Food & Drinks
Food & Drinks in Poland
Where to eat, drink and linger.
Polish cooking runs from pierogi, zurek and bigos to milk bars, Baltic fish bars and a serious fine-dining scene in Warsaw and Krakow. These are the places we recommend across the country, chosen on merit and grouped by city.
All Food & Drinks in Poland
Olsztyn
Cudne Manowce
A Warmian and Masurian kitchen set on the Old Town walls, with a terrace above the Lyna river.
Olsztyn
Restauracja Przystan
A large two-level restaurant built out over the docks of Lake Ukiel, leaning on regional and freshwater dishes.
Zamość
Restauracja Muzealna Ormiańskie Piwnice
Armenian and regional cooking served in the vaulted cellars of a 17th-century Armenian house beside the Town Hall.
Zamość
Restauracja Bohema
A long-running restaurant on a corner of the Great Market Square, with big outdoor tables looking onto the arcades.
Kazimierz Dolny
Piekarnia Sarzynski
The bakery that made the Kazimierz rooster its symbol, hand-shaping and baking the sweet yeast pastry daily.
Kazimierz Dolny
Herbaciarnia u Dziwisza
An antique-filled tea room and gallery pouring a long list of teas alongside homemade cakes.
Białowieża
Restauracja Pokusa
A broad-menu Białowieża restaurant strong on game, fish and regional dishes with craft beer.
Białowieża
Restauracja Stoczek 1929
A traditional Eastern European restaurant on Stoczek known for pierogi and a fireplace-warmed room.
Białowieża
Kartoszka
A café-restaurant on the main street serving Podlaskie potato dishes and coffee all day.
Białowieża
Syrenka
A small Białowieża café pouring single-origin coffee with homemade apple pie and muffins.
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.
Food & Drinks by city
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