Quality Eateries in
Krakow.
Dining out is easy in the city that boasts thousands of
places serving food. Finding a
good restaurant in Krakow – that’s quite another
matter. Sure, the gastronomic capital of Poland offers a
fair amount of fine eateries as well as some excellent ones.
Yet to tell them from the crowd may be more daunting here
than in other tourist meccas of Europe.
Watch for culinary minefields.
Customary rules of thumb
don’t work when visitors look for a good
meal in Krakow. Number of customers usually
misleads as crowded places are usually just cheap rather
than good value. And some establishments swarming with
tourists, foreign and Polish, are actually little value for
considerable money. Splashy websites and boastful
restaurateurs and chefs often lure strangers to eating
places with poor food and clumsy service. Most guides,
listings, and reviews are unreliable as their authors depend
on money paid by restaurant owners.
In search of good restaurants in Krakow.
Following are some helpful
hints, based on our long experience, to find a decent meal
in Krakow and avoid food traps.
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Convenient location is a poor indicator. Some of
Krakow’s best eats can be found on the beaten
track but generally tourist hotspots such as the central
square tend to foster gastronomic mediocrity or worse.
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Longevity gives a clue. Krakow restaurants are
notorious for inconsistency: the quality may change
dramatically in a matter of months or weeks due to
rotation of chefs, unseemly economizing, etc. But when
an eating place prospers for decades it is for some
reason which can be the constant satisfaction of its
patrons.
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Best restaurants seldom entice crowds. Haute
cuisine remains too expensive for local residents. As
elaborate cooking comes at a price Krakow’s top
restaurants often get that deserted look.
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You may eat where you sleep. Top
hotels in Krakow have some of the city’s best
restaurant on the premises.
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The Michelin guide isn’t an infallible authority on
Krakow. Not that the Michelin reviewers are
incompetent but they are probably too busy to spend much
time on Krakow every year. It may be the reason why the
guide omits some excellent restaurants while a couple of
so-so places are also recommended.
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Krakow is Poland’s mecca of gourmets thanks to its
many excellent restaurants.
Polish menu
Try traditional Polish cuisine in one of Krakow's
choice restaurants. Ask for regional specialties of Krakow
and the Malopolska province.
Multicultural menu
French and Chinese,
Italian and Breton, Mexican and Kurdish, African,
Vietnamese, Indian, etc. Myriad Krakow restaurants cater to
foreign tastes, are run by expats and employ exotic chefs.
Cosmopolitan menu
There is the world
standard a traveled gourmet feels at home in. Krakow's best
restaurants happily satisfy the worldly tastes.
Economy class
While all Krakow
restaurants occur inexpensive to Western visitors, some places
are even more so.
Basic Krakow info
for visitors
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