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$$$$ | Stare Miasto |
This top-class restaurant in one of the city's top hotels is on one of Kraków's loveliest corners, at the foot of Wawel Hill. The imaginative menu is made up of classic Polish dishes—albeit the dishes you might find on the table of a typically aristocratic table—enriched with a cosmopolitan twist. The menu changes according to seasons or Chef Marcin Filipkiewicz's creativity—at one point it featured, for instance, foie gras roasted with apples and a touch of mead and quail with spinach accompanied by potato blini. You can also get special tasting menus of five to twelve courses. In summer you can dine on the rooftop terrace, with some of the best views in the city.
ul. Kanonicza 16, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-002, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$ | Stare Miasto |
This lovely French bistro, with its friendly staff and a happy chef who often dances in the kitchen, stays open from morning until night. You can pop in practically any time for a croque monsieur or a more substantial dish from their not-so-small and very scrumptious menu, which manages to be both simple and sophisticated at the same time. If you're feeling adventurous, you can try cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs with parsley) or escargot. The selection of cheeses and other delicacies is excellent, all imported from France. The locals sometimes pop in to buy some cheese and baguette to take home and be on their way, but the space is so inviting that they may stay for a cup of coffee. The huge window offers a perfect vantage point for observing life passing through Szpitalna Street, and the lovely brick vault above is conducive to dreaming.
Szpitalna 20, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-024, Poland
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$$ | Stare Miasto |
Venetian owners Roberto and Francesco believe in a hands-on approach to running their restaurant, so they're nearly always present: taking orders, chatting with customers, and checking to make sure that everything is okay. In fact, the homemade pastas, tiramisu, and sgroppino cocktails (made with Prosecco and lemon sorbet) are more than okay—they are excellent. The Italian community in Kraków call this place their second home.
ul. Wiślna 5/10, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-007, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$ | Stare Miasto |
To some extent, visiting Cechowa resembles time travel. The decor, the menu, the hairdos of the staff (as well as the staff themselves) have not changed in decades. This is the place to sample traditional dishes such as raw beef tartare (always fresh), bigos (sour cabbage and meat stew, a traditional hunter's dish), or a meat roulade wrapped around pickled cucumbers and served with buckwheat and gravy. It's all honest, no-nonsense, traditional Polish food. Furthermore, Cechowa will not bankrupt your budget since prices remain very reasonable.
Jagiellońska 11, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-011, Poland
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$ | Stare Miasto |
Be prepared for some difficult choices at Kraków's most popular salad bar: the selection of nourishing salads and other savory staples is almost overwhelming. In winter, you can pick baked potatoes (free of charge) from an open fireplace in the cozy downstairs cellar. In summer, garden seating opens in the shaded inner courtyard.
ul. św. Anny 3, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-008, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards, Reservations not accepted
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$ | Stare Miasto |
This restaurant's name means "Peasant Kitchen," but this is the most entertaining interpretation of that theme imaginable. All meals come with complimentary bread and lard, and the menu is an artery-clogging cross section of traditional Polish peasant cuisine. For a starter try the żurek (stone soup) made from soured barley; then indulge in the very traditional main course of cabbage rolls stuffed with sauerkraut and grits in a mushroom sauce. To tell the truth, this is simple, unsophisticated food; and yet it has remained unceasingly popular for more than two decades.
Św. Agnieszki 1, Kraków, Malopolska, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$$$ | Stare Miasto |
True to its logo (a sack of flour and a fish), this restaurant offers consistently good fish, seafood, and homemade pasta. In addition to Mediterranean fare, there is also a selection of typically Polish dishes. A special selection of seafood is offered Thursday through Sunday. Whatever you order, first you will get Farina's trademark appetizer of an excellent truffle-and-mushroom pâté to spread on scrumptious little rolls. There's a good selection of wines, including a great dry Prosecco that would stand up to any champagne.
Św. Marka 16, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-017, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$ | Stare Miasto |
This health-conscious cafeteria a few steps from the Rynek is a great choice for breakfast, but it continues to serve fresh and tasty bites late into the evening. Daily lunch specials come in both vegetarian and nonvegetarian versions. You can also order smoothies, fresh fruit juices, organic snacks, and cakes, plus excellent specialty coffee all day. The latter is a locally roasted brand with great quality, and portion sizes are large. Never too much of a good thing!
Szczepańska 7, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-011, Poland
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$$ | Stare Miasto |
The only Corsican restaurant in Poland—and one of the first memorable restaurants of the post-communist era—Paese was an immediate success, and it remains so two decades later. The restaurant consists of a series of pleasant, simple, tavernlike rooms. The menu is extensive enough that you're bound to find something appetizing—perhaps Calvi tenderloin, served in blue-cheese sauce and best accompanied by dumplings. Should you decide to sample the excellent tarte tatin, order it at the beginning of your meal, as it is always freshly prepared from scratch. Despite their essential constancy, both the interior and the menu get subtle face-lifts every now and again.
ul. Poselska 24, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-002, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$$ | Stare Miasto |
Legend has it that this downstairs cellar was once an alchemist's lab. These days, Under the Angels is one of the more tastefully furnished restaurants in Kraków, with excellent interpretations of Polish cuisine. Try smoked sheep's-milk cheese warmed under the grill, then one of the delectable preparations of pork loin. You will also find well done simple dishes such as traditional Polish soups and the ubiquitous pierogi.
ul. Grodzka 35, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-001, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$$$ | Stare Miasto |
Built in the converted courtyard of a tenement house, Under the Rose is airy, spacious, elegant, and contained under a glass roof. A seasonally changing, contemporary menu is matched by impeccable service; there is nightly live piano music. Pheasant with foie gras in a French pastry crust is just one of many mouthwatering options. The chefs make their own pastas, ice cream, and bread. Adjoining sister restaurant Amarone serves slightly cheaper, but no less delicious, mostly Mediterranean cuisine, and it offers great price deals at lunchtime.
ul. Floriańska 14, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-021, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Stare Miasto |
Dating to 1364, this was the only upscale restaurant in Kraków during the gray days of socialism and remains one of the city's best-known upscale dining spots, a place where customers (and their dollars) are once again kings. Though still popular, the present state of the food and service makes us cautious. Traditional offerings on the menu include trout with almonds, roast duck with apples, and saddle of deer in juniper sauce. Dining rooms on upper floors are stylishly furnished and decorated with historical paintings, armor, and clocks. The new addition of a grill garden is rather tacky.
Rynek Główny 15, Kraków, Malopolska, 31-008, Poland
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
