Indian food...in the heart of Wrocalw, Poland

Just a quick post.  We headed out of town for a few days to Wroclaw (pronounced not at all how it looks-vrawslav).  As good as the food in Poland has been, you need a little variety, right?  Thankfully, Masala came into our lives.

I don't want to brag, but save having been to India, I have eaten a lot of Indian food.  I used to live in a city that had an area called "The Curry Mile" (Manchester, UK).  Houston has some great India food as well, but this kind of blew them all out of the water.  We got chicken tikka massala, mutton palak (which was really goat), palak paneer, rice and naan.  We started with spicy biscuits with three different dipping sauces.  We got an Indian white wine to go with it.  It was somewhat sweet on its' own, but really paired well with the food.  Don't ask for the name, it was their house wine.  

Warsaw

After leaving Kiev, we headed to Warsaw before heading back to Krakow.  We spent two lovely days there and even managed to take the train there and back!  Warsaw is a nice town, but certainly not as fun as Krakow.  It is more of a working city while Krakow is a student city.  Just as an example, in Krakow, Old Town and the main square are ALWAYS going, whereas in Warsaw, it may see a light rush of people around dinnertime, but other than that, it is pretty much empty.

Nevertheless, we did have some good food and drink while in Warsaw.  Our first stop was right on the square in Old Town, Bazyliszek.  Cold beer and large portions at good prices are the draw here.

This is the small beer...the large beer was HUGE!

Lynn and I started with the crayfish with pancakes.  The crayfish were served in a tomato sauce with roasted red pepper strips on the side.  The pancakes in question were actually crepes.  It was a huge portion.  I mean huge!  Two people could have split this for a main course.  It was ok.  The crayfish were a bit overcooked and really had no flavor to them.  The pancakes did have a smokey taste from being grilled quickly after being made.  

For our main courses, Lynn opted for the salmon and I opted for the veal schnitzel.  The salmon was actually very good and the broccoli that went with it was cooked perfectly.  The rice was rice...nothing special there. The schnitzel was good.  It lacked seasoning, but was a huge portion.  The pictures don't do justice to how large the portions actually were.  Needless to say, we didn't finish a single thing.  We opted out of dessert there, but don't worry, we did get some.

After such a large meal, we walked around and did some shopping.  Nothing was bought save for some postcards.  After walking around for an hour and trying to get out of the food coma, we landed at the place that is supposed to have some of the best pierogies around.

Any place that is called Pierrogeria has to be good, right?  Well it was.  We opted for a mix of blueberry and strawberry pierogies.  They were served with a sweetened cream.  They were some of the best that we have had while we have been in Poland.  The berries were fresh, not frozen and that does make a huge difference.  They didn't go heavy on the dough either, so it was a good mix.  These things (dough to filling ratio) do matter.  

All in all, we had a nice time in Warsaw, but we were glad to get back "home."   

Kiev, Ukraine

Before I start writing about the food in Kiev, let me just say that I ALWAYS want to add "The" in front of Ukraine.  I don't know why, I just do.  And, there was a cat made out of plastic forks in a tree, and that makes a great city in my book.

But, I don't think you came here to read about my opinions on grammar and cats in trees that are made out of plastic forks.  Food is the reason, so on we go.

We flew to Kiev from Krakow since driving was out of the question.  15 hours one way?  No thank you.  There was one meal that was so bad it made you want to weep.  Another that was good, but marred by a sting of some sort on my stomach from some unknown creature and one meal that you will read about starting....now!

Lipsky Osobnyak was our choice for our last night in Kiev.  The inside does look like a Victorian restaurant and the staff in period costumes makes it seem more like a tourist trap than fine dinning.  However, they are serious about their food.

For the starters, I opted for the celery and walnut salad with kiwi and oranges.  It was actually a celery root salad, but it was still tasty.  There was a lot of it, so I didn't eat it all.  The dressing added a nice bite to it from the vinegar that was in it.  It was needed to cut through the sweetness of the fruit that was in the salad.  Apples were also included in the salad.  Lynn chose the Ukrainian borscht with garlic rolls that were strong enough to repel vampires from 100 yards away.   The soup was very good though. 

