Eating in Krakow

Last month we travelled to Poland, touching down in Krakow. The guy from our hotel recommended a couple of places, one of which was two doors down from the hotel we stayed at, so this was our first point of call. We were handed menus in polish and perused them for way too long despite our inability to actually read them. Once this situation had been corrected we ordered Pierogi, mine stuffed with cheese, his stuffed with pork and beef. When they arrived they look identical to the Chinese dumplings we’ve been noshing of late. They looked like huge ravioli except without a sauce, though mine had a little melted butter to soak up with the dough. When I bit into my ‘cheese’ Pierogi I found the strangest combination of flavours, sweet and savoury at the same time. At first I thought the butter was a kind of syrup, but after further inspection of the contents of the dumpling I worked out that the cheese was in fact the sweet ingredient, and tasted like soft cheese mixed with icing sugar. I think I ate a couple of them while I was making up my mind and then eventually gave up and tried the pork and beef variety, mercifully savoury. The texture of the contents reminded me of really flaky tuna or beef spread and tasted like a mixture of the two.

Krakow has a lot of fast food available to purchase on the street, practically on the corner of every street are pretzel vendors selling all sizes and shapes of lovely soft bread for about 40p. We also sampled the equally rife kebabs, in toasted pitta with hot sauce and oodles of cabbage. That was delish, though I managed to drip the yoghurty dressing all down myself leaving some worrying marks around my crotch.

In the evening we walked to a place near the Jewish Quarter that Steve had been to before, he was looking forward to the huge quantities of meat he’d been served last time. Once we were sat down one of the diners next to us told us we wouldn’t need two courses, only order one. Steve ordered the Officer’s Platter, which was a mixed grill and I ordered lamb sausages. His food was delivered on a wooden board with potatoes, all the meat was nice and there was quite pile a lot of it. Mine was also nice, with chips, we shared it and exchanged different meats and styles of potatoes romantically across the table. Accompanying the meal, accompanying most meals in Poland was the traditional polish salad of cabbage and beetroot in various guises, usually I’m not a massive cabbage fan, certainly not the traditional Yorkshire way of cooking it, where it’s boiled within an inch of it’s life and slopped onto the plate unseasoned as part of a Sunday roast, but I can usually manage pickled cabbage as I’m a huge fan of pickled everything (apart from eggs – that’s so wrong) but there was an undertone of something unfamiliar and unpleasant, I think it was mint. Not a fan of mint at all. All in all the meal was great and I was ravenous any way due to the epic fail of the meal earlier. All this was served up with large amounts of Polish beer, live polish music with an energetic atmosphere. Last time Steve was here for his cousins wedding the bride, a local, said it was the best place to eat in Krakow. We drank and ate too much and truly had a good night, I’ve just found their card in my wallet it was called Pod Wawelem on Gertrudy and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Krakow, just don’t order two courses, one course is more than enough.

On the last night we literally walked around for an hour trying to choose somewhere to eat, somewhere that served both borsch, a polish beetroot soup and bigos a rustic kind of stew, as Steve wanted to try them both before we left. Nowhere served bigos and our wanderings had made me hungry so we settled for somewhere else the hotel guy had recommended again, Miod i Vino, translated as Honey and Wine, he said it was lovely food just a little more expensive. Steve wanted to order a Dukes Taster Menu where you try a little bit of loads of different dishes, but unfortunately that was off the menu. Massive shame as we love our platter style food. We ordered starters, Steve had the borsch, served in a big mug and I ordered Krakow herring, served with sour cream and onions. I didn’t particularly like mine, the texture of the herring wasn’t nice, though I did like the sour cream and onion mixture on the top and spooned that onto the dark, dense bread we’d been given. Steve loved the herring so we swapped over and he hungrily shovelled my starter into his mouth while I hesitantly tasted the borsch. It was okay, but I didn’t want much of it, again there was a sweetness to it that I couldn’t come to terms with, I’d expected it to taste salty and acetous, so most of that was left untouched on the table. My main was pleat of pork tenderloin in a creamy sauce, and when it arrived on the table I realised that pleat meant plait and the meat had literally been plaited. There’s something either troubling or charming at the thought of a chef, hunched over the work surface, tongue out in concentration with slivers of meat between his fingers as he plaits my dinner for me. That, my friend is workmanship. It was great. Loved this meal, we got rice and polish style potatoes as well. Steve had stuffed pork with sheep cheese, this also was loverly, just not as good mine. Again the atmosphere in here was lively, the traditional band playing roused the diners.

