Polish breaded chicken roulade stuffed with garlic-parsley butter that bursts when cut. The Polish reading of Kiev cutlet, central to socialist-era restaurant menus and Sunday lunch.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Kotlet de volaille entered Polish kitchens through 19th-century French haute cuisine influence at noble courts. The Polish name (literally 'chicken cutlet') stuck while the technique remained the Kiev-style stuffed roulade. Post-1945 socialist Poland made it a permanent fixture on restaurant cards, including at Poznań's Stary Rynek bistros. Ratuszova and Modra Kuchnia plate the canonical version with mashed potato and beetroot salad.
Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Sealing the roulade tightly with no gap in the chicken is the only thing that stops the butter leaking during frying. Two coats of egg and crumb add insurance.
Ratuszova on Stary Rynek 55 in Poznań is a modern-Polish room in a historic tenement, in business since 1954, with roast duck, czernina and game.
Signature: Kaczka pieczona z jabłkami, Czernina, Dziczyzna
Order: Roast duck with apples and red cabbage.
Tip: Sit in the vaulted cellar room for the proper Stary Rynek atmosphere; the upstairs is brighter but less characterful.
Modra Kuchnia in Jeżyce, Poznań is a small basement room on Mickiewicza, run by Szymon (kitchen) and Dorota (front), with a tight modern Polish menu.
Order: Roast duck with the modra kapusta that gives the room its name.
Tip: Book the table by the open kitchen; you can see the entire pass and Szymon plates every dish himself.
Brovaria on Stary Rynek 73-74 in Poznań runs the kitchen and brewpub bar until midnight every night, with house pilsner, weizen and dark lager pulled.
Try: Brewpub Polish plates
Tip: The kitchen closes 20 minutes before the bar; order food by 23:30 even if the room is still open.
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