urban odds & ends

This is the second part of my Krakow Guide and today I'm going to tell about our visit in a restaurant called Arenda in the Kazimierz district. Kazimierz is located south-eastern from the old town. It was originally occupied mainly by the jewish community and was partly used as a setting in Stephen Spielbergs movie Schindler's List.



It's really nice for having a walk through the narrow streets and enjoying the little artsy shops, cafés and the old houses. We arrived by tram at Stradomska station and walked down the street until Stradomska changed to Krakowska. From there we headed into the narrow streets in direction to Plac Nowy Zydowski (new jewish plaza) with the old slaughterhouse in it's center.



Nowadays, there are little kiosks in it selling the best zapiekanki (polish pizzas) in whole krakow. Beyond that you can buy antiques or visiting the flea market which takes place every sunday. Not far from Plac Nowy you can visit at least five synagogues and the old jewish cemetery.




Around noon we decided for a lunch at restauracja Arenda, just a few meters away from Plac Nowy (see review below). After lunch we continued our tour walking down Estery, looked at the artsy shops, went by Skałka, a small hill and walked around the St. Stanislaus Church.





At least we visited the Ethnographic Museum, which gives an insight into the polish culture and developement through the years. In the ground floor you'll find some replicas of a traditional polish hut and some workplaces of the last century, like an olive press. In the first floor is an exhibition which shows the life from birth do death of polish people in the past. Overall I found it very interesting and there are many parallels to the german rural culture.



Restauracja Café Arenda



Kind of Food: Traditional Polish
Price: 9-25 PLN for starter, 25 - 60 PLN for main and 10 - 16 PLN for dessert
Points on the NOM-scale: **

The interior of Arenda is surprisingly modern in contrast to the building it's located in. The walls were decorated with colorful baroque wallpapers and the restaurant is devided into two rooms, the first you enter is used as a café.





To the left is a second room - the dining area with around 15 tables. Since we were the first guests that day, the service was fast and very kind and we placed our orders shortly. It was a pity that the choosen starter wasn't available, because the chef's had not prepared the pierogie yet.So I had to skip the pierogie filled with wild boar and ordered the grilled vegetables instead. As main I took the salmon with herbed rice. Stephan had an onion soup and as main dish pierogie with cream cheese and butter. The starters approached fast and were presentated nicely. I had a large variety of vegetables: pepper, eggplant, zucchini, artichoke, onions and even some delicious fennel and a halved garlic bulb, grilled until the garlic was creamy. I really liked it though the vegetables could have been covered in a little less olive oil. The mains were okay - my salmon was a little bit underseasoned and on the dry side. The herbed rice was risotto style with cream cheese and plenty of parsley. The homemade lemonade I had there was very refreshing and good. Altogether we had a good lunch in a nice ambience. If you plan to visit Arenda, please try the pierogi with wild boar and let me know if I missed a culinary experiece - thank you ;)



Restauracja Café Arenda

ul. Nowa 3A
31-056 Kraków, Kazimierz
012 430 15 47
e-mail: restauracja@restauracja-arenda.pl 

Monday-Saturday: 12.00 to 23.00
Sunday. 12.00 to 22.00

For Stephan and me it was the second time we visited Krakow. The last time was almost exactly two years ago. Only this time I did actually a little prep work what we want to see and - of course - eat there and I came up with a list containing actually more restaurants than days of our stay - even if we would eat twice a day ;) So here's the first part of my little Krakow guide, which will contain restaurant reviews and things to do / to see. I hope you're going to visit Krakow and enjoy this cute town as much as I did! :)


Dining in Krakow

There are many really good restaurants, everyone on my list was easily approachable within walking distance from our hotel located in the old town. I actually had the feeling that every second restaurant I've gone by had a guide michelin recommandation sticker sticking on the door. I'd like to mention at first, that - besides the hullabaloo with the Euro - the exchange rate was pretty good. We got for 1 Euro about 4 Zloti, so dining in a restaurant was pretty cheap (in comparison to Germany) for food of this quality.

The first restaurant I'd like to show serves traditional polish cuisine. The polish cuisine is rich of simple food, I would say inspired by the rural culture of the country.


Restauracja Wesele





Kind of Food: Traditional Polish
Price: 9-25 PLN for starter, 19 - 60 PLN for main and 10 - 15 PLN for dessert
Points on the NOM-scale: **

The Wesele is located directly on the main market place, Rynek Główny, and serves tradition polish cuisine. The interior is also a polish statement, mainly colored in the colors red and white. Looks a little kitchy but also very welcoming. The service is english speaking and attentive. We visited Wesele right after our arrival in Krakow for lunch. We ordered  Mountain sytle grilled sheep cheese served with cranberry jelly  and Mushrooms with onions lightly fried in butter and cream, served on fuilette as starter and for the main Pierogie "Ruskie" Russian style dumplings (stuffed with potatoes, cottage cheese and fried onions) and Goose breast on a a bed of golden pears roasted with honey and red wine serves with a side of dwarf apples and cranberries.
I really liked my food, grilled sheep cheese - it was halloumi style cheese - is everytime a winner and a comfort food for me. And since I'm a pierogie lover I really liked them. Stephan also liked his food, but the goose was a little on the dry side - nonetheless it was good. And the sauce reminded me of mullet wine ;)


I would recommend visiting the Wesele since it serves good traditional polish food, but in my opinion it didn't come up to the expectation a guide michelin recommended restaurant has set.


