Vegetarians’ choice on the up
One of the recent trends we’ve noticed while covering southern Poland is the absolute explosion of high-quality vegetarian restaurants in the last year or so. For a country where most vegetables are white or come out of a jar, and that generally considers fish entrees vegetarian, we’d say this is a pretty significant step forward.
This is the same country, after all, where self-respecting restaurants serving traditional local cuisine begin the experience by giving their guests animal lard to smear on their bread.
While only a few years ago local and travelling vegetarians had relatively limited options for dining out aside from a few franchises like Greenway – the quality of which ranged from uninspired to mediocre at best – today there are enough exclusively vegetarian restaurants in Kraków (no less than eight) and Wrocław (at least six) to go on a veritable vegetarian food crawl; and that’s not counting excellent vegan cafes like Kraków’s Karma (ul. Krupnicza 12) and Wrocław’s Cafe Pestka (ul. Św. Wincentego 45). Even Katowice is getting in on the action, and we wouldn’t hesitate to describe Dobra Karma (ul. Św. Jacka 1) as one of that dreary city’s highlights. If you could use a vitamin infusion after what’s been a rather busy and largely under the weather holiday season for many of us, try one of the rather excellent recently opened vegetarian venues below.
Najadacze.pl : ul. Nożownica 40 (Wrocław)
Simple, cheap, extremely delicious and highly likeable (despite using their website as their name), this small exclusively vegan eatery has all the hallmarks to make it outrageously popular with all walks of Vroclavians. That includes the city’s best hummus and falafel (try the awesome falafel burger for only 9zł), as well baklava, tofu cheesecake, and some traditional Arabic and Indian eats like kofta and thali. There’s also fair-trade coffee and tea and some choice organic microbrews. Coming out of the kitchen fast and costing almost nothing, the only way you can go wrong here is if there’s nowhere to sit down.
Machina Organika : ul. Ruska 19 (Wrocław)
This place has been open since last summer now, and stands as one of the best vegan eateries anywhere in PL. Here the creativity required to keep an exclusively vegan lifestyle is on full display with an outstanding menu of highly-inventive almost fusion-style dishes that change daily. From raw salads to vegan baked goods and desserts, the ingenuity of the seasonal entrees is also applied to drinks, which go beyond fair trade coffee and unpasteurised beer to include house creations like avocado cocoa with almond milk and fresh watermelon tonic. Formerly home to a hip bar and club, the large, lovely three-level interior ranges from lounge to homely hacienda and we’d gladly spend time there even if you subtracted all the beautiful young people and replaced them with actual grass-grazing bovines. Highly recommended.
Raw Organic : ul. Gołębia 1, Plac Wolnica 12 (Kraków)
The first raw vegan food bar in Poland opened in Kraków this past autumn, and though we were sceptical as to whether this food and lifestyle trend could gain traction in a city as traditional as Kraków, they quickly opened a second location right in the Old Town. Whether you believe the rather basic concept that cooking our food kills its nutritional value, and the extended logic that eating raw fruits, nuts and veggies will keep you healthier, happier and more energetic, the food here is delicious and has apparently found a following, despite being veeeery pricey (and leaving us somewhat hungry). But hey, these beauty treatments are cheaper than any spa or salon and seem to be working on the bouncy owners who will gladly give you their lifestyle pitch.
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