We returned home with our favourite part of Poland, backpacks crammed with as much Zubrovka as we could afford/carry. This Polish Vodka, flavoured with bison grass, tastes great chilled or my favourite with apple juice. You can’t buy it in the UK and this is pretty much why we went to Poland.

The End?

As we’ve consumed our last morsel of food for London Road Clock, we’ve experienced some great meals and uncovered some true gems, there’s been highs and lows, laughter and tears! I’m not even over dramatising either, I feel I should say that this isn’t necessarily the end of my little musings on my little blog. We’re considering an Ecclessall Road Clock, so stay tuned for updates on that, and I’ll let you all know where’s good to eat in Krakow. We might have to wait a while for our purses and waistlines to return to normal as both have received some punishment over the last 6 months. While chowing down in Golden Lee and toasting to a successful clock (don’t stop until you clock) we wondered how much we’d actually spent, we could probably work it out as I’ve written a detailed account of everything we’d eaten. We decided it wasn’t the best idea as we’d feel horrible with guilty once we knew. So next Ecclessall Road, and who knows what after that possibly the world.

Golden Lee

It is a rather gloomy post this week i'm afraid as this signals the final eatery on London Road. We were somewhat surprised when we realised that the Golden Lee was in fact the last place to dine, we thought there were a couple left. We were suprised by the news that the polish restaurant had closed, we were looking forward to that one! So instead we’re travelling to Krakow to sample the polish delights there.

The inside of Golden Lee was looking decidedly worn, and a little sad, as we entered the host turned on the heaters to warm the place he told us, I presume they weren’t expecting many diners as the place was cold and had a faint greasy smell. We ordered our drinks and perused the menu, settling for the rather boring but tried and tested option of Set Menu, C I think. We had the starter platter, followed by duck pancakes. Then out came the tea warmers and the rice, swiftly followed by sweet and sour chicken, Tokyo chicken and sirloin in black bean sauce. The starter was good, it contained the usual suspects, all fine, nothing special to be honest as I’ve been consuming this fair every week. The duck went down nicely – as always, and they served just the right amount for two. Sometimes if there is too much I can tend to gorge myself on that before the main even arrives. When they came, in decidedly chipped and forlorn crockery the black bean was sizzling away and I’d forgotten how much we ordered. The sweet and sour was the first I tried, and it was very nice, there were bite size chunks of battered and deep fried chicken and a nice tasting sauce. The chicken in the Tokyo sauce was soggy and weird, the sauce tasted good though, similarly the sirloin steak had been boiled. Why on earth you would do such a thing was beyond me. It had been cut into strips and looked as though it had been fried and when I bit through it I was vaguely annoyed that it had not been. The rice was ‘special’ and had lots of tiny bits of meat and peas through it, there was enough for about 17 people. But I suppose the chef was a little like myself, I always get rice wrong, either too little or too much! While we were eating the guy in charge spent quite a lot of time talking to us which I felt was rather odd. He was a genuinely nice guy but I wasn’t entirely happy that he was stood chatting to us throughout an entire course. While dining in a restaurant I’ve experienced brief chats with waiters but I’ve never in my life had long conversations such as in Golden Lee. It made me feel quite uncomfortable and it would definitely deter me from returning there. The food wasn’t spectacular and the surroundings were dated and showing their age.
There was quite a few people in and out of the place while we were there , ordering and collecting take away, and it felt more like a takeaway with chairs in than an actual restaurant.