Restauracja Wesele


Rynek Główny 10
31-042 Kraków, Polska
+48 (12) 422 74 60

All week: 12:00 am – 11:00 pm

Soon as we were seated the waitress brought us the menus and told us the today's specials. As primi piatti (the starter) I ordered the signature dish of the restaurant, the Fettuccine al tartufovo - Fettuccine with cream and parmesan, topped with a fried truffle egg. I've red before that this dish is an culinary experience and even mind blowing. As second piatti I ordered pesce (fish) with eggplant mousse, shamefully I can't remember the name and the menu changed since we visited Buon Ricardo. After the waitress wrote down our orders the sommerlier arrived and - already knowing what we've ordered - suggested a nice italian white wine accompanying our first course. Since this was the first time visiting such a classy restaurant, I was surprised as the waitress unfolded a cloth napkin and laid it on my lap. I was feeling like a little princess ;). Soon after an amuse gueule our primi piatti arrived and what can I say. The Fettuccine al tartufovo... the smell.. oh my gosh... mind blowing - for real!


The waitress placed the plate in front of me and worked with a fork and a knive her way through the fried egg on top - the egg yolk slowly oozing over the pasta and while tossing  transforming it into a creamy truffel-infused sauce. Now the parmesan freshly grated on top, tossed on more time. I couldn't even resist to tell her that the pasta smells devine. Oh my, if I had known it before I would have ordered this dish as primi, secondi piatti and dessert! It was really that good.

The secondi piatti arrived, this time accompanied with an australian white wine. Australian wine is good! The fish was perfectly done and the eggplant mousse was delicious. What should I say,
since this moment I'm an eggplant lover ;) Very satisfied I  ordered as not being the biggest dessert fan a hot chocolate instead. They brought a cup of fine dark hot chocolate, which I ate with a spoon.
The second surprise was the sweet italian treats in fingerfood size, accompanying our non-dessert choice (for free!).

This visit was really a appropriate finish of our vaccation and I highly recommend a visit in Buon Ricardo if you're in Sydney. It was actually the best italian food I've ever eaten. The price range begins with 30-35 AUD for starters up to 55 AUD for the main course. We reservated one day in advance with a confirmation cal madel by Buon Ricardo on the reservated date.

Ristorante Buon Ricordo

108 Boundary St,
Paddington Sydney
(02) 9360 6729

Friday & Saturday: noon - 2.30pm
Tuesday to Saturday: 6.00 - 10.30 pm

Reservations are highly recommended

Kind of Food: Chinese / Thai
Price: Mains between 25 - 40 AUD
Points on the NOM-Scale: *** (1/2 *)

Back in january, we spent our last days of our visit in Australia in Sydney. So we celebrated the last 4 days with plenty of good food. We spent our first evening at Longrain. Located in the artsy quarter Surry Hills, Longrain is placed in a 110-year old converted warehouse featuring a bar and a dining area. We only spent the evening in the restaurant, but the cocktails first of all their stick drink with muddled fresh fruit, vodka and ice are known to be pretty decent.

German chef Martin Boetz serves southern chinese and thai inspired food in a place with a puristic and industrial interior left by the old warehouse, but not cold in atmosphere rather warming accompanied by 
thoughtful and kind waiters. It was no problem arriving there without reservation as they take only reservations for lunch and the private dining room. There are three communal wooden dinig tables with at least 20 seats each "encouraging asian-style banquet dinig". Usually I don't like being seated with people I don't know, but as part of the Longrain experience I gave it a go and I must admit that even if two ladies were seated right in front of us it was really nice. Longrain is a place known for sharing food with your group mates so that you can experience all four different tastes hot, sour, salty and sweet in different combinations.

We had Caramelised pork hock with five spices & chilli and Red curry of grass fed beef with green peppercorns & thai basil both served with steamed jasmin rice. We chose wine recommended by the waitress, which was a good choice nicely accompanying our food.

The meals were really good, I think it was actually the best asian food I've ever eaten. I liked the pork hock more than the red curry, the combination of the sweet pork with the hot and sour vinegar was a really welcoming sweet and sour combination. The meat was perfectly done inside and nice crisp outside. The curry was really delicious too, but the pork hock left a pretty stunning impression. Since some restaurants aren't able to cook rice properly the jasmin rice was cooked well with a good bite.

I definitely recommend a visit at Longrain and I hope more asian inspired restaurants like this will open in germany soon. The prices in Longrain are reasonably but not an everyday meal. I really liked the interior with the clear design and the service. If I lived in Sydney, I would visit Longrain often.
And for the Melbournians: since 2005 Longrain Melbourne is located in central CBD.

Longrain Bar & Restaurant

Sydney

85 Commonwealth St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9280 2888

Melbourne

44 Little Bourke St
VIC 3000
(03) 9671 3151