WROCŁAW - In Your Pocket

46 RESTAURANTS
Milk Bars
A lot has changed over the years since communism got
knee-capped and Poland joined the EU. Today a destination
as popular as Wrocław hardly seems any more alien
or adventurous to tourists than well-frequented Paris or
Venice. And while many of the old ways of the old days
have disappeared or become slightly disneyfied, one relic
remains steadfastly un-Western: the Polish milk bar. These
steamy cafeterias serving traditional cuisine to an endless
queue of tramps, pensioners and students provide a grim
glimpse into Eastern Bloc Poland and have all the atmosphere
(and sanitary standards) of a gas station restroom.
We love them. For the cost of a few coins you can eat like
an orphaned street urchin, albeit an extremely well-fed one.
Put the Racławice Panorama on hold, you’ll learn a lot more
about Poland by making a visit to the milk bar (‘bar mleczny’
in Polish) in what should be a required cultural experience
for anyone who has just set foot in the country.
Jacek i Agatka B-3, Pl. Nowy Targ 27, tel. (+48) 71
344 24 55, www.jacekiagatka.com.pl. QOpen 08:00 -
18:00, Sat 09:00 - 17:00. Closed Sun. (3-12zł). PJGB
Miś B-3, ul. Kuźnicza 48, tel. (+48) 71 343 49 63.
No doubt named after the classic Polish comedy film
which caricatured milk bars during the communist era.
QOpen 07:00 - 18:00, Sat 08:00 - 17:00. Closed Sun.
(5-14zł). JGB
Misz Masz B-2, ul. Nożownicza 14-16, tel. (+48)
71 343 90 67, www.barmiszmasz.pl. Slightly less
desperate than the average milk bar. QOpen 09:00 -
21:00. (6-11zł). PAGSW
Gospoda Wrocławska A-3, ul. Sukiennice 7, tel.
(+48) 71 342 74 56, www.restauracjekrawczyk.com.
pl. A traditional Polish restaurant featuring plenty of high
backed chairs, halberds, copper pans and the radio hits of
the 1980s, of course. The menu is standard medieval fare,
plus a fair amount of game, with dishes like ‘King August
II’s duck’ coming with apples and cranberries, plus dumplings
and cabbage, and arriving on a large wooden board.
A perfect place to loosen your belt and spill beer in your
beard. QOpen 12:00 - 24:00. (18-72zł). PTA6U
VGBSW
JaDka A-3, ul. Rzeźnicza 24/25, tel. (+48) 71 343 64
61, www.jadka.pl. Faultless modern and traditional Polish
cuisine with a Lithuanian influence served inside an ornate,
imperial backdrop featuring vaulted brick ceilings, timber
and starched linen. The concise menu won’t bowl you over,
but the class and quality will. Choose from catfish in leek
mousse with spinach (59zł), potato pancakes with smoked
salmon (46zł) or sieze the moment by ordering wild boar.
Expect an expansive wine list, professional service and an all
round commitment to excellence. One of the few world class
dining options in the city. QOpen 13:00 - 23:00. (53-83zł).
PTA6GSW
Karczma Lwowska A-3, Rynek 4, tel. (+48) 71 343
98 87, www.lwowska.com.pl. Translating to ‘Lviv Tavern’
and dedicated not only to that formerly Polish city now lost
in the wilds of the Ukraine, but also to that thought-to-be
lost Polish ideal of a simple country lifestyle, this nostalgic
restaurant’s immaculately decorated interior is decked out
in rustic, rural artefacts, antiques, old photos and seems to
have a stuffed pheasant on almost every table. Designed for
day-long feasting, the menu of traditional Galician specialties
and game dishes from the charcoal grill looks like an
outstanding bargain before you notice that all side dishes
are charged separately, however the result is still a decent
value and evidence that not everything on the market square
is a tourist trap. The traditionally brewed Lwowskie beer on
draft comes straight from its namesake and is served in a
large ceramic beer stein. QOpen 11:00 - 23:00. (30-80zł).
PTJA6EBXSW
Kurna Chata A-2, ul. Odrzańska 17, tel. (+48) 71
341 06 68, www.kurnachata.pl. Newly fitted brown
windows hide one of the top budget choices you’ll stumble
across. Feast on platters of uncomplicated Polish delicacies
inside a chalet-like, pub atmosphere. The prices are
rock bottom, and the food is the sort of culinary genius
that only a grandmother could perfect, so be prepared
to wait around for a spare table. QOpen 12:00 - 23:30.
