Mrs. SF and J are both huge Christmas (the C –  word can now be said as it is December) fans, with J putting up her tree and decorations ridiculously early (like in Feb, well OK October but still🤷).

I on the other hand am a true Grinch who thinks that the celebrations should not commence until Christmas Eve and should be brought to a close abruptly on the 12th night. I would say even I, as a total Grinch,  find this Merry Festivus/Happy Holidays stuff and nonsense absolute unmitigated wxnkery.

Mrs. SF particularly likes a Christmas market and I am not adverse on a cold night to stuffing my face with a combo of sausage, potato and mulled wine.

As a result, we used to head out East in early December each year to the Christmas markets. This tradition has rather fallen away over the last few years, but Mrs. SF’s and J’s love of all things Christmassy (well Christmas markets in the case of Mrs. SF, J is just freaky about the whole thing) led to it being renewed this year with a long weekend trip to Krakow in Poland.

Whilst Mrs. SF’s and J’s attention were on the gawdy decorations my mind was (as ever) firmly focused on the food and drink options.

I will not come up with the usually bellendary that is “The best of wherever/Top 5 in wherever” (how the bloody hell would I know based on a 4 day trip), but rather merely detail where we enjoyed eating and drinking.

After a very early flight ( and thus start) and a ludicrously badly organised arrival at Krakow Airport  (border control and baggage collection were bordering on the farcical) we were very much ready for something decent to eat and drink before we could get into our apartment.

Copernicus Restaurant

A rather understated entrance (we walked passed it without noticing), gave way to a rather fine interior

and a bargain fixed price and fixed choice lunch menu (the tasting menu dinner prices are a fair bit higher).

Every dish was beautifully presented and tasted lovely, with the add on amuse bouche and bread and dips beefing things up (quantity wise) making it all exceptionally good value.

The star of the (all very good) show was an á point cooked piece of trout,

with the light as a feather choux dessert running it a close second.

All was washed down with a couple of bottles of a very gluggable Austrian riesling

A must go to for lunch in Krakow this, as it  is a total bargain (793PLN – about  £163 –  for 3 people, with 2 bottles of wine and wine is not particularly cheap in Poland, beer on the other hand is but I like wine).

Address: Kanonicza 16, 31-002 Kraków, Poland

Website: https://hotel.com.pl/en/copernicus-restaurant

Czarna Kaczka/Black Duck

Dinner at this place was very much a traditional affair with hearty soups (very big in Poland, as in large portion sizes and popular), plates of pierogies (huge in Poland, but not massively my cup of tea to be honest) and duck (lots and lots of duck).

We ordered smoked cheese, a mushroom soup and lots of duck (rillettes of duck,  carpaccio of smoked duck and a whole duck)

The whole roasted duck was the star of the show with crisp skin and slight gaminess to the rich (not dried out, always a risk with duck) flesh. It came with copious quantities of sides including dumplings (bit weird texturally, reminded me of cross between a squash ball and silly putty), roasted potatoes, pickled cabbage, baked apples and an opulent stuffing, as well as mushroom sauce and a fruity sauce.

It easily fed the 3 of us (could have feed 4  no problem) and came in at about £10.50 a head (if went 4 people it would have been under £8 each). Only thing we weren’t fussed on, out of the whole meal, was the weirdly textured dumplings.

Portion are big here (as seems to be the case everywhere in Poland, but oddly we saw very few fat people) such that we could only manage a shared pudding (surprisingly light for something the size of a brick).

The wine list is short, but there are a few interesting Polish numbers on there.

A Polish pinot noir worked well with the duck (I was more a fan than Mrs.SF and J),

accepting it was just a touch on the weedy side.

Again excellent value, £133 for 3 with wine (wine made up over £30 of that total), especially if you are a duck lover. Popular (they were queuing out the door when we arrived and left) so I would strongly advise booking.

Address: Poselska 22, 31-002 Kraków, Poland

Website: https://czarnakaczka.pl/

Morskie Oka

Another traditional Polish place, with a stanchly Polish themed menu.

At first sight the interiors appears a tad gimmicky,

but the food was actually pretty good. Not fancy, but hearty and tasty.

A rather suggestive sausage dish

got the meal off to a very ribald start with many a penile pun being made (it was regardless a very tasty kalbasa) and was followed by various breaded stuff (pork chops and chicken) and copious sides (potatoes, boiled and fried, fried cabbage and hot beetroot)

We again shared a dessert

in the form of a (slightly different from the Black Duck one, but still very good) apple pie.

