I recommend this place if your in town everything on the menu is really really good…read more The pork shank is huge so 2 people can really enjoy it the original is the best with crispy skin Staff is very nice make sure to make reservations in advance they are busy !!!

The name of this establishment can be translated roughly as "Pork Knucklery". Pork knuckles--or ham…read morehocks--is what they do. For fans of the dish, Golonkarnia is a great place to be. I happened to feel like pigging out one afternoon, so I ordered their signature dish: the roasted golonka with crunchy skin. It arrived quicker than I anticipated. The pork knuckle came on a cutting board, with knife and fork stuck into it (see picture). It was huge: two people would struggle to finish it. The skin was suitably crunchy, while the meat was soft with just the right amount of fat. Grease was oozing out as I cut it, so I had to constantly soak it up with pieces of bread. Fine dining it isn't but that's the point. In the end, I finished less than half. The helpful lady running the place packed the leftover in a foil and I was eating golonka the next couple days. The other golonka plates come in more reasonable portion. I've tried the po staropolsku and it's very tasty. If pork knuckle is not your thing, their non-pork dishes are also quite good. The beef goulash here is among the best I've eaten in the city. If ox tongue is your thing, they make a very good one. Golonkarnia is located slightly out of the way for tourists though really not that far off. It's a stone's throw from the Novotel Hotel. The place is hard to miss since it has a pig's head over the storefront. The off-Old-Town location is actually nice since it means it's usually not crowded. After eating such heavy food, one feels like resting a little before being on the move again. The laid-back, no-pressure atmosphere is a definite plus. Menu in Polish, English, German, and Russian.

The place is very big but it was packed most times we passed it. We got the pretzels. They were…read moretasty but small. The place was clean. There's an automatic service charge for small groups. No real complaints

Nice beer garden with a good selection of seasonal beer of European style. Nice terrace outside…read morewith the great view to the square. Cannot say about the food but the beer is good. Waiter is also very friendly.

Wonderful traditional lunch. Took forever to get our meal as a big funeral luncheon was under way…read moreat that time. But...noted for their traditional Polish fare we soon found out why. The menu is a BOOK. Pages of cold and hot appetizers, many of which are also listed as entrees so you have an opportunity here to order a bunch of appetizers to sample an array of Polish favorites. The entrees are very fancy, enhanced by flourishes such as sauces, garnishee and variations. I don't speak or read Polish but even with English speakers, the translations are sometimes a bit blurry. German text joins English in most restaurants and I have some German language so the German helped me greatly with menu items descriptions-translated into English. Wife ordered potato pancakes (don't laugh) accompanied by veal cutlet/schnitzel, with mushroom gravy/sauce. The plate looked like a big oval shaped pancake sandwich. It was huge. The potato cakes were about a fat quarter inch thick and the veal cutlet a little fatter. Undaunted, she dove in and even allowed me sone tastes. Really good. Crisp potato and very tender veal. The mushroom sauce was superlative with chunks of fresh mushies. I went for the golumpky, rolls of stuffed cabbage filled with a rice-beef blend. My family regularly serves stuffed cabbage that is cooked in tomato sauce. Here, you had a choice so I opted to (you guessed it!) mushroom gravy. Being more rice than beef mix I found them pretty blah. Thank goodness for the mushroom gravy as it was so good that cardboard would become a gourmet treat. I did eat it all, though. Given the exchange rate our lunch was about $58 US. Will return here to further explore the menu. Right across the street from our Kossak Hotel.

I really really wanted to give 4 stars but their waitress did everything to prevent it. At first…read moreshe gave like 15 minutes to choose dishes, then agreed to lower the music but didn't actually do that. She was visiting the table every 5 minutes, which was pretty frustrating, but disappeared exactly when the dishes were finished. Duh, I do not know, maybe it's just an unlucky coincidence, still I'm really dissappointed with this kind of service. The food was completely opposite to the service - delicios and not expensive. I think it's a good place to try Polish food, they have a good choise of it. Be prepared that portions are large, I couldn't finish even just soup+main dish. I do not like the interiors, they pretend to be from 30s with all that pictures on the walls in golden frames, fancy tableware and so on. Well, I guess it's a matter of personal taste. At least it's fun to have 100-dollar bills instead of napkins :D

Pretty nice place for drinking out. Has rather good choice of whisky and other alcohols. Beer…read moreoptions are rather limited but have some of the best Polish/Czech/German ones. And yes their collection of comics downstairs is amazing :)

On the hunt for non-tourist trap at lunch time we happened by this little gem. At first it didn't…read morelook open but then we noticed a couple businessmen having lunch in the corner so we asked for a table outside. There were half a dozen tables with fresh flowers and a little picket fence that made it just adorable. Inside it was very traditional Eastern Europe fancy middle class feeling. (That is a bizarre description I realize! Haha) It was just what we were looking for in terms of traditional Polish food. We opted for cold beet soup (one of their specialties) which had plenty of shredded beets at the bottom, a hard boiled egg and a few tiny shrimp. I'm always blown away by the color every time I'm in Eastern Europe and order this. Fabulous flavor, plenty of garlic and chive. I also ordered spinach and cheese pierogis. The dough on these were perfect and even though they had a lite bath in butter braised onions they weren't drowning in butter. The apple cider duck breast was phenomenal. They clearly brined the duck in the apple cider because the flavor was so deep into the meat and the meat was so tender. We had a little challenge with our waitress but it seemed like she was new. We weren't in a hurry and they were very nice about the baby so we didn't care. We have a friend coming to town and will definitely go back to take her there.

