Europe offers many different cuisines for tourists. Poland is a country with a lot of history, architecture, and a good diversity of food. The most well known foods includes Pierogi which supposedly originates back to 1682. When visiting Poland, specifically the former capital Krakow. A must go restaurant is “Morskie Oko”, which directly translates to “Sea Eye”.
The price points for the actual food itself is very good! When considering cost, Poland has the currency of złoty, (translating to “gold”) which has a ratio of 4 złoty per every US dollar.
Initially everything seems very small and compact, as our travel group makes it’s way into the crowded restaurant stairs that reveal a lower level where food is served.
Decor is very old and embodies some polish traditions. Giving a very tavern like feel with the bricks, wooden tables, dried floral arrangements. However, it was confusing to see sheep/fur rugs that were placed on the seats. Not only are they crusty in the sense of being used several times, it’s dirty and honestly uncomfortable. The actual seating itself is so-so. Depending on the table you got you either have it pressed to the backing on a chair or against the brick wall.
The table has a table cloth reminiscent of a polish grandmothers home. On top is a lit candle along with a vase of flowers, bringing a comforting atmosphere. The actual temperature for the restaurant was a bit hot and too cozy. The servers were dressed in Krakow attire with the patterned skirts, white tops, and red beaded necklaces.
Although initially very quiet, there is the sound of soft and relaxing violins echoed throughout the underground portion of the restaurant. However, it isn’t long until the violins stop and the sound of a man singing starts. The singing doesn’t continue for a long period of time, which allows for more conversations to take place.
Overall, the atmosphere is very relaxing and is the embodiment of polish culture.
It’s often complimentary to put out bread and butter especially for soup, but they don’t even provide butter with their bread. Starting off with the soup we were presented with kwaśnica. It smelled like honey mustard, and tasted very sour. The contents of the soup include cabbage, a huge chunk of bacon, broth, and potato. Having a very powerful taste. It’s important to eat it slow to enjoy all the flavor profiles. The bacon is very tender and soft, very pleasant and smoky. A little tough in a big chunk- and has a bit of fat that some may love, but personally find it a little bothersome. The potato isn’t anything special. Bland, but it’s in a soup so there isn’t much to expect. While the cabbage is very appetizing and satisfying in the sense of texture and overall flavor within the soup. Some noodles would’ve been a nice balance of the pungent flavors. But overall it was refreshing. It’s actually not bad, but in moderation. I was far from finishing my soup. Maybe a smaller portion could make the soup finish-able, but perhaps other options are more exciting.
The Entree was pierogi, all of which were folded beautifully and had a good portion (12). There was a mix of meat pierogi and potato pierogi, which were both very tasty. There is a perfect balance of filling to actual “dumpling” wrapper. The mixture of both flavors pairs really well. Oftentimes polish people have meat and potatoes so this is a very fitting combo. All the pierogi were topped with a little bit of onion. The carrots are nice and cold and a little sweeter, with the flavor more like a refreshing apple. While the cabbage is more sour and powerful, which wasn’t bad but not amazing. This dish was an absolute hit, really phenomenal.
The waiter proceeded to offer tea before dessert, all while some servers make small talk. It’s not excessive to the point where it’s bothersome, coming off as very polite and respectful. They are mostly bilingual, talking in both English and Polish to provide accessibility to a good portion of guests.
Finally, for dessert, there was an apple pie and ice cream. A great combo. Both sweet, however one is smooth and the other is more crumbly. The apple pie could have more of an apple taste in terms of a more powerful tart flavor. The vanilla ice cream is perfect. However the actual chocolate syrup is a bit much to include. Although good in theory with the ice cream- it complicates the flavors just a tad bit much. Nonetheless it had a prominent cinnamon taste.
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Emily Ziajor is a WEGO senior in her second year of journalism. She attended the National High School Journalism Convention last November, and thoroughly loved the experience. She is a Polish-American (she finished her final year of Polish School in the spring of 2023) with a creative soul and high aspirations. When it comes to writing, she has a sharp imagination, and one of her true passions is photography. Emily is a multi-year member of the AV Club at West Chicago Community High School.
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