Bamberka

Bamberka sits directly on the Stary Rynek, Poznan's Renaissance market square. The kitchen deals in classic Greater Poland cooking, the regional food of the area around the city. It works as a central, sit-down choice for a proper lunch or dinner between sights on the square. The name nods to the Bamber settlers, farmers who came from Bamberg to work the land around Poznan in the 18th century and who are remembered by a well-known bronze figure of a water carrier on the square itself.

The menu is built around Greater Poland classics. This is the regional kitchen of Wielkopolska, the historic province that surrounds Poznan, known for its potato dishes and duck. The exact dishes and the current menu change with the season, so check the restaurant's own channels for what is being served now.

The restaurant occupies one of the pastel merchant houses that ring the square, with terrace seating out front in warmer months. That puts you a few steps from the Renaissance town hall, the Ratusz, where two mechanical billy goats butt heads above the clock at noon. It suits travellers who want regional food without leaving the old town.

Bamberka is on the Stary Rynek itself, so most of central Poznan is on your doorstep. The Ratusz and its billy goats are on the same square, and Ratuszova is a nearby alternative for regional plates. For orientation and getting around, see the Poznan guide.

The restaurant has traded on the square since 1972 and stands by the Bamberka fountain it is named after, so the bronze water carrier and the kitchen share the same story rather than being a coincidence.

The Wielkopolska cooking is specific: czernina (duck blood soup), roast duck and goose, gray dumplings with cabbage, potatoes with gzik (a seasoned cottage cheese), and the local St Martin's croissant. To drink there are Polish beers and spirits and a range of homemade nalewki, the fruit and herb infusions. Inside it runs over two levels with stained glass and private lodges, so it works for a quiet dinner as much as a group.