(8-26zł). TJGBS
Pierogarnia Stary Młyn A-3, Rynek 26, tel. (+48) 71
344 14 15. This popular Polish franchise has found a place
on the market square, bringing with it a typical rustic interior
of timber fittings and burlap light fixtures. Taking that staple
of the national cuisine - stuffed dumplings or ‘pierogi’ - and
turning them into a tourist-fleecing cash crop, Pierogarnia
Stary Młyn specialises in baked dumplings, as opposed to
your traditional steamed variety. The menu is a meandering
visual mess, but offers a range of savoury, sweet, meat or veg
fillings, with your choice of sauces on the side. Choose from
wildly overpriced sets of 3 or 5 where adding an additional
individual pierog costs almost 8zł (baked) or 4zł (steamed). To
their credit, the individual dumplings are very large (start with
3) and tasty, but hardly traditional. The textbook definition of
a tourist trap, there are dozens of other places in Wrocław
where you can taste your first pierogi. QOpen 11:03 - 22:56.
(12-30zł). TAGBSW
Wrocław In Your Pocket wroclaw.inyourpocket.com
Polish Food
Those wanting to take a quick foxtrot through the world
of the Polish kitchen should consider putting the following
to the test:
Smalec: Fried lard, often served complimentary before
a meal with hunks of homemade bread. It sounds evil,
but it works like a miracle any day, especially an arctic
one. Ideally partnered with a mug of local beer. Any Polish
restaurant worth its salt should give you lashings of this
prior to your meal. You only need ask.
Soup: Keep your eyes peeled for Poland’s two signature
soups; żurek (sour rye soup with sausages and potatoes
floating in it) and barszcz (beetroot, occasionally with dumplings
thrown in). Table manners go out of the window when
eating these two, so feel free to dunk bread rolls in them.
Bigos: You’ll either love it or vomit. Bigos, a.k.a hunters
stew, is made using meat, cabbage, onion and sauerkraut
before being left to simmer for a few days. If you have
second helpings then consider yourself a Pole by default.
Gołąbki: Boiled cabbage leaves stuffed with beef, onion
and rice before being baked in a tomato sauce. Urban
myth claims Poland’s King Kazimierz fed his army gołąbki
before his victory outside Malbork in a battle against the
Teutonic Order. The unlikely victory was attributed to the
hearty meal his troops had enjoyed before hand.
Kiełbasa: Sausages, and in Poland you’ll find several varieties
made primarily with pork, but sometimes using turkey,
horse, lamb and even bison. Few varieties to watch for including
Krakowska, a Kraków specialty which uses pepper and
garlic, kabanosy which is a thin, dry sausage flavoured with
carraway seed and wiejska; a monster-looking u-shaped
sausage. Kiełbasa was also the nickname of one of Poland’s
most notorious gangland figures of the 90s.
Pierogi: Pockets of dough traditionally filled with meat,
cabbage or cheese, though you will also occasionally
find maverick fillings such as chocolate or strawberries.
Placki: Nothing more than potato pancakes, often paired
with lashings of sour cream. Again, all your traditional
folksy Polish restaurants will have these on the menu, if
not you have every right to raise a few questions in the
direction of the kitchen.
Zapiekanki: Also known as Polish pizza. Take a stale
baguette, pour melted cheese on it and then cover it
with mushrooms and ketchup from a squeezy bottle.
Best eaten when absolutely plastered. Where to buy it:
various fast food cabins dotted around the city centre.
Dessert: Few things in life get a Pole more animated than
a good dessert. Sernik (a kind of cheesecake) being a
must if you want to even attempt to convince a Pole you
have visited their country.
Kaszanka: This is the Polish variation of blood sausage,
in this case pig’s blood mixed with groats, and is generally
served fried with onions. Unlike in other countries it is not
served in the form of a sausage. A variation on the blood dish
is Czernina, a soup made of duck’s blood mixed with poultry
broth. An interesting tale is attached to this dish as it was the
dish served by the parents of young women to her suitors
as a sign that their proposal of marriage was not accepted.
wroclaw.inyourpocket.com
RESTAURANTS
September - December 2012
47