A Polish tomato soup made from fresh summer tomatoes or tomato passata, simmered with a meat or vegetable broth and finished with rice, makaron or kluski lane.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Pomidorówka is one of the two great Polish soups (the other being rosół, chicken broth), and Wielkopolska's August tomato harvest gives it its peak season in Poznań. The Greater Poland version is typically thickened with rice rather than makaron and finished with a swirl of soured cream. Pomidorówka appears as the daily zupa on milk-bar boards and on bistro chalkboards from late July through September.
Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs, Dairy
Bar Mleczny Pod Arkadami on plac Ratajskiego 10 in Poznań is a state-subsidised milk bar with the cheapest sit-down plate of Polish home cooking in the city centre, with pierogi, naleśniki and kompot at under-20 PLN prices.
Try: Pierogi, kotlet schabowy, kompot
Tip: Order at the counter then take the receipt to the kitchen window; the queue feels intimidating but moves fast.
Why locals love it: Locals knew this milk bar at its old Plac Wolności home for over 20 years; the new Plac Kolegiacki location since 2023 sits behind a quiet square that tourists walk past.
Tip: Profits fund Caritas's charity meals for people in homelessness crisis; you eat well for under 20 PLN.
Pyra Bar on Strzelecka 13 in Poznań is the city's potato-bar canteen since 2009, with pyry z gzikiem, plendze and pyzy at sub-25 PLN prices for the canonical Greater Poland plate.
Try: Pyry z gzikiem
Tip: The lunch set with soup, main and a glass of buttermilk lands under 30 PLN; it is the city's best value on a regional plate.
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