Culinary Krakow, part 2

Here comes the rest of the charming restaurants we visited during our stay in Krakow in early June. I am still amazed by the warm welcome we experienced everywhere as well as the Polish people's good mastering of the English language. 

1. Pod Zlotym Karpiem

This small restaurant is located in a historical building on Krakow's Main Square. A bit hard to find at the end of a narrow alley but well worth looking for. It serves regional specialities with a modern twist. The first two photos show the homemade dumplings; the meat and duck versions. To die for!

We went here for dinner the day we arrived and naturally wanted to try a Polish red wine with our dinner. Unfortunately it didn't impress us as strongly as the food did. 

Our mains consisted of: duck breast with blueberry sauce, roasted beet puree and toasted bread with goat cheese. Lovely.

Fish carp on butter with a green apple sauce and fresh vegetables. Lacked a bit of seasoning.

Steak from Polish beef, dressing with sheep's cheese, chips from root vegetables. Not bad. Special thanks to the waitress, who was a real pearl with her nice manners and top notch service.

2. Starka restaurant

This little treasure in Kazimierz serves simple and modern Polish food. The name Starka refers to the Polish vodka and here you can taste a lot of different vodkas, like cranberry and ginger vodka. An intimate traditional restaurant with a warm and cosy atmosphere. 

The portions seemed huge, so we decided to skip the starters, although they sounded tempting, and went straight for the mains. Pork sirloin, stuffed with plum and wrapped in crispy bacon. Served on carrot mousse with a cognac-pepper sauce, roasted potatoes and caramelized vegetables. A beautiful, hearty and tasty dish. 

Beef cheek, served in an aromatic, smoked bacon sauce with herb dumplings and caramelized carrots. Tender meat and nice flavours.

Lamb, served in a hot pan with a rosemary caramelized pear, blackcurrant sauce, potatoes roasted with onion and bacon plus warm caramelized beets. Mouthwatering.

3. Pod Leliwa

Located in the very heart of Krakow with tables outside as well. We had breakfast here, but it's also open late and they serve lunch and dinner as well. Remarkable service and attention. 10+.

4. NapNap café

A bistro, where we had another delicious breakfast. It seemed to be popular among the local people as well. Unfortunately I have no pics from this place but here you can read more about the bistro that is open for dinner as well.

5. Nakryto

We stumbled upon this lovely restaurant in Kazimierz when looking for a quiet place to have lunch in the shade...after walking under the hot sun all morning. Outstanding service as well as food.

I was dying for a good salad and chose one consisting of lettuce, oyster mushrooms, pear, walnuts, long-ripened cheese, smoked butter sauce and buckwheat honey. Just what I longed for and the butter sauce dressing was extremely delicious.

The others had the dish of the day ... but I can't remember what it was. Some kind of dumplings, I think.

Here you find the first part if you didn't read it yet.

Culinary Krakow, part 1

If you have been planning a culinary trip to Krakow, Poland … hesitate no longer. Fantastic food with cultural visits in between. Every restaurant is within walking distance and the traffic is probably the most pleasant I have experienced. No stress and polite and careful drivers. 

I hope my suggested restaurants will come in handy. The service in all of them was impeccable and the food mostly very good. The real Polish food is a bit heavy, but there is no shortage of lighter dishes that, more or less, are influenced by fine dining.

1. The Black Duck

As the name suggests the focus is on duck meat in lots of different presentations. The restaurant is quite small so reservations are compulsory. We were lucky enough to get a table for a late lunch as we passed by and ventured inside. We had the duck dumplings with chili sauce as starter (no photo) and continued with traditional Jewish sweet stew with beef goulash 

and Barley cereal and vegetables stuffed leaves of white cabbage with tomato sauce. This vegetarian dish was something out of the ordinary tastewise. Polish cuisine.

2. Restauracja Padre

This restaurant is all about fine dining in an Italian inspired cellar. The food was good and the service (too) fast. Interesting wine list.

We chose Gamberi de Catalunya (grilled prawns with chorizo, tomatoes and parsley, served in a wine and butter sauce),

beef carpaccio, marinated in green pepper and sea salt and served with parmesan, rocket, Dijon toast and mustard seeds,

Mains: pork loins, marinated in ginger and honey, served with pumpkin mousse and crunchy dill,

codfish loin, served with chickpeas, coriander and beurre blanc sauce,

duck fillet, served with Jerusalem artichoke roasted in coffee beans, raisins flambeed in cognac and forest fruits sauce.

Halibut steak on black tagliatelle with cauliflower shrimps and chili (divine).

3. Garden restauracja

This restaurant serves modern European cuisine both indoors and in the garden. Reservations are a must. All our dishes were outstanding. The menu changes according to the seasons and unfortunately I don't longer recall all of our dishes. 

Soup with mussels

Dumplings filled with seafood

Goose liver mousse and elderberry(fantastic)

Chicken? with asparagus

Lamb

Turbot?

