30 editor picks across Poland.
30 modern polish restaurants worth the trip across Poland, editor-ranked. All cuisines in Poland.
Mercato in Gdańsk reads the city's market history through Dominik Karpik's kitchen at the Hilton on Targ Rybny. Priced at $$$. Kitchen leans pomeranian.
OrderThe market-map tasting menu built around Pomeranian lamb and Baltic catch.
TipKitchen runs until 01:00 Friday and Saturday, longer than any other Michelin-listed room in town.
Bar Mleczny Pod Temidą on Kraków's Grodzka is the city's most editorial surviving milk bar: laminated menu, queue-and-pay-first, full meals for 15 to 25 zl.
OrderŻurek (sour rye soup), kotlet schabowy with mash, kompot. The whole meal lands under 25 zl.
TipBring cash; the card terminal is unreliable. Tables share with strangers; queues at lunch.
Bar Mleczny Prasowy in Warsaw has fed the centre since 1954 from a socialist-realist building on Marszalkowska. Kitchen leans milk bar (bar mleczny).
OrderPierogi ruskie with sour cream and a glass of kompot.
Tip12:00-14:00 weekday peak. Aim for late breakfast or the 14:30 lull.
Pierogarnia Mandu in Gdańsk Śródmieście rolls pierogi to order in dough varieties from yeast to spelt. Located in Main Town. At ul. Elżbietańska 4.
OrderThe salmon-and-dill pierogi, plus a side plate of the sweet seasonal ones.
TipEverything is made to order; budget 25 minutes from sit-down to first plate.
Avocado Vegan Bistro in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz cooks the everyday-Polish canon without animal product. Kitchen leans vegan polish. At ul. Wajdeloty 25/1.
OrderThe soy schabowy plate with cabbage, the kitchen's most-requested dish.
TipDaily specials sell out by 14:30; arrive at lunch for the full board.
Pierogarnia Mandu in Gdańsk Śródmieście rolls pierogi to order in dough styles from yeast to spelt. Located in Main Town. At ul. Elżbietańska 4.
OrderSalmon-and-dill pierogi, with a side plate of sweet pierogi for dessert.
TipMade-to-order kitchen; budget 25 minutes from sitting down to the first plate.
Avocado Vegan Bistro in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz cooks the Polish everyday-canon without animal product. Soy schabowy, croquettes, stews and dumplings.
OrderSoy schabowy plate with cabbage, the room's most-asked dish.
TipDaily specials sell out by 14:30; arrive at lunch for the full board.
Starka in Kraków's Kazimierz cooks classic Polish in a townhouse cellar with a courtyard garden, and pours its house-aged Starka vodka in 8 to 25-year-old.
OrderDuck with baked apple and the 10-year Starka vodka flight; courtyard table in summer.
TipBook the courtyard for sunset; the cellar room is the better seating in winter.
Hyćka in Śródka, Poznań cooks the regional Wielkopolska canon: pyry z gzikiem, czernina, szagówki and szare kluchy, with bread baked on the premises.
OrderCzernina, the duck-blood soup, when it is on the daily board.
TipReservations are phone-only. Book a day ahead for weekend evenings; the room is small.
Pyzy, Flaki Gorace! in Warsaw's Praga district plates pyzy dumplings in jam jars under fluorescent strip lights. Kitchen leans traditional polish.
OrderPyzy with mushroom gravy and a small bowl of flaki on the side.
TipOpen daily 11:00-22:00. A second branch sits at Podwale 5 in the Old Town if you can't cross the river.
Bar Bambino in Warsaw, on the Krucza-Hoza corner, is the slightly-more-upmarket take on the milk bar. Priced at $. Kitchen leans milk bar (bar mleczny).
OrderThe daily soup with a plate of pierogi and a glass of cherry kompot.
TipMon-Fri 08:00-20:00, weekends 09:00-17:00. Walk in, no reservations needed.
Piwna 47 in Gdańsk is the Michelin-recommended Old Town brasserie behind St Mary's, run by a kitchen that reads the Pomeranian rulebook. Located in Main Town.
OrderWhatever seasonal main the chef has built around local Pomeranian produce that week.
TipClosed Monday and Tuesday. The conservatory at the back is the brightest table for lunch.
Kubicki in Gdańsk is the city's oldest restaurant, opened 1918 by Bronisław Kubicki on Wartka Street. Located in Main Town. Kitchen leans polish.
OrderThe eisbein, the dish the kitchen has refused to alter for a century.
TipThe window tables on the Motława side fill fast; reserve for sunset in summer.
Piwna 47 in Gdańsk runs a Michelin-recommended Pomeranian brasserie behind St Mary's. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Weekend dinners book out a week ahead.
OrderWhatever Pomeranian main is on the seasonal board, paired with a local craft beer.
TipClosed Monday and Tuesday. Weekend dinners book out a week ahead.
Restauracja Kubicki in Gdańsk has run since 1918 on Wartka Street, the oldest surviving room in town. Book the window tables for the Motława view at sunset.
OrderThe eisbein, the kitchen's century-old never-altered dish.
TipBook the window tables for the Motława view at sunset Walk-ins usually OK.
