Yeast-raised doughnuts filled with rose-petal jam, plum jam or vanilla cream, deep-fried in lard and dusted with sugar or glazed. The single-day national obsession on Tłusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday).
Pączki are pan-Polish but the Fat Thursday tradition is national. Cukiernia Paradowski in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, open since spring 1945, runs the city's most-photographed queue every year. The pre-war recipe came with Stefan Paradowski from Warsaw's Ziemiańska pastry shop in 1945.
3 editor picks for Pączki (Polish doughnuts) in Gdańsk, ranked by editorial score. All Gdańsk signature dishes · Pączki (Polish doughnuts) across every city.
Cukiernia Paradowski ★ 4.6
ul. Wajdeloty 11, 80-437 Gdańsk
Cukiernia Paradowski in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz is the city's oldest active confectionery, opened spring 1945 by Stefan Paradowski. Son Andrzej still runs the shop; old recipes, no improvers, sourdough bread alongside the cakes.
Cukiernia Le Delice ★ 4.5
ul. Partyzantów 9, 80-254 Gdańsk
Le Delice in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz works a tight cukiernia-piekarnia format on Partyzantów. Big French-school croissants, eclairs, the kind of cake-case display Wrzeszcz returns to weekly.
Pellowski Piekarnia Cukiernia Kawiarnia ★ 4.0
ul. Długa 40, 80-827 Gdańsk
Pellowski in Gdańsk runs a cafe counter inside the Długa branch of the family bakery, fresh bakes paired with serviceable coffee. The poppy-seed bread and apple cake do the heavy lifting.