For our main dishes, I got stewed rabbit in a white wine sauce.  The rabbit was super tender and there was a huge portion of it.  It didn't have a very game taste to it at all and the wine sauce was a nice way to add more flavor without being needed.  Lynn chose the duck breast with foie gras with apples and raspberry sauce.  The duck was moist this time as well, and there was also a huge portion of it.

We did go for dessert this time and chose the local favorite, honey cake.

That top photo is actually half a serving.  They split it in the kitchen for us.  It was sweet and filled with nuts.  And look at all those layers!  It was served with a sour cream sauce swirled with dark chocolate.  It was needed to cut through all the sweetness that the cake had to offer.

Overall, it was a good, but expensive meal.  As for the wine choice, it was a French wine.  There were Ukrainian wines on the menu, but when we asked about them, our waiter pointed out that they were a nation of vodka drinkers, not wine.

Cabbage Rolls

Just another quickie- cabbage rolls at Ariel in the Jewish District (Kazimierz).  So amazingly good.  Another comfort food at its best.

Wierzynek- The Place We Still Can't Pronounce

Another day, another meal.  This time it was at the oldest restaurant in Krakow, Wierzynek.  I still have no clue how you actually pronounce it.  We headed over there somewhat late for us, about 7:30.  We were going to see a jazz concert later that night and it started at 9:30.  Wierzynek was founded in 1364 after a local man hosted visiting dignitaries from Europe to a feast at his house.

The ground floor is given over to a coffee bar/chocolate shop that had some very tasty looking chocolates for sale.  The first floor overlooks the Market Square.  It was especially nice at dusk, with the soft lighting and being able to see some fantastic old buildings.

If you are smart, or very early, you can get a table by the window.  We didn't have that option, so I had to zoom in over a customer's head.  

The food was actually very good (in my opinion).  For an amuse bouche, we got a basil cream with a pepper sauce.  The pepper sauce was more of a red pepper than spicy pepper sauce.  It went very well with the basil cream.

For starters, I got the spinach filled pierogies in a cheese sauce.  Lynn opted for the beetroot carpaccio with a cauliflower ice cream.  The ice cream had no flavor to it, but the beetroot was excellent.  I tried some and I agree with that feeling.  The pierogies were very good.  The spinach inside wasn't from frozen and was done very well.  The cheese sauce was good and I was tempted to like my plate.  But, we still had another course to get through.

For the main course, I chose the beef sirloin with courgette (zucchini) pancakes, spinach and a wine sauce.  The meat was done perfectly and well seasoned.  There was a bit of gristle on it, but overall it was a good piece of beef.  The courgette pancakes were more like potato pancakes.  I couldn't taste any courgette, but there were still fried up perfectly.  The spinach was spinach.  I know, I just raved about the pierogies stuffed with them, but by the time I got to the spinach on this dish, I was full and also just done with spinach.  

Lynn got the pike perch flamed in mead with apples.  I don't ever recall seeing mead on any menu at any place that I have eaten-ever.  The mead did lend a sweet flavor to it, but didn't overpower.  However, the fish itself wasn't that good.  That's not to say that anyone got sick.  I was told that it was way to fishy-tasting and that paired with the mead and apples- probably not the best combination.

We opted out of dessert since we were happily full and didn't want to get that "I've just eaten my weight in food/after Thanksgiving coma" feel.  We did choose to have some after dinner drinks- a rare occurrence to be sure.  

On the left- my mead.  On the right, plum vodka.  There was also something on the menu called bison vodka (more on that in a bit).  The mead was good.  Could I have cut it in the middle ages and drunk a lot of this stuff?  No.  Not at all.  The smell was something to get used to, while the flavor itself was good.  It probably would have been better in small amounts, like a shot of vodka that we Americans are used to.  The plum vodka took my breath away, literally.  The first sip of it and the alcohol began to evaporate off my lips.  Strong stuff.  Did I taste the plum?  Not really.  I was still getting past the burning sensation that it caused when it went down my throat.

