krakow restaurants

When it comes to a good meal Krakow has it all; good local food and all kinds of world cuisine! So before I go ahead and make restaurant suggestions for Krakow, I’ll first give you an introduction to Polish cuisine so you will know what to eat in Krakow ! After all a good Krakow food guide needs to have both: what to eat in Krakow and where to eat it!

(I wrote price information in local currency, then – July 2017, 1 euro made about 4,2 zloty and 1 USD made about 3.6 zloty so just divide prices to 4 for an approximate euro estimation)

First let’s start with some common knowledge.  If you spot a place that has Milkbar (Bar Mleczny) in its name, know that it means it is a special type of Polish cafeteria. Milkbars were first established when it was a hard time to find food, and they were government controlled places to offer people good nutritious food in cheap prices. So Milkbars stand for hearty fulfilling cheap food! In old times they were not selling alcohol in this type of establishments, hence the name milkbar 🙂

Some cafes, restaurants are kind of half self service. You are supposed to order at the cashier and then sit, and they will bring you your food. If you are sitting in your desk for a while and nobody came to take your order maybe it is one of these types 🙂

And something to benefit, in Poland, many restaurants and cafes offer a lunch menu, especially in weekdays. You can get a nice set of lunch usually consists of soup, main dish and salad or drink, only for the price of a main dish so it is a good way to try local food.  Therefore pay attention to the menu if they offer a lunch set and/or ask your waitress about it.

Alright, let’s get to business, I’ll start with the main question!

What to eat in Krakow : What are Polish cuisine foods?

First of all, you can find all kinds of food in Krakow, so you can be sure that you are not gonna stay hungry here and you can pretty much eat whatever you want! Kebab, sushi, pizza, fast food…and delicious local food, you name it!

But let’s focus on Polish food. The most popular Polish dish is Pierogi. A kind of dumpling with various fillings such as cheese, meat, vegetables and on occasion with fruits or marmalade filling to make it dessert(ish). You can have the dough steamed or fried. (Congratulations Poland!  I guess you are also in  discovered putting stuff into dough is a delicious thing club!)

Pierogi comes in many variations for filling, but you will see below 3 most:

1-Ruskie: filled with potatoes, onion and cottage cheese, 2- Z Kapusta Grzybami: filled with cabbage and mushrooms 3-Z Miesem: filled with meat

I thought I would like the meat filling most but my favorite was Ruskie! And cabbage and mushroom one was above my expectations so definitely give it a try! I also tried versions with spinach and with fruits but first two type was always the best for me! Honestly Pierogi is also the most touristic answer to what to eat in Krakow but oh well, we are tourists aren’t we 🙂

If you had your fill of Pierogi (as if possible !), another local dish that you may want to try is their sour rye soup that is served with sausage and egg.  But I tried borch soup made from beetroot because I wanted to leave space for more pierogi 😀

If you like street food, you will like Zapiekanki. Zapiekanki is a long French baguette, where there is already a layer of cheese and mushroom and then you choose whatever you would like to include to create your dream snack food/ Bacon, ham, vegetarian, you name it. Zapiekanki is a very popular street/fast food and I can see why since it offers delicious variety with cheap prices so no competition there!

There, with these trio:  pierogi, rye soup and zapiekanki you have the short answer for what to eat in Krakow !  Polish cuisine has obviously more to offer but to me most of the other foods that tourists can find are similar to Russian and/or German cuisine like grilled sausages, pig knuckle, meat balls, gulas etc so I rather focus on these trio first in this Krakow food guide !

These foods aside,

What to eat in Krakow for breakfast ?

question has a different answer 🙂 Polish people have a really hearty and rich breakfast culture, which is not common in many places of Europe so as a Turk I really appreciated it ! (Turkish people are notorious to care about their breakfast, search Turkish breakfast in Google and you will see why :))

Usually a typical Polish breakfast seems to be centered on eggs and cheese ( and additional ham or sausage if you want) which is just perfect for me! You will find scrambled eggs, omelettes, egg benedicts and various breakfast plates  (combination of various ingredients such as English breakfast, French breakfast etc ) in many cafes. (I’ll get to where to eat in Krakow for breakfast in restaurant suggestions at the end)

And of course there are delicacies that are a specialty of Krakow, so we have to mention those in a good Krakow food guide too! So next question is:

What to eat in Krakow : What is Krakow famous for?

There are 2 food that are considered a Krakow specialty. 

First is Obwarzanek. It is a type of bakery bread, shaped as a ring with various types as topping such as with sesame or plain etc. It is a very cheap street snack which you will see on every corner of Krakow. Of courses prices increase if it is close to touristic old town area but usually it is between 1.30 and 2 zloty.  (in airport 3 zloty :p)

Second one is Oscypek which is a type of cheese made from sheep’s milk. This cheese is usually served as grilled with fruit marmalade.  So if you are looking for something to bring home with you it can also be a good souvenir 🙂

And last but not least of course is the answer for

What to eat in Krakow for dessert ?

Paczki – a type of Polish doughnut , Sernik –cheese cake with their special cheese , Kremowka– a kind cream between milfoy pastry dessert and  Szarlotka– apple tarts are the first things that came to mind. Of course let’s not forget sweet version of pierogi with fruit and marmalade filling.

So, I guess now we have some answers for what are some Polish cuisine foods and what to eat in Krakow for various occasions for local food, for breakfast and for dessert! Now we can tackle next question which I think is even more important then what to eat in Krakow question 😀

Where to eat in Krakow ?

Krakow has many cafes and restaurants with good ambiance and good food. Below places are my notes for places I tried myself. Some of them I noted down from my internet research, some of them are suggestions from friends and fellow travelers, and some well just your usual stumbling upon findings 🙂 So without further due here is complementary part to what to eat in Krakow guide : my restaurant suggestions for Krakow so you will also know where to eat in Krakow !

