5 Best Restaurants in Excursions from Warsaw, Poland

Though located in the Hotel Tobaco, this popular restaurant is a destination its own right and is very popular with locals. The menu is not long, but you may still feel spoiled for choices. The selections come from the four historical cultures of Łódź—German, Jewish, Polish, and Russian—and are prepared with contemporary style. Highlights include beef tartare, hearty red lentil soup, simple and sophisticated buckwheat dumplings with liver, and turkey fillet with dried fruit. Vegan dishes are available by request. The service is polite and efficient but not too formal or overwhelming.

Just off Piotrkowska street, this pancake restaurant enjoys steady popularity among the locals. Nearly always lively, it offers pancakes with a seemingly endless variety of fillings, all at affordable prices. There is also a selection of soups, salads, and desserts. The interior is made to resemble a vintage wooden tram, and is rather cozy. In the summer, there are also tables outside on the pavement. Manekin does not take reservations, and although it is a popular place, there is generally plenty of seating.

This simple eatery on a quiet street just a few steps from busy Piotrkowska serves rather sophisticated dishes in relatively small portions. For example, mini savory tarts, duck consommé, or puy lentils with goat cheese are often on the menu, which changes daily. The chef uses many local, seasonal products. It seems like a perfect place for lunch (and they do offer a good-value lunch special on weekdays), but Motywy is open for dinner, too.

The most fashionable restaurant in Łódź—and probably the best dining option in the area of Księży Młyn—catches your attention with its exhuberant interior, then with the menu, and keeps it all the way to dessert. How about beef carpaccio with raspberry sorbet? Cream of spinach soup with crayfish and quail egg? Ginger crème brûlée? But you will also find simpler dishes, including burgers and pizzas. Weekday lunch specials are really good value in this otherwise rather expensive restaurant.