Bison vodka-not really what it sounds like.  If you have ever been to Poland (or have just looked up images on the internet), it looks like it might me flavored like, well, bison.  It's not.  It allegedly has a grassy, floral flavor to it and since bison eat grass, well they called it bison vodka.  Whatever.  Maybe Grass Vodka was vetoed in the naming meeting.  If you don't like to drink vodka straight, you can mix the bison vodka with apple juice and get something that tastes like apple pie.  I never tried it, and I probably should have.  I guess I could have gotten it at the bar/jazz concert that night, but I got something more up my alley.

Cyrano- French Food in the Heart of Krakow

We decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal one night (read- fancy).  We had heard good things about Cyrano and headed out there to see for ourselves.  The restaurant is located in the basement of an old building and lends itself to pretending you are back in the Middle Ages.

We were the only ones in there, which didn't concern us since it was 5 PM.  We got seated and allowed our eyes to adjust to the dimness that was our table.  We ordered a bottle of French red that I wasn't able to get a picture of.  But you can trust me when I say it was a good, light red wine.  Not heavy at all.

I started with the French Onion Soup.  I was sad (yes, sad) that it didn't have the bubbly, melted cheese on top, but rather on the side.  There is something that is almost enjoyable when you get the break through bread topped with cheese into your soup so that every bite has it.  The toast on the side meant that if you wanted cheese toast with every bite, you had to be judicious and tear it into the right size and pray you got it right.  That being said, the soup was very good.  Nice, meaty flavor and the onions were done well.  Lynn started with the goat cheese and pear salad.  The goat cheese was placed on top of the toast and the pear was drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  I was told that it was good and that the pear was fresh.  Always a plus.

For our main courses: Lynn got the Chateaubriand with a mushroom sauce on the side.  Beef has been one of those things that is really hard for us to come by here.  If we do see it on a menu in steak form, we always have to ask how thick it is.  They don't really do a lot of beef, and if they do it is usually a thin piece of beef.  It isn't a problem when it comes to the done-ness though.  They are usually spot on.  So that being said, the Chateaubriand was just what Lynn wanted- thick and done right.  I ordered the duck with apples and a black currant sauce.  I know I said a few posts ago that duck can be very difficult to order since it is usually dry.  However, they were spot on here.  It was nice and tender and the sauce that went with it was fantastic.

For dessert we shared the profiteroles.  Warm chocolate sauce covering ice cream and pastry.  Yum.  It was good-not great, but good.

Overall, it was a very good meal.  However, for the price that we paid for it, it just didn't make it a top notch meal for Krakow.  The price that we paid for it, if it had been at a Michelin starred joint, would have been acceptable then.    

Miod Malina

Alright, sorry for the break in posting about actual, edible food.  Well, I guess you can eat salt too, but not a lot of it and not straight.

We headed out for a late lunch/early dinner at Miod Malina.  It is an Italian/Polish place, but what we came for was the Polish food.  And we were not disappointed.  Like many of the other restaurants that we have dined at in Krakow, the place was small.  It was decorated with light wood furniture and red walls stenciled with flowers.  There are cozy tables with candles all over the place, but if you want to come here for a business meeting, then don't fear.  It's the food you came for.

A view from our window and the wine we had with our meal (an Italian white).  

We started with the plum stuffed dumplings with bread crumbs on top.  It is not a sweet dish like you might expect.  It has a savory aspect to it, put if you wanted them for dessert, you wouldn't get strange looks either.  The dough itself was light and fluffy while the filling was made with actual plums.  The breadcrumbs added needed crunch to the dish and the butter added a richness.  For our main course, Lynn and I both got the ribs marinated in honey and then covered with a plum sauce.  I also got steamed veggies that were topped with dill as a side dish.

Let me just touch on the vegetables first.  Steamed broccoli that is plain isn't high on my list of foods that I like to eat.  Add some butter or cheese, and I will eat it.  But plain with dill?  You know what- it changed my life.  It doesn't hurt that the vegetables taste like vegetables and are locally grown.  The dill added something special to it and didn't overpower them.  They were also cooked perfectly- not crunchy and not mushy.  Just right.

The ribs- oh my gosh the ribs.  Tender, juicy, spicy, sweet.  Fall off the bone good.  It's a small wonder that we headed back when we had guests in town and got the same dish.  The ribs are something that I dream about (well, not really, but you get the idea).  I just think the photo says it all.