Landebistro: 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.