Placki ziemniaczane are crisp shallow-fried potato pancakes, eaten plain with sour cream, savoury with goulash on top, or sweet with sugar. The street-cart and milk-bar favourite.

Potato pancakes spread across the Slavic world after potatoes arrived from the New World, with the Polish placki ziemniaczane recipe stabilising in the 19th century. The Mazovian version uses raw grated potato bound with egg, flour and salt only; the more elaborate Sudety mountain version (placki po zbojnicku) adds a meat goulash on top. Warsaw milk bars and pierogarnie still plate the plain version every day for under 20 zl, and home cooks fight over whether to drain the grated potato (Mazovia: yes) or keep the starch (Galicia: no).

4 editor picks for Placki ziemniaczane in Warsaw, ranked by editorial score. All Warsaw signature dishes · Placki ziemniaczane across every city.