Sernik krakowski is the Krakow version of Polish baked cheesecake: dense farmer's-cheese filling, lattice of pastry strips on top, lemon zest in the curd. The city's daily pastry-counter standard.
Where to eat it: 7 restaurants across 2 cities.
Polish sernik (baked cheesecake) entered Polish home baking in the 19th century, using twaróg (farmer's cheese) instead of the German Quark or American cream cheese. The Krakow variant, sernik krakowski, distinguished itself by 1900 with a decorative lattice of pastry strips baked on top. The cake appeared in Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa's 1910 cookbook as a Krakow speciality. The city's surviving counter sellers, Vanilla on Brzozowa and Noworolski in the Cloth Hall, serve the editorial Krakow version. The lattice pattern is the geographic ID; serniki from Warsaw, Poznań or Gdańsk are flat-topped.
Common allergens: Dairy, Egg, Gluten
Tip from the editors. The lattice on top is what makes a sernik krakowski rather than a generic Polish sernik; double-sieved twarog and stiff egg whites are what give the distinctive dense-yet-airy crumb.
Cukiernia Vanilla in Kraków runs traditional Polish patisserie from two shops, Brzozowa 13 and Na Szaniec 14. Open daily 10:00-21:00. At ul. Brzozowa 13.
Tip: Sernik krakowski is the city's lattice-topped cheesecake; ask for it at the counter.
Worth the queue: Sernik (Polish cheesecake)
Cukiernia Michałek on Kraków's Krupnicza is the family-run pastry counter west of the Planty since 1958: rose-filled pączki, kremówka, sernik.
Tip: The rose-filled pączki are the counter pick; Fat Thursday queue runs hours long.
Worth the queue: Rose-filled pączki
Noworolski inside the Cloth Hall on Kraków's Rynek Główny pours coffee in Józef Mehoffer's art-nouveau rooms since 1910. Krakow artists, Habsburg-era trade.
Signature drink: Viennese coffee
Tip: The art-nouveau rooms are the photograph; the terrace on Rynek Główny is the better summer seat.
Piekarnia Sąsiedzi in Wrocław's Grunwald student district is the neighbourhood breakfast room: sourdough loaves, cinnamon buns, daily-changing breakfast.
Order: Cinnamon bun and a flat white at the counter
Tip: Saturdays sell out by noon. Weekday breakfast from 08:00 is the calmest version.
Piekarnia Złoto Nadodrza in Wrocław's Nadodrze has run by the Krajewski family since 1979, one of the city's best craft bakeries. At ul. Henryka Pobożnego 20.
Order: A plum-cinnamon pączek, eaten warm out of the paper bag.
Tip: Buy three pączki to take across the river; they hold for the day if not refrigerated.
Worth the queue: Pączki with plum and cinnamon filling
Karczma Lwowska on Wrocław's Rynek cooks Eastern Borderlands food, the family roots a lot of post-1945 Wrocław inherited. Located in Stare Miasto.
Signature: Flaming meat platters, Pierogi, Bigos
Order: The flaming meat platter for two with grilled vegetables and three sauces.
Tip: Ask for the szaszłyk skewers; they're cheaper than the platter and the kitchen treats them with the same care.
Restauracja Wrocławska's casual side: Silesian classics, pre-war Breslau menu drawn from Marek Krajewski novels, and the city's most reliable plate of rolada.
Signature: Rolada śląska, Śląskie niebo, Kluski wrocławskie
Order: Rolada śląska with potato dumplings (kluski śląskie) and red cabbage, the canonical Silesian plate.
Tip: The hekele (smoked-herring spread) starter is the deep-Silesian move many visitors miss.
More cities are in research. Want sernik covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.