USEFUL INFO » FOOD
Restaurants, special recommendations:
Amarone
ul. Florianska 14 - located within the Hotel "Pod Różą" in an inner courtyard, covered by a glass roof. Awarded the "Golden Jackdaw" prize for quality. The best wine bar in Cracow. Top-end prices.
Cherubino
ul. Sw. Tomasza - the most beautiful corner of Jana and "doubting Thomas" street. Serves Polish food, specialities from the grill, and Tuscan food. Imaginative country/folk style decor with horse-drawn carriage eating booths. Mid-range prices.
Cyrano de Bergerac
ul. Slawkowska 26 - a fairly new restaurant but already well known. Fine authentic French cuisuine (The chef is French). First class quality and prices in an elegantly decorated cellar. Awarded the "Golden Jackdaw" award for the best restaurant in 1999. Top-end prices.
Klezmer Hois
ul. Szeroka 6 - in the centre of Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter of Cracow. Jewish dishes are served as well as food typical to the Polish Jews. Furniture and paintings reminiscent of a typical Jewish Burgher house. Concerts of klezmer music are held every evening. Mid-range prices.
Nowina
Situated outside of Cracow in Głogoczów, 12 km from Cracow on the way to Zakopane. You are, however, rewarded for the trip out, both by the setting and the cooking. It was one of the first private restaurants to exist long before the turn of the 1990s. Classical Polish cooking is served in a tastefully decorated noble house. The cooking is in a class of its own and regularly receives the highest ranking from specialists. Mid-range prices.
Paese
Poselska 24 - hidden away in a narrow street leading straight out onto the Dominican church. The chef moved to Cracow from Corsica and now serves mediterranean specialities such as muscles, steak in pepper sauce or Corsican omlette. Mid-range prices.
Pod Aniolami
ul. Grodzka 35 - wooden tables and benches in a deep, rustic, vaulted, Gothic cellar. Beautifully decorated, this restaurant "Under the Angels" is the best place for Polish food in Cracow. We recommend: for a starter, country style bread with traditional dripping, "Żurek" a rye-flour soup thickened with sour cream served with Polish sausage, potatoes and an egg. For the main course: mutton, ribs in honey with vegetables and roast potatoes. Finish it off with a barrel of Polish beer from the cellar and a piece of apple cake with cinnamon. Top-end prices.
Ukraińska
ul. Kanonicza 15 - located in a beautiful old cellar from the middle ages on the oldest street in Cracow, just below Wawel. Specialises in typical Ukranian cooking. Half of the dishes are similar to Polish dishes - a testimony to the close relationship Poland and the Ukraine have upheld over the years. Try the "Ukranian Barszcz" and "Pierogi" with different fillings. Budget prices.
Wentzl
Main Square 19 - located directly on the Main Square in an elegantly decorated Burgher House. One of the best restaurants in Cracow with a good choice of wine. Perfect for business dinners. Top-end prices.
Vegetarian cooking:
Vega
ul. Sw. Gertrudy 7 - the best address in Cracow for vegetarians, now has several outlets. Serves vegetarian versions of typical Polish dishes as well as a wide range of salads and soya-based dishes. Lower-end price range.
Green Way
ul. Mikolajska 14 - small cafe serving good vegetarian food, large portions and fast service. Lower-end price range.
Smaki Swiata
ul. Szpitalna (opposite the theatre)
Serves a wide choice of delicious seafood, vegetarian and vegan dishes from around the world. Frequent themed menus devoted to a particular country or dish. Lower-end price range.
Secret tips:
Self-service cafeteria "U Stasi", ul. Mikolajska 16 - folk cooking, low prices and good quality.
Underground locations
Cracow has a huge choice of cafes, cellar bars and restaurants, variously located on one or more levels. It has some really first class restaurants and heavily atmospheric Jazz cellars. There are over 100 such places in and around the Main Square and Kazimierz, open until the early hours or until the last person leaves.