Yama Sushi - Finally

We finally made it to Yama Sushi and after all the postponing and putting off we've had with this place in the end it turns out I was pretty excited about the whole thing. So I was pleased as punch when we got there the shutter were indeed up, inside was populated yet with enough space to seat two more slowly swelling backsides. I have had sushi many times before, I don’t think it was real sushi though, more like a western version of sushi, where everything is cooked, I’ve always enjoyed it. Steve on the other hand has put his foot down and decreed he doesn’t like it, it has no flavour (if there was anything I'd complain about it would be the unfamiliar texture).
This said he decided to follow my lead and order a bento box, containing a variety of tempura, chef’s sushi selection, steamed rice and a main of your choice served with miso soup. My choice was chicken teriyaki and Steve chose beef in Tokyo sauce. At this point I became overwhelmed by the menu and wanted to order practically everything, I also wanted the majority of the crockery too. So on top of that I ordered a couple of side dishes, salmon and bacon skewers and assorted tempura (why I ordered this I don’t know as this came with our bento boxes as well). We sipped our green tea while we waited and admired the surroundings; I pretty much love the Japanese aesthete and find the history fascinating. I’m currently reading a book about the history of Japan so maybe that inspired me to finally visit Yama Sushi and get thusly thrilled by it. First to arrive was the miso soup, I’ve always like this hearty broth, always been slightly disconcerted by the floating leaves and tofu. Then the side dishes arrived, the tempura with dipping sauce, this was great, I truly loved it, thin slices of sweet potato, courgettes and pepper with king prawns, coated in a light batter and fried, and it was delicious. This is not a descriptive word you’ll hear me say often referring to veg and I’m a keen avoider of most, but this seems to me the most excellent way to deal with it. Then came the Salmon and bacon skewers, described rather appropriately by Steve as fishy lollipops, these too were enjoyable. After the empty dishes had been cleared our bento boxes arrived, worryingly larger than the picture had made us believe. I laid in to yet more veg tempura, and tried my chicken teriyaki. The flavours were discreet but nice, the chicken however was not to my liking as it was full of gristle, the skin and accompanying fat was still on, I can’t stand the texture of this, which made it’s consumption even more tricky with my awkward handed chop sticking. I ate as much of it as I could as the flavours were fine. On the other side of the table Steve’s beef was delicious, yet again his order out did mine, this time both in flavour and substance, the Tokyo Sauce was so flavourful and deep and rich, the beef nice and chewy like larger fried strips. The sauce reminded me of a Jack Daniels sauce I once had, mmmm. The sushi selection was nigiri, a little bed of rice with fish or vegetable resting on top, mine was salmon, prawn and squid, Steve had tuna instead of salmon. I bit into the sake (salmon) nigiri and tried to break through the soft tissue with my wanting nashers, made even more difficult by the weak pincer that was holding onto the other end, I made a bit of a mess of it to be honest. The rice fell apart and I had to slurp up the rest of the salmon into my mouth as it was impossible to bite through. I’d learnt my lesson with my next piece, the squid, totally raw, I picked up the scored white piece and bit down hard, it came away fairly easily, as I chewed I was delighted by the mild fishy flavour, not by an oily coating my mouth received. I placed the rest of it down having decided not to continue and immediately picked it up again and devoured the lot without compunction. I stole the tuna nigiri off of Steve’s plate as he didn’t want any sushi, in the end he had a mouthful, has face afterwards (like that of a child eating broccoli) signalled his dislike. All in all it was pleasant. I wish I’d had the beef in Tokyo Sauce, the sushi was okay but I think I like the novelty of it rather than the food itself. Check out this awesome Bento Box Blog.

Dim Sum

We headed up the road to Yama Sushi, wanting once and for all to get it out of the way, yet we find the shutters well and truly down. Not this time. Instead we head to one of the few restaurants left on London Road, Dim Sum. Inside was so much nicer than it looks and the service was quick and courteous. Complementary prawn crackers, mmmmm, there are never quite enough of these, as we perused the menu. We ordered the mixed platter to start and when it arrived it had our old favourites along with some newbies. I ordered dragon & phoenix, he ordered mixed seafood in XO sauce. His was better than mine. It was ages ago and I can barely remember but I know that his, yet again was nicer than mine and I wish’d I’d ordered satay prawns. Apologies for the delayed and rather rubbish post, I'll try to be more prompt next time so I don't forget.

