Gdansk Restaurants

A very nice and elegant restaurant. Our food was excellent, one of the best we had in Gdansk, as well as the service.

Another plus: They let us in after 9.30 pm when four other restaurants had said no.

Favorite Dish: We had halibot and cod, and both were excellent.

OK, OK, I know I shouldn't be ordering pizza while I'm visiting a place like Poland with so much great food, but there were a couple nights when it was raining and our group was just too tired to take the bus into the city and hunt down a place to eat. So, Pizza Diablo to the rescue! I wasn't expecting much, but I have to admit this place has really good (and very cheap) pizza. The average price for a large (30 cm) pizza is about 12.00 Zl, but there are several very good ones for just 10.00 Zl. If you find yourself in the mood for pizza delivered to your hotel, I highly recommend it.

Favorite Dish: The Prosciutto and Salami pizzas were both very good.

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I passed by this restaurant named probably Rybki (little fish) just before reaching the Baltic beach in Jelitkowo. On the way back my nose couldn't afford the aroma of fried fish. Although I wasn't hungry I simply had to try local fish, as usual being at the seaside.

The menu was exclusively in Polish language. The service and prices were average, the design casual. Nothing special there but fried fish and watching people passing by. Portions were large enough. Each fish is fried (smazony/a) and served exclusively with chips and mixed salad. Add smoked trout (pstrag wedzony) served with lemon and bread for only 10 zl. Let me list the fried fish served (Polish name and price in Polish currency zl; 1 euro = 4 zl):
- trout (pstrag 22)
- salmon (losos 22)
- (ryba maslana 22)
- sole (sola 24)
- (panga 24)
- (merlin 25)
- (Mahi-mahi 28)
- (kargulena 22).

Favorite Dish: I had my favourite halibut (the same name in Polish; 24 zl) whereas Urszula ordered large Baltic flatfish (flounder; fladra in Polish; 15 zl). Both fish have tasted good but I liked halibut more. Chips were OK, like chips, but the mixed salad was not good (maybe not fresh).

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I usually skip fancy restaurants, especially when I travel abroad, for at least three reasons: small meals, high - often unjusty - prices and embarrasing atmosphere, too calm for my soul. And sometimes a tie is required I never wear being on a holiday. But, in Gdansk, Urszula and I had a special occasion. We celebrated next anniversary of our marriage. That's why after a walk around pretty renovated and amazing 17th century country manor we ended up in Dwor Oliwski restaurant. The portions were not small, prices were much lower than in any fancy restaurant in, say, Germany, France or the USA. But, the atmpsphere was, indeed, too "aristocratic" to take pictures of meals without being confused.

The 2-floor building with an attic under a red-tiled, gabled roof stands alone at the entrance to the property. In the beginning I didn't figure out that there is a restaurant inside. There is only a modest, small sign by the entrance door. Well, the top quality does not need any advertisement, right?

We were seated by a large, round table in the first room to the right. The light interiors with large windows and doors follow the wealthy style of the 17th century country manor. There are at least three, a bit different, large rooms on the two restaurant floors.

Our waiter was fast and perfect, maybe a bit too serious :-). He knew everything about the food and drinks served. He asked us about some details of what we wanted to order. It's still not common in Polish restaurants where a waiter rarely ask any questions to a consumer. There were some French and English speaking consumers next tables and they were served in their languages.

Favorite Dish: The menu contains both French, Italian and Polish meals.
We had first class, as usual in Poland, Polish Zurek (16 zl) and silky cream of yellow chanterelle mushroom (18 zl). Then we ordered Italian tagliatelli (18 zl) and ravioli with spinach (22 zl) which tasted great, almost as well as those unforgettable pastas we had in Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy, during the Euro VT-meeting.

We ended up with two delicious deserts: tiramisu and hot chocolate Moelleux cake in coffee sauce and vanilla ice cream. Yummy... and they had to liven me up, so that I took pictures of them. We paid (add wine, cofee, water and a tip) 150 zl (€1 = 4 zl) - not that bad as for so fancy place, right?

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Outdoor grill is always a kind of my place to eat in Poland. So, I was very happy when I suprisingly find three outdoor grills at the Fish Market (Targ Rybny) in downtown Gdansk. It's inexpensive place to buy grilled, in the way you like, fresh fish or meat, to take a seat by a wooden table, to drink a beer and relax among both similar to you, visitors, and locals. And it works quite fast thanks to hard working, young staff. Well, each meal is served on a paper dish which sometimes maybe too small but it didn't hurt me like the fact that no cards were accepted.

I've choosen the grill put on the left, at the northern end of the Waterfront (Dlugie Pobrzeze) where meat and potatoes were grilled. The one of the two other grills, the one in an outdoor restaurant with service by a table, offered fish, too. Wooden tables put around seem to be shared by all three, seperate grills/restaurants.

Favorite Dish: We had:
1. Polish "szaszlyk" (10 zl; €1 = 4 zl, US$1 = 3.3 zl), that means pieces of pork and sliced onion, put on a long thin stick, and grilled together.
2. Polish grilled sausage (kielbasa; 7 zl). Both "szaszlyk" and the sausage was served with some bread, mustard and ketchup.
3. grilled jacket potatoes (4 zl) - they were boiled a bit before putting on a grill.
4. Polish Zywiec beer (4 zl).
The portions were large and the food was much better I could expect at this place and price. Yummy... Can you see that smoke and feel the aroma?