Pierogarnia Mandu Oliwa in Gdańsk is the chain's first room, the leafy-suburb flagship near the cathedral. Priced at $$. Kitchen leans pierogi.
OrderA mixed half-and-half plate: savoury salmon pierogi plus sweet plum.
TipOrder via the QR card to avoid the lunch service crush Walk-ins usually OK.
Pod Aniołami in Kraków sits in a 13th-century cellar on Grodzka with a beech-wood grill at the centre of the room. Kitchen leans traditional polish.
OrderThe beech-smoked lamb shank, and oscypek with cranberry jam to start.
TipAsk for the vaulted-cellar room over the courtyard. Open daily from 13:00.
Pierogarnia Krakowiacy on Szewska in Kraków's Old Town runs a 30-strong pierogi carte: ruskie, meat, duck, spinach, sweet cherry. Located in Stare Miasto.
OrderA mixed plate of pierogi ruskie and pierogi with duck; a glass of kompot to wash it down.
TipPierogi come boiled or pan-fried. Pan-fried takes 5 extra minutes; ask for half-and-half.
Milkbar Tomasza on Kraków's Świętego Tomasza updates the milk-bar form: same prices and naleśniki, but table service and a younger crowd. Priced at $.
OrderNaleśniki with cottage cheese and strawberry jam; the żurek soup is the runner-up.
TipClosed Monday. Breakfast all day; the brunch plate at 25 zl is the steal.
Pod Baranem near the Wawel side of Kraków's Planty cooks classic Polish since 1997. Chef-founder Jan Baran's menu runs duck, veal cheeks, traditional soups.
OrderDuck with apple and red cabbage; veal cheeks in mushroom sauce.
TipReservation only in the evening; lunch easier as walk-in. Close to Wawel Castle.
Na Winklu in Śródka, Poznań is a pierogi specialist on the corner since 2015, with a wide range of savoury and seldom-seen fillings plus oversized baked.
OrderPierogi with duck and dried plum.
TipThe corner location is the room itself; arrive before 13:00 on weekends or expect to wait for a table.
Bar Familijny on Warsaw's Nowy Swiat has run continuously since the People's Republic. Mon-Fri 07:00-20:00, Saturday 09:00-17:00, Sunday closed.
OrderNalesniki (Polish pancakes) with twarog and a bowl of zurek with white sausage.
TipMon-Fri 07:00-20:00, Saturday 09:00-17:00, Sunday closed Walk-ins usually OK.
Bar Mleczny Pod Barbakanem in Warsaw sits just past the Barbican between Old and New Town. Vintage decor, ladies in white coats at the till.
OrderBigos with a slice of rye bread and a beetroot soup chaser.
TipOpen daily 09:00-17:00. Pay cash. The line moves fast Walk-ins usually OK.
Lokal Vegan Bistro on Krucza in Warsaw, run by the Margines cooperative since 2015, rebuilds the Polish home-cooking canon without any meat or dairy.
OrderThe vegan pierogi ruskie and a bowl of mushroom-and-barley krupnik.
TipClosed Mondays. Tue-Sat 12:00-21:00, Sunday 12:00-19:00. Cash and card.
Restauracja Wrocławska on Szewska has cooked pre-war Wrocław and Silesian classics for nearly thirty years. Located in Stare Miasto. Priced at $$.
OrderRolada śląska with kluski śląskie and modra kapusta, the canonical Silesian Sunday plate.
TipThe menu nods to Marek Krajewski's pre-war Wrocław novels. Ask for the bigos wrocławski if it isn't on the list.
The dining room of Hotel Monopol in Wrocław, the city's grand hotel since 1892. Located in Stare Miasto. Priced at $$$. Kitchen leans polish.
OrderDuck confit with red cabbage and the beef tartare assembled at the table.
TipSunday brunch in the gilded room is roughly half the price of a Friday-night three-course dinner with similar dishes.
Witómë in Gdańsk runs the only centrally-located Kashubian dining room, on Piwna behind St Mary's. Located in Main Town. At ul. Piwna 36/39.
OrderThe Kashubian fish soup with the regional herring plate.
TipOpen seven days from 07:30; the late kitchen runs to 23:00 Friday and Saturday.
Witómë in Gdańsk runs a Kashubian dining room on Piwna behind St Mary's, the city's most centrally-located rendition of the regional kitchen.
OrderKashubian fish soup with the regional herring plate to start.
TipOpen seven days from 07:30, late kitchen until 23:00 Friday and Saturday.
Klezmer-Hois in Kraków's Kazimierz is the Polish-Jewish kitchen in the 16th-century Great Mikveh on Szeroka. Gefilte fish, cholent on the carte.
OrderGefilte fish, the chicken liver pâté and a glass of Slivovitz to finish.
TipBook ahead for evenings with klezmer concerts. Check the concert calendar in advance.
Ariel on Szeroka in Kraków's Kazimierz is a 16th-century tenement-house restaurant cooking Galician Jewish and Polish dishes across two dining rooms.
OrderCarp Jewish-style to start, then roast goose with cherries; a shot of slivovitz to close.
TipKlezmer concert runs every night (separate ticket); book the upstairs dining room for the larger space.
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