Domowe Przysmaki: This is my suggestion if you would like to try Polish cuisine and local food. It is a small cosy place with couple of outside tables. And moreover even though it is located near Old town area, aka tourist trap, prices are actually quite reasonable. Pierogi was 13 zloty, borsh soup was 5 and beer was 9 zloty.

(Also if you need to exchange money, in the very same street you have the best exchange rates so use the ones on this street! )

Gospado Kokona: This place I heard from couple of sources, from internet, from friends, and since it had high ranking in trip advisor, I had my first meal in Krakow here. Although it was ok, I didn’t get  `oh my god best food ever, and it is so cheap` vibe unlike internet comments. It was good, and prices were indeed cheap , so I can see why it was popular among students and travelers. Just don’t expect too much! Lunch menu was 19 zloty if I remember correctly, but I took Pierogi which were around 10-11 zloty (ten piece). And with one beer I payed only 16 zloty. You can order pierogi half from one type and half from other which is really convenient if you want to try different fillings (though many places in Krakow let’s you do this).

Plac Nowy: This is a must go place! Because it is not just one place, but a combination of various street food vendors in one avenue place. And near that avenue you also have lots of cafes and places which some of them I’ll also mention below! But I’ll specifically suggest this place for eating Zapiekanki as many vendors here sells it. Price were around 7 zloty. But be aware that on Sundays there is actually a market here so street food vendors are not open (at least most of them) So I suggest you check this place on another day if possible!

Moment W Sezonie (Moments): This is my go without thinking suggestion for breakfast! If you don’t already know, breakfasts are very important to me (Turkish person spotted!). But this place was perfect for this. Not only place had good ambiance and friendly service, food was good and prices were cheap too! (I think most Polish food prices felt cheap to me because I live in Munich :D) anyway they have many many options for breakfast, you can just order scrambled eggs, omelet or toast but they have very interesting breakfast plates. They have English breakfast plate, French breakfast place, Krakow plate, vegetarian plate, place itself specialty plate and last but not least and which was my order Polish breakfast plate! In my Polish breakfast plate, there were scrambled eggs, bacon, 2 Polish sausage, hard cheese and crème cheese, a small salad, bread, butter and a big cup of coffee! Actually I thought coffee was separate but they only charged for breakfast plate price which is 21 zloty. (I asked them about it and they said it is included!)

Alchemia: A place I heard so much before I even arrived Poland! Known as one of the hip and popular places in Krakow right now. The reason being it is interesting décor and ambiance. From outside the building itself looks very damaged and old, but when you get inside you feel like you step into another building ! Interesting details to say the least.

It has two parts actually, pub and restaurant, I think pub area looks better.  I don’t know about the food but I tried their `alchemy` wine made for them for Italian grapes, it was 9 zloty, not bad but not a wine I’ll miss.

Singer: I think you should drop by this place, if nothing else just for a photo shot 🙂 I don’t know about your childhood but in my childhood, every mum had this sewing machine with brand Singer at home, whether they actually used it or not! (Mine never did :p But me and my brother sure liked to play with it!) So the connection is not just the name but you will see that tables in this café/pub are actually singer sewing machine tables with literally sewing machine is middle of it! Can’t think of a more hipster place 😀

I just enjoyed a coffee in day time here like a good girl but I heard people dance on top of tables at night! So if you are there at night time let me know 😉

Milkbar Tomasza: I wanted to try a milkbar (see Milkbar explanation in initial paragraphs) and since I heard this place again from multiple resources I was looking forward to it.

Actually I could tell it is a really popular place because there were actually line in front of it , people were waiting for a table!

But yet another can’t say I liked it very much experience for me (coincidentally they were both highly rates places from trip advisor). First reason being meal was average. I went there for breakfast/lunch and I ordered Spanish omelet (16 zloty) which had great reviews and also half portion pierogi (8 zloty) to try theirs as well.  I think seasoning was missing because despite they were made of ingredients I like, it was just put together but didn’t created any good taste for me. Service wasn’t that smiley either, I’m guessing because of the crowd. And adding insult to the injury, I found a small hair in my omelet. So maybe it was my luck but I suggest you try another milkbar.

Kolanko no 6: If you want to find a place that has both Polish local food, and menu from all over the world cuisine this is your place.  Actually menu was interesting to me as I wasn’t expecting to see an Arabic starter dish made from aubergine and Italian steak and Polish Pierogi together 🙂 Place has big space and garden. Prices were slightly higher then Krakow average but if you go there in weekdays, you can have lunch for only 19 zloty which is less than their single main dish prices.

Galeria Wrega: A cute cozy place with nice garden. Also has interior and upstairs place. I only had a drink but they were doing pan fried pierogi if you are interested! 👍🏻

Mleczarnia: Again a nice place with big garden, close to it is Schindler’s Alley.

Kuhnia i Wino : Actually I saw the wine themed décor and gave a wine o’clock break here. Interior was not big but they also had small garden area in backyard. Anyway it was good for a short drink break. Since I didn’t ate anything here I can not comment on the food but it was good enough for me for a drink break.

Bonus: If you are going to Salt Mines (which you totally should!) , at the end of `tourist tour` under 135 meters ground you will find a restaurant!  You can find many kinds of classic Polish cuisine there and prices were ok and not too expensive as you might expect from this kind of looks like `tourist trap` place.  I haven’t eaten because I wasn’t hungry but I was very much tempted to eat and say I eat in a restaurant that is 135 meters below surface 🙂

So that’s it, as usual, so please let me know by writing a comment if you have a question for this Krakow food guide, on what to eat in Krakow or where to eat in Krakow  ! Of course your suggestions and your own experiences are also welcomed!