Yuen Shan

We inadvertently celebrated Chinese New Year at Yeun Shan, by that I mean we’d not realised till afterwards that it was actually Chinese New Year, or Valentines Day. Ooops. The table we were sat at had a hot plate thing in the middle and a large and slightly off-putting extractor overhead. We were compelled to order from the £4.95 lunch menu, the thankfully shorter lunch menu. I decided to be daring and order wonton soup. Steve ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken. And as soon as both arrived I realised I’d made a heinous mistake. My watery noodles were what I expected yet ridiculously unsatisfying when compared to the flavourful and bright looking dish opposite. The insipid soups' only flavour came from the soppy wonton, and I've quickly become conscious that my love affair with Chinese dumplings was swiftly waning. Instead of ‘little parcels of heaven’ I find the texture vaguely grotesque, both the innards and the outtards, especially in this broth, the parcels completely broke down and practically melted. The meat inside, which I once found revelatory, I now find rough textured, salty and off-puttingly pink. I think I may have over done it and sickened myself with them. Instead of eating my own I ate surreptitiously off of the other plate – to begin with was a delight, but after some time it was rather too sweet, not enough sour. It was a shame.

Saim Inter Thai Restuarant

The clock is winding slowly down, not stopping, we’re just taking our time as it’s coming to an end. There are fewer and fewer places left and we’re still putting off Yama Sushi, maybe next time. Instead we went to Sian Inter, a Thai restaurant, the few times I’ve walked past it I’ve noticed that the dishes are embellished with peculiar carved vegetable flora and I was eager to investigate. We entered into the empty restaurant, it smelled fishy, I wondered whether it was the food or the fish tank with huge goldfish. We quickly ordered our bottle of wine and began looking at the large menu. As usual we feared our task, choosing food, was too great. The mammoth menu got the better of us and we fell back onto our tried and tested method, the set menu, menu B. Kicking it off with our old friend the mixed starter. The delicious platter arrived consisting of, Gai Satay, Po Pia Tord, Gung Hom Pla, Tord Man Pla and Kha Nom Pang Na Gai. All were great, the fish cakes were fresh and zingy, prawn toast is becoming a new favourite, accompanied with some of the gluiest looking sweet chilli dipping sauce I’ve ever encountered, it was slightly of-putting though not enough to deter. I was so eager to consume the delivered goods I think I may have burnt some of the skin off the roof of my mouth. Still good though. The second course was delivered by the lovely waitress, Gaeng Kiew Warn Gai (Chicken and Aubergine Green curry), Ped Sam Rod (Duck in Tamarind Sauce) and Guay Tiew Pud Thai (Stir fried noodles with prawns) served with fragrant rice. All three of these dishes were great. The curry was nice and hot and sour, if not slightly too sweet. Not too sure about the soggy aubergine though. The duck was a little too fatty for me and the tamarind sauce, which I don't think I've had before was nice, if not slightly too sweet. The noodles were great, they’d absorbed that familiar slightly scorched flavour/smell combo you get with stir-fried food cooked in a much used wok. Was loving the different combination of textures as you bit through the soft noodles, the crunchy bean sprouts, and succulent prawns, this was also slightly too sweet. This meal was one of those occasions where you think that the dish you’re eating is your favourite, until you try the next one in line and then that one is your favourite. All were very enjoyable, I was hoping there’d be some left to box up and take home but alas all was devoured. Next we were given the dessert of the day, the waitress introduced it as tarot custard pudding and explained tarot was like a sweet potato. Honestly it was scrumptious, since eating it I’ve looked up the recipe and am planning a visit to the local Chinese supermarket to purchase me some taro, a great way to end the meal, as it wasn’t too sickly or even slightly too sweet.