The place’s wine list included some bargain Georgian numbers

which is always a bit of a bonus for me.

We went for the Winery 97 saparavi x 2

which worked a treat with the robust food.

Hearty food and good wine made for a very pleasant, yet cheap, Sunday lunch.

Again advisable to book in advance as there was a big queue outside on our arrival and it was rammed when we left.

Bill was about £130, with that including a couple of bottles of wine, water and service (very good here and everywhere we ate and drunk on the trip) etc .

Address: Szczepański Square 8, 31-011 Krakow, Poland.

Website : https://www.morskieoko.krakow.pl/nasze-menu/

Lesu Restaurant & Winebar

We tend to have a blow out meal during trips away and this was it (by Polish standards, so still quite cheap comparatively speaking).

The big lure for me was the line list, which is basically a wall of wine you choose from rather than a conventional  list

and which I had a bit of fun with (helped by a very able sommelier).

Food wise, it was a bit more UK scale portion wise, but some lovely flavours to the starters (a mushroom raviolo, beetroot carpaccio and a rather refined leek and potato soup)

and mains (beef cheek and lamb chops).

Wine from the wall was a quite nice Bordeaux blend (x 2)

from Hungary.

On to puds, I had to order the 70s classic crepe suzette (sadly not flambed at the table, but lovely nonetheless)

which was a citrussy delight when paired with (a thing the sommelier and I very much agreed on) the king of sweet wines in the form of a glass of very good tokaji.

J made me and the sommelier cry, by shunning the tokaji for an Austrian zweigelt with a rather good chocolate fondant

Nice place this, in the very bohemian Jewish Quarter, where you can go for a full blown meal or just cheese and charcuterie and wine.

Bit more pricey (£250, but with copious quantites of wine and the lamb being curiously expensive) than the other places we ate at, but worth it I thought

and still not pricey by UK standards.

Address:

Miodowa 33,
31-052 Krakow

Website: https://www.restauracjalesu.pl/

Ferment Wine & Whisky

Whilst it is fair to say Poland is not well  known for its wine, there is growing Polish wine scene and it is getting better and better (whites still better than the reds) and we drunk a fair bit of Polish (and other) wine, with our favourite bar being this place

Very good selection of wines and whiskys, with nibble, cheese and charcuterie boards to go with it. There are by the glass offerings, but much more fun is picking a bottle or two from the shelves (prices are displayed for drink in and take out). The staff are really helpful and very knowledgeable.

This Polish riesling

from one of their best producers was a very pleasant wine and testament to how far wine making in Poland had come (the Wine Society now stock this particular Polish producer) in recent years.

Great place for wine and snacks heading out or or back in from a night out.

Address: Lubicz 40, 31-512 Kraków, Poland

Website:  https://www.facebook.com/share/1GGNPgrn2U/

Blossom Cafe

Breakfast wise, this place (outside of the old town and near our accommodation) was very pleasant.

Well flavoured and robustly portioned breakfast items, with my unconventional eggs benedict on brioche toast (worked better than an English muffin to my mind) the pick of what we ordered,

and good coffee.

Gets busy,  so consider booking at the weekend..

Address: Rakowicka 20, 31-510 Kraków, Poland

Website: https://blossom.cafe/

The verdict

Krakow is a great city for a food and drink focused break, with good local restaurants (as well as international ones) and a vibrant bar scene.  We ate and drank very well at very fair prices for what we had.

Polish cuisine may not be as highly rated as some, but we didn’t have a bad meal and ate very well.

My advice is book ahead for most meals. We did and felt very smug walking in past queues of people who hadn’t. We did find it odd that people in parties of 6+ didn’t think to book a table in advance on a Friday and Saturday night. Strangely they seem surprised they couldn’t get a table!

Outside of food and drink, Krakow is a rather lovely, picturesque, city,

which is very walkable.

Lovely at Christmas

I would definitely recommend it for a long weekend break and there is plenty to do to make it work for a longer visit.

Everything is clean and tidy and the place just seems to work very well (bar from the airport, with coming in and going out border control a total fiasco).

We stayed at Old Town Rakowicka at NEATO

which was well equiped, as well as located handily for the train station (easiest way to get to Krakow centre from the Airport), shops etc.  and only a short, pleasant, stroll from the centre of the Old Town. As with most things in Krakow it was very good value for money.