Dining out in Krakow

A holiday guide to eating out in Krakow’s best restaurants

A good place to start the restaurant reviews and suggestions is with the local Polish cuisine. In the heart of Krakow’s most historic district is Restaurant Wierzynek on the Rynek Glowny. It has one of the best traditional menus in the city and its excellent reputation has attracted numerous amounts of famous guests including; Stephen Spielberg and Nobel Prize Winner Czeslaw Milosz. Also on the Rynek Glowny is the fresh and modern Polish restaurant called Pod Krzyzykiem. Although, it’s an up market restaurant the prices are very reasonable and its one of the best places to come in the summer, when you can eat out side on the market square. A medieval themed restaurant is Chlopski Jadlo, known for its fun atmosphere and good traditional Polish dishes. It’s a traditional Polish restaurant with an excellent reputation with tourists and locals alike. The homemade bread and cream cheese are house specialities and the portions here are simply enormous.

Smaki Swiata which means ‘Flavours of the World’ has the biggest choice of vegetarian fusion dishes and sea food. The menu here is quite extensive, with cuisine styles from all over the world, including Far East Japan to Mexico, India to Italy. Vega is another respected vegetarian restaurant and just a short walk from the main market Square on Gertrudy street. The staff here are very friendly and the menu is cheap considering the quality of the food. Greenway on Mikolajska street, which is close to the St. Mary's church is another good choice for top quality vegetarian dishes. For the taste of the Orient, then we’d recommend Sushi Bar on the Rynek Glowny. The food is always outstanding and the service is professional and attentive. Near Wawel Castle, is Dong Yang Sushi Bar (Straszewskiego street) an excellent restaurant, serving top quality oriental dishes, ranging from Korean to Japanese.

Italian cuisine is well represented in Krakow, with a wide selection of top quality restaurants spread across the city. On Poselska street you’ll find Trzy Paprczki an excellent pizzeria, with a delightful summer garden out the back. The atmosphere is informal, relaxed and cheerful, perfect for a inexpensive fun night out. One of the most popular pizzeria’s is Fabryka on Józefa street, the pizza’s are great value for money and very tasty, but the restaurant does get particularly busy very quickly. Il Calzone (Starowiślna st) has never disappointed with its well thoughout Italian menu, all the standards are very well presented and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. Other recommended Italian restaurants: Padva (Jagiellońska ), La Strada (Stradomska), Leonardo (Szpitalna) and Avanti (Karmelicka).

There are many up market restaurants, but one that consistently receives praise and media attention is Cyrano de Bergerac. In the past it has been elected the 6th best restaurant in Poland, the best in Southern Poland and even the best in Cracow. The décor is a mixture of brick cellar walls, candles and tapestries, creating a very special dining atmosphere. Add some genuine class to your city break in Krakow and ask Vamos Travel to reserve you a table at this wonderful French restaurant. On the same street of the Sławkowska is another fine french establishment called La Fontaine, which serves all the traditional specialiities, including frogs legs, snails and assorted cheeses.

Cracow does not have a good selection of Indian restaurants, but the best we’ve come across is the Bombaj Tandoori on Mikolajska Street. When going for an Indian would be the first suggestion that springs to mind for a suitable place for stag do’s and lads to dine in England, the best place to go in Krakow is Roosters. Very similar to theme of Hooters, the waitresses are wearing next to nothing sports wear, serving up typical American dinner style cuisine. It’s a restaurant frequented with stag parties and stag dos, so if you’re not looking for this type of jovial atmosphere, maybe try somewhere a little more formal. If you’re still craving for a little spice in your diet then consider one of the many Mexican restaurants. One of the most established restaurants is Taco Mexicano, but we’d say one of the best is Bagelmama in the Jewish quarter. Here you’ll find all the classic Tex Mex dishes cooked superbly and the restaurant sits next to the beautiful Temple synagogue.

There are many other great restaurants to find that are generalised under the phrase international cuisine. Very popular amongst Krakow tourists is Szara on the Rynek Glowny, with it’s luxurious gothic interior and perfect location on the famous old town square. Across in the Kazimierz district is a restaurant going from strength to strength, where the owner is also the head chef, delivering high quality international cuisine, with a genuine passion. The restaurant is called Kuchnia i Wino and is found on Jozefa street and it comes highly recommend by ourselves and many of our Krakow weekend breaks clients. The Orient Ekspres on Stolarska street, has designed its décor to resemble old fashion train compartments. The menu is wide and consistently good and we’ve only found the staff to be warm and friendly. In short, other top table choices are: U Szkota (Mikolajska) continental, Kassumay for African cuisine and Bodega Marques for tapas. Contact the Cracow holidays experts about dining in Poland and about our exciting citybreaks deals. We are the leading short breaks travel professionals, for Krakow, Gdansk and Warsaw.