Travel Tips of Poland

DINING

Poland has a distinctive cuisine, with typical ingredients being dill, marjoram, caraway seeds, wild mushrooms and sour cream, which is frequently added to soups, sauces and braised meats. The national dish of Poland is bigos, made with sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, onions and any variety of leftover meat. Polish meals start with przekaski (starters), such as pike in aspic, marinated fish in sour cream, salted and rolled herring fillets with pickles and onions, kulebiak (a large mushroom and cabbage pasty) or Polish sausages such as the long, thin and highly spiced kabanos or the hunters’ sausage (mysliwska) made with pork and game. Soups play an important part at mealtimes and are usually rich and very thick. Soups such as barszcz (beetroot soup, excellent with sour cream) or rosol (beef or chicken bouillon) are often served in cups with small hot pasties stuffed with meat or cabbage. Popular dishes include zrazy zawijane (mushroom-stuffed beefsteak rolls in sour cream) served with boiled kasza (buckwheat) and pig’s knuckles. Poland is also a good country for fish (ryba) such as carp served in sweet-and-sour jellied sauce, and poached pike with horseradish in cream. Herring (sledz) is particularly popular and is served up in countless different ways. Pastries (ciastka) are also very good. Table service is the norm in restaurants.
Vodka (wódka), the national drink, is drunk chilled. Wyborowa is considered the best standard vodka, but there are many flavored varieties such as zubrowka (bison grass), tarniowka (sloe plum), sliwowica (prune) and pieprzowka (vodka with ground white pepper). Western drinks, such as whisky, gin or brandy, can be obtained in most bars but are expensive. Wine is available but, again, is imported and expensive. The best bottled beer is zywiec, a fairly strong lager-type beer. Bars have table and/or counter service. Coffee shops are very popular in Poland and are the favorite places for social meetings from early morning to late at night. They do not close during the day and have the same function as do pubs in the United Kingdom. Alcoholic drinks are available throughout the day.

Note
The Cultural Information Center publishes Karnet, a bilingual cultural monthly publication with details of cultural events. Contact the tourist board for further information.

Nightlife
Warsaw also reflects the strong theatrical and musical traditions of Poland, with about 17 theaters and three opera companies. Cinemas in Poland show both Polish and foreign films. There are some discos in Poland, as well as a growing number of nightclubs and music bars in Warsaw.