour. I had considered it this time but we were there so fleetingly and with other activities planned that it just wasn’t possible. Something to look forward to next time though!