Food & Drinks in Poland

Polish food is hearty, seasonal and built around soup, dumplings and slow-cooked meat, and it is some of the best value in Europe. You can eat a filling plate of pierogi at a milk bar for a handful of zloty, or book a tasting menu at one of the country's Michelin-starred restaurants. Both belong on a food-focused trip.

What to eat

Start with pierogi, the filled dumplings, then work through zurek (sour rye soup), bigos (hunter's stew), placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes) and, in Krakow, the ring-shaped obwarzanek from street carts. Our Polish food guide runs through the dishes and drinks in full, and what food to try is the short version.

Where to eat it

Eat at least once in a bar mleczny, a plain milk-bar canteen serving traditional dishes at low prices, a tradition that survived from the communist era. At the other end, the MICHELIN Guide Poland lists starred kitchens led by Bottiglieria 1881 in Krakow, the country's only two-star restaurant. In between sit strong regional cooking, speciality coffee and Baltic fish bars on the coast.

By city and by region

The deepest restaurant scenes are in Krakow and Warsaw, with Wroclaw, Poznan and the Tri-City close behind. Cooking shifts by region: highland cheese and grilled meats around Zakopane, fresh fish on the coast, and hearty stews in the east. Browse by city to eat where you are staying.