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Being a lover of Greece and Greek food I had to stop in this Greek resturant perfectly located for those who like to watch people. The service is average (nice and quite fast waiter), the food as well. Usually meals served in Greek restaurant in Poland are huge (one meal is enough for two persons) but in this case they were not that big.

Unfortunatelly the place is far too expensive like most (but not all) restaurants along Dlugie Pobrzeze (the Long Waterfront), probably that's why it was almost empty. Maybe they go bancrupt soon (?). Except to pay 10 - 14 zl per soup and 29 - 72 zl per main course, for example moussaka - 44 zl, squids (kalmary) for vegetarians - 39 zl. €1 = 4 zl, US$1 = 3.3 zl.

Favorite Dish: We had only beer (Polish Zywiec), coffee and two Greek desserts (Greek pastry with filo, honey, and nuts):
- baklava (or baklawa), a popular sweet pastry that forms part of the cuisine of a variety of cultures in the Middle East and the Balkans. It has a high sugar and butter content, making it extremely rich;
- kadaifi.
Luckily , both were not as sweet as I could expect.

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I can recommend this place only for watching people with a glass (or more) of Polish beer from keg. Zywiec is the best. There are Polish Warka strong, local Heweliusz and Dutch Heineken beers from a keg available as well, each cost 4 (0.3 l) or 6 zl (0.5 l). €1 = 4 zl, US$1 = 3.3 zl.

The name of this restaurant (Tri Medwiedia) is written in Russian alphabet and means Three Bears. "Kuchnia Rosyjska" means Russian cuisine. Indeed, their menu contains some meals advertised as Russian but many Polish as well.

The location is perfect for those folks who are interested in watching people. They have wooden tables and chairs (not comfortable) in the middle of the Long Market. Prices as for this location, are below average. Maybe that's why the restaurant is always full of consumers. And these are the only advantages. Urszula noticed famous Polish journalist (Kuba Wojewodzki) drinking beer next table. Some youths asked him for a signature and he never refused.

Let me complain a bit now. Our young waitress was smiling all the time and it was the only good thing about her. She mistaken our order and bill, forgot to bring an ashtray and cutlery etc. She didn't knew anything on food served. She had to ask someone else to reply to our simple questions which took ages. Well, she always replied, yes, sure, wait a minute, please. Generally the service was slow, even very slow.

The toilet inside a house wasn't dirty but not at all clean as well, and there was no paper towel or hand dryer there. Is it included in Russian culture?

Favorite Dish: Baked potato cake (Babka kartoflana 9 zl) was filled with a very small amount of boiled meat (have your glasses ready) but tasted quite good. It's nothing special but quite good option for a budget visitor. Add Polish (delicious) Zywiec beer (4 or 6 zl). And it's enough.

Bottled Russian beer called Tri Medwiedia (Trzy Niedzwiedzie 6 zl) was awful - it probably had been wrongly stored for a long time.
Moscow betroot soup with meat balls (Barszcz moskiewski z frykandelkami, 6 zl) was even eatable but they put fat and not fresh cream on the top.
Salmon on caviar sauce with rice and salad (Filet z lososia pod kawiorowym sosiem, 19 zl) was awful, probably boiled many times and eventually warmed up in a microwave, the sauce was terrible, only rice mixed with vegetables was quite good.
Cossak pelmienii (pasta poaches) with mutton (Pielmienii Kozackie z baraniny, 9 zl) were my next awful dissapointment.

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It's my recommendation for every visitor who is looking for very good local food in decent atmosphere. The location is the best I could imagine: the summer garden hidden behind green plants in the heart of the old town just by the Motlawa river best seen from the terrace upstairs. There are appartments to rent in the upper floors.

Our waitor was not only very nice and fast but he replied perfectly to all our questions about the food served which helped us to choose what we wanted. There are Polish and European (Italian, French) meals in the menu including various fish, mix of various meats (82 zl - a dish for two!) and others. Well, the restaurant is more expensive than average but not very expensive and they serve large meals. And good quality must cost, am I wrong? Soups cost 14 - 20 zl (a large bowl), main course cost 20 - 74 zl (€1 = 4 zl, US$1 = 3.3 zl).

I've got to know that the restaurant reflects heritage of its name. The Goldwasser drink, I never heard about before, is a sweet, strong liquor of herbal and spicy flavour and aroma. It tends to be colourless and yellowish. Danziger Goldwasser (in German: Gold Water from Danzig = Gdansk) is the registered tradename of the liquer that has been produced since the 16th century in Gdansk. I surely had to try it and it was interesting experience but not my choice of drinks. I'd better had Polish beer: Zywiec or Okocim or some wine (Spanish Amontillado - medium dry :-).

Favorite Dish: I had delicious "rosól" - the chicken soup with home-made vermicelli. Then I ordered home-made pierogi (large bowl at economic prize) with forest mushrooms (Polish speciality!) and meat which I prize 5 stars!
Urszula had turbot (62 zl) which tasted great and was definetely worth the price.