Octopus (lovely)

Magic Marrakech - restaurants

Marrakech has an abundancy of restaurants for every taste. During our one week stay we had the opportunity to explore a few … and wisely enough took the advice our hotel and guides gave us. They certainly knew what they were talking about, except for one concierge who insisted on us going to Dar Rhizlane, which was within walking distance. Stunningly beautiful place but not very tasty food and awkwardly behaving personnel.

I can't recall all the dishes we enjoyed in the different restaurants but I give you the links to the restaurants listed in this post, and I'm happy if your interest in Marrakech awakens … go ahead and start planning your own culinary trip! You won't regret it!

1. Al Fassia (Guéliz)

A restaurant that mainly employs women, which is out of the ordinary in Marrakech. It's also a boutique hotel, run and owned by a family. The cuisine is refined and the service is exquisite. Obligatory first dish to share (we were told): selection of fine salads; many with carrot and aubergine in different shapes and tastes. Awesomely divine! Number one definitely.

The main, which we also shared was among the tastiest lamb dishes I've ever had. Roasted lamb shoulder with veggies, fruit and almonds. Out of this world delicious.

www.alfassia.com

2. Lotus Privilège

A stunningly beautiful riad hotel with a restaurant. During the dinner there is a belly dancing show and som live music. The location of the restaurant is a bit tricky, but fortunately there is a man leading you through back alleys and ruins to this illuminated pool and inner courtyard.

This was our last dinner so we simply had to enjoy the lovely Moroccan salads for starters a last time.The spicy carrot in the upper left corner and the roasted bell peppers in the middle were favourites this time.

Our main consisted of a veal tagine with plums and apricots, served on a beautiful Moroccan plate. Delicious, as was the Moroccan red wine (Terres Sauvages) that accompanied the tagine. All the Moroccan wines we had during the trip were outstanding. It's a pity you can't buy them in Finland.

riad-lotus-privilege.hotels-marrakesh.com

3. La Maison Arabe

One more riad hotel and a very beautiful one. We were seated by the pool under the starlit sky and a few musicians played classical music in the background. This night happened to be very cold and I wasn't wearing a warm enough overcoat, which diminished the enjoyment to some extent. And I didn't succeed in choosing my dishes as well as my husband did. Such a shame. He had very well prepared dumplings as a starter and I had  not so tasty spring rolls. Not Moroccan but Asian,  as they also have an Asian menu.

My main course: a John Dory fish dish didn't give what it promised (it was dry and bland) but my husband's Asian style fish in a crust was heavenly. Good for him. I should have chosen the Moroccan menu. The pics are his dishes.

The desserts on the other hand were delicious. I had the gingery crème brûlée (first photo of this post) and my husband had the lemon pie. This was the only time we had dessert during the trip...if you wonder.

www.lamaisonarabe.com

Read about my cooking workshop here

forrecuisine.blogspot.com/2019/02/la-maison-arabe-marrakech-cooking-class.html

4. Sofitel Impérial Hotel Restaurant

We stayed at this wonderful hotel (often when we travel we choose this French chain because it always delivers) and decided to have dinner here the arrival night, which we didn't regret. Except for the loud music and the cigarette smoke. 
We settled for their 3 course menu, which started with a colourful vegetable soup. 

The main was a lamb tagine with a lot of prunes. It really didn't look that appetizing but appearance can be deceitful, as you probably know. This was the best tagine we had on this trip!

For dessert we had a choice of Moroccan pastries. Quite a lot to eat for somebody who normally isn't used to desserts. But the small petit fours beauties  (unfortunately no pic) landed safely in our bellies. Yummy!

www.sofitel-marrakech-lounge-and-spa.hotels-marrakesh.com

5. So Lounge Sofitel

A restaurant ( in the new part of the hotel) with Moroccan, Mediterranean and Asian menus. We were craving Asian food this evening and were too lazy to grab a taxi and go somewhere. It would have been nice to eat in the garden but it was a little bit too chilly. My crab salad was enormous … it was just a starter they said. Very tasty and nicely spicy.

My main course was also big enough for two. It looks messy but oh my god the taste! Among the best Asian dishes I've eaten. This restaurant was more of a club: the neon lights are the reason for these lousy photos. Later there was a band performing and the place turned into a night club. And one of the most popular in Marrakech I understood. 

My husband's choice was this beautiful salmon pastrami. 

6. Dar Zellij

A wonderfully romantic palace from the 17th century with extraordinary interior and architecture, transformed into a restaurant. Foodwise I had expected more flavourful dishes. We had the salads for starters and then I had a lamb couscous that was huge… it could have fed a whole family.
We started four floors up on the rooftop with a glass of Moroccan grey wine, looking out over the fairy-tale medina. 

Original painted ceilings. What a beautiful piece of work!

My attention was drawn to the floor … I adored the time-worn tiles.

Lute player. Lovely calming music.

www.marrakech-riads.com