📷 Poland Stories. Krakow. Restaurant "Pod Baranem"

As you may remember, I ended my last story from a trip to Poland by arriving from Warsaw by train to Krakow. The day was full of new impressions, there were several days ahead in Krakow, so we decided to end the evening calmly and tasty — with dinner at the restaurant "Pod Baranem".

The restaurant also provides apartments for living in the same building, a 19th century tenement house, recently renovated. I have not been to the apartments, but I am happy to tell you about the restaurant.

The restaurant "Pod Baranem" has been operating for 25 years, it was founded in 1997. Located near the Wawel Hill in Krakow, it is famous for its signature Polish cuisine.

The interior is decorated very interestingly — on the one hand, you can feel the spirit of the era of the Polish People's Republic, and on the other — a bourgeois house.

The cozy design is complemented by antique furniture and lots of artwork. An unusually shaped chandelier, a seven-candle candlestick, an elegant table lamp or a statuette peep out here and there... Photographs and paintings hang on the walls. Many paintings!

This one, for example, you can look at for a long time, both buildings and people: you find more and more new scenes from life. There are many kissing characters, but not only them :)

The owner of the restaurant and chef Jan Baran defines his cuisine as a family one, they specialize in national Polish dishes with European accents.

It is cozy here, and the atmosphere is reminiscent of home — as it could have been several decades ago in a rich house with a long history.

We had dinner with Andrzej Czapliński, a representative of the Department of Promotion and Tourism of the city of Krakow. He told me and Alexey, my travel partner, a lot of interesting things about Poland and Krakow. It seems I haven't mentioned yet, but it was not just a tourist trip — it was organized by the Polish Tourism Organization (as well as the Department of Promotion and Tourism of the City of Krakow and the Malopolska Tourism Organization) to promote tourism in Poland. Therefore, later in Krakow we were accompanied and told a lot of interesting things.

In new countries, I always try local alcoholic drinks. At that time it was a glass of slivovitz (śliwowica).

The raw material for slivovitz is fermented plum juice. Its final strength reaches 45% (52% — "homemade" version), and with double distillation even 75%. The aging time of plum brandy is different, it can be drunk freshly made, but it is believed that it is better to wait and age it for five years in oak barrels, then the drink will get a deeper and richer plum flavor, as well as its distinctive noble yellow color.

And my companions tasted Zubrovka. It is infused on the bison grass, which grows in Białowieża Forest and is food for bison, from which Zubrovka got its name (Zubr is the name in several Slavic languages for the wisent or European bison). It can have various shades of yellow — from light yellow to amber.

Żurek soup is a traditional Polish sourdough soup made from rye flour, which is aged for several days. At first it was the food of the poor, then zurek became a dish very popular in Lent, and began to appear on the tables in noble houses too. The taste is unusual, but pleasant for me.

Of course, I did not limit myself to one soup. Both I and my companions tried different dishes. I'm not very fond of food photography, so I photographed it as it was, without any frills :) But I assure you, cabbage rolls, fish, soups, wine, bread — everything was wonderful.

Toward evening, all the tables are already occupied and a queue appears at the door. For me, this is always an obvious sign that the food in the restaurant is really good. However, we have already known this from our own experience. If you are in Krakow, be sure to check it out, I recommend it! The restaurant is especially good for a first acquaintance with local cuisine.

Well, for us that evening ended with a sweet dream in the Krakow hotel. The next few days we will walk around the city and explore its sights — there are so many interesting things ahead!

To be continued.

Posts about the trip:

1. Poland Stories. Warsaw. Old Town and a Religious Celebration
2. Poland Stories. Warsaw. Walking Around the City, Old and New
3. Poland Stories. Warsaw. Views from Above and the End of the Walk

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Camera: OLYMPUS E-M5

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You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on NatGeo. You can read a short interview with me here.

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