This place is a gem!!! It's 10000% a must visit restaurant! The food is incredible! It's homey,…read moreauthentic and elegant all at once! It's really delicious!!! The service is wonderful too! The staff is super kind, friendly and helpful! The atmosphere is wonderful too it's a little like being in a warm and inviting old fashioned home. An added bonus is that it's right next to the old town and in a beautiful location. I've gone back many many times and will keep doing so!

Good food and a great experience. Very good for families. We went with our4 kids 12 - 21. Initially…read moreplaced us below the kids play area. I didn't want to come across as an ugly American but I finally had to ask to be moved. Our waiter was great. We end up in a booth by the beer taps and it was decently quiet but fun to watch the interaction between the wait staff and the bartenders. Our waiter was great especially after we attempted our mediocre beginner Polish and ordered a couple rounds of Cytrynówka. Food was great. We'll be back this summer!

Poland Brews & Bites…read more We stopped in for the SMALL crispy pork knuckle but they only had big ones left... if we must. There were lots of tasty brews. This beast was perfectly crisped, all the way around. The horseradish balanced it perfectly. Prices were higher here & it's touristy but we were feeling a bit touristy today. Service was terribly slow - 3hrs even tho we were seated immediately- but we honestly needed the break!

My second time at this restaurant- I really enjoy their menu options and the homey atmosphere…read more Today, I arrived before the dinner rush so I was able to get a table for one. Also, there was a pianist playing holiday music among other notable tunes. Being here myself, it was nice to listen to. I ordered the pork chop, breaded and fried, with roasted potatoes. I also got a hot ginger beer. It's not the soda we have in the States - it's actually a beer with ginger, lemon, cinnamon, and clove. Since it's beer based, it's a little out of my comfort zone. I would normally like something like this if it were non-alcoholic and sweeter but it grew on me as I drank it. The pork chop was really good - very basic, comfort meal. There are a lot of choices in Krakow but since I just arrived and was hungry, I stopped in as I knew they had good food.

Great ambiance... and that's the highlight. Our pierogi were ok, though bland (I've had frozen…read morepierogi that were better. The potato pancakes were also comparable to prepackaged. There are (many) better places - even just across the street. At least the service was good. I suppose if you're just coming here for beers, it would be ok.

Really fun and funky place. I went in for a quick drink and to try the herring and I was impressed…read more The woman working was really kind and friendly. It's self-service and there are plenty of tables. It's very clean inside. I ordered the pickled vegetables but they didn't have them and the woman was so apologetic. I told her it was no problem. They have a handful of herring flavours (maybe 8-10 total) varying from traditional to experimental. I opted for one of the more unusual ones - the Thai flavoured. I was shocked at how good the Thai flavours were!! It was like having curry from a Thai restaurant. It also complemented the herring so well which I wasn't expecting. The herring itself was different from the pickled, slimy herring I've had before. It was more of a baked/flaky fish. I actually preferred that. It also came with complimentary bread which I wasn't expecting. The bread was just okay (pretty dry) but I used it to mop up the extra curry sauce. The herring + a vodka was 30 PLN. Maybe a bit costly but not bad! Overall would recommend!

Ambasada Sledzia is a self-service place where most people come to get drinks and socialize. Order…read moreat the bar and then get your food/drink. Seating is challenging as there's very few indoor seats available. While outdoor seating is available, there are a lot of smokers, and you're crammed into limited outdoor space. It gets crowded, especially when they block off some reserved tables. The metal chairs are packed into tight quarters, and I constantly bumped into people getting in and out of seat. Despite the unpleasant seating experience, I had the most delicious herrings and enjoyed the sauces here! The MUST ORDER item is The Herrings Platter, which has 4 flavors: Mustard (mustard seed and honey sauce), Yellow (curry raisins and honey), Hot & Spicy (abodabo chipotles), Pink (beetroots and cream). Baked Penne with Chicken was mediocre, but portion size was generous.

Easy local bar food. This place is a toss from our hotel…read moreand next to the river. It's fast and easy food. Big outdoor space.

Fun atmosphere, selection of alcohol and small but great food menu. Also the menu is in Polish,…read moreGerman and English, which was nice for this solo traveler trying to figure out the way. The food was so good.