Chłopskie Jadło

There are many restaurants spread throughout Poland where the traditional aspect of their culture is celebrated.  this restaurant provides an urban version thereof.  While in the hills near Zakopane it is realistic to believe that some of these servers walked right off the street, it is not in Krakow.  thus the locations in Krakow do have a bit of a touristy feel to them.  However, looking around you, you will notice something often lacking in touristy places, that being locals.  Locals and tourists alike flock to these locations for the superior quality of the food.  

Polish food, magnificient in its simplicity, where the best ingredients receive the utmost of attention from the chefs, receives proper compliments here.  After dining one understands that the restaurant provides a service, in the busy workaday world it is nice to be able to sit back and enjoy life as it can be, relaxing and slow.  Whether this be for the local of the tourist, the experience is equally worthwhile.  

A few steps from the medieval charm of the Old Town Square is a wooden door that takes you even further back in time—to the brink of the 19th century and the heart of Polish folklore. We stepped into Chlopskie Jadlo and were shown to a table with thick wooden benches. The spacious restaurant is made up like a peasant's rustic abode with copper pots, ladles, bunches of garlic and onions, and sheaves of wheat hanging from the wooden walls. A fire crackled in the corner as the waiters—who stay in costume and in character—brought us hearty slabs of bread and clay pots filled with smalec, a traditional spread made of lard and oils with a surprisingly smooth and salty taste. 

Just reading the menu is a feast in itself, as the pages are filled with authentic meat and fish dishes, several types of borscht, and an array of hand-made pierogi. The descriptions of meat and mushrooms evoke images of men emerging from the forest after a triumphant hunt, and with enough advance notice, the restaurant will prepare an entire roast pig for you, complete with an apple in its mouth. 

One expects peasant food to be hearty, and Chlopskie Jadlo's portions do not disappoint. The mixed pierogi platter—a must on any visit to Poland—contained delicate dumplings filled with potatoes and cheese, cabbage, or meat that tasted straight out of a grandmother's kitchen. The meat dishes were savory, served with potatoes, buckwheat, and cabbage. Local beer is on the menu here, as is sour milk with dill (a perfect complement to meat and bread), black currant juice, mead, and spicy mulled wine. 

The effort with which Old Poland is recreated here might cater to tourists, but if tourists are after an authentic and delicious taste of the past, Chlopskie Jadlo is certainly the place to go.