Food & Drink
What food should I try?
Quick answer
Try pierogi (dumplings), zurek (sour rye soup), bigos (hunter's stew), placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes) and Krakow's obwarzanki. Eat at least once in a "bar mleczny" (milk bar) for cheap, traditional dishes.
Start with pierogi, the filled dumplings that come boiled or fried, savoury (potato and cheese, meat, cabbage and mushroom) or sweet. From there, Polish cooking is hearty, seasonal and built around soup, dumplings and slow-cooked meat.
Dishes to seek out
- Zurek: a sour rye soup, often served with sausage and a boiled egg, sometimes in a bread bowl.
- Bigos: a long-simmered stew of sauerkraut, fresh cabbage and several meats.
- Placki ziemniaczane: crisp potato pancakes, plain or under a meat sauce.
- Golabki: cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice in tomato sauce.
- Obwarzanek: Krakow's ring-shaped bread, sold from street carts.
- Paczki: rich filled doughnuts, a treat all year and a tradition before Lent.
Where to eat it
Eat at least once in a "bar mleczny", or milk bar, a plain canteen serving traditional dishes at low prices. For a fuller list of dishes, drinks and places, see the Polish food guide and our restaurants across Poland.
Sources
- Traditional Polish cuisine , Poland.travel (official tourism board)
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