Polish herring fillets cured in salt, then served in sour cream with raw onion, apple and pickle. The canonical zakąska (cold starter) with a shot of vodka.
Śledź (herring) has been on Polish tables since the medieval period, when the Baltic fishery and inland salt-curing made it the cheapest protein for the long winter. The śmietana (sour cream) preparation is the Warsaw version, distinguished from the eastern oil-cured śledź po japońsku. It is the canonical zakąska on every Polish vodka-tasting table and at every Christmas Eve dinner. Restauracja Polka and Stary Dom plate it as a cold starter.
4 editor picks for Śledź w śmietanie in Warsaw, ranked by editorial score. All Warsaw signature dishes · Śledź w śmietanie across every city.
Stary Dom ★ 4.3
mokotow · ul. Pulawska 104, 02-620 Warszawa
Stary Dom in Warsaw is the steak and Polish-classics anchor of leafy Mokotow, an old-house dining room with linen tablecloths and a deep cellar list.
Coctail Bar Max & Dom Whisky ★ 4.3
ul. Nowy Swiat 32, 00-373 Warszawa
Coctail Bar Max & Dom Whisky on Nowy Swiat in Warsaw runs to 03:00 Thursday through Saturday and 01:00 on the off-nights. Classic cocktails.
Restauracja Polka ★ 4.2
stare-miasto · ul. Swietojanska 2, 00-288 Warszawa
Magda Gessler's Restauracja Polka in Warsaw sits in a Renaissance tenement steps from the Royal Castle. Located in Stare Miasto. Priced at $$$.
Pijalnia Wodki i Piwa (Nowy Swiat) ★ 4.0
ul. Nowy Swiat 19A, 00-029 Warszawa
Pijalnia Wodki i Piwa on Nowy Swiat in Warsaw recreates the People's Republic vodka bar with communist-era posters, 4 zl shots and 24-hour service.