Tasty Weekend
Many cities boast their cultural offers, monuments or museums, but only few of them stand out for their unique culinary identity. Gdansk makes most of its traditions. We travel in search of emotions, collecting unique experiences emphasizing the colour of the place and its expressive character.
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Flavours of Gdansk is an anthology of carefully selected dishes and restaurants that will enable you to familiarize with the Gdansk’s culinary traditions, their specificity and richness. We advise you which places will not only satisfy your appetite, but also stimulate the curiosity of traditional dishes found nowhere else! We recommend you to start your discovering with specially prepared dishes based on local recipes by selected chefs. It’s their individual take on what is characteristic to Gdansk’s flavour. The dishes described below are flagship, certified dishes of Flavours of Gdansk. We hope that the local cuisine will delight you with its extraordinary taste and aroma and enrich your memories of Gdansk. Let the culinary journey begin!
Is there a better way to start the day than with a smell of fresh bread and good coffee? If your answer is ‘no’, then you must visit the lovely Marmolada Chleb i Kawa [Marmalade Bread and Coffee] in Wrzeszcz’s Garrison. But baker’s goods are not the only attraction here in Gdansk’s very first breakfast-place. You can also eat herring with cream here! It’s quite a unique dish, served with the idea of slimming down Polish classics – with apples, onion, pickles and bits of potatoes. Finger-licking good!
Marmolada chleb i kawaFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Nearby, also in Garrison, is located otwARTa. Outstanding cuisine and ambitious art – such combination is a trademark of this restaurant. You can see that the slow food idea is close to the chef’s heart, who chooses carefully selected seasonal products from local suppliers. When in otwARTa, you should definitely try the beef tongue or the duck with lazy dumplings from smoked curd cheese served with raw red cabbage.
otwARTaFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Is there anything more wonderful than the original cuisine with the view over the Motława River, Długie Pobrzeże (Long Riverfront) and Granary Island? If you also think that it sounds like a perfect meal, then Szafarnia 10 is a place for you! You can try here traditional Polish black soup with giblets, cherries and potato dumplings.
Szafarnia 10Fot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Gdansk means fish, and Baryłka means fish classics – no wonder you will find here an excellent fried cod in a buttery sauce with white wine and shallots and baked salmon with herbal butter. Those delicious dishes can be enjoyed on a terrace with a view over the Gdansk port, the Motława River and the Gdansk Crane.
BaryłkaFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Going further, it is worth stepping into Papieroovka. It’s a restaurant in the heart of Gdansk, near Długi Targ [Long Market] and the Old Town where food lovers can try traditional local cuisine with original twist. Papieroovka’s famous dish is crawfish soup with the Polish sausage dust. Back in the days, nearby Kashubian region was filled with crawfish and people prepared the dish both for special occasions and on everyday basis. The same happens in Papieroovka. Delicate, creamy and intense – those three words perfectly describe their crawfish soup.
PapieroovkaFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Freshness is the basis of today’s cuisine. Magiel restaurant knows it, the people here use products from local suppliers and serve aromatic, fresh and natural ingredients. When you sit by the Motława River in a glazed terrace in Magiel restaurant, you can’t help but think of spring, summer and nature. And a perfect match to those is cod served here with green veggies – asparagus, spinach and snap peas. The saffron sauce and the fresh herb crust joined with a delicate cod tenderloin form a delicious masterpiece of Gdansk’s cuisine!
MagielFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
If you’re up for a real feast, stay on the river’s bank and go to the Brovarnia restaurant. In the historic granary from the 17th century which has been converted into a boutique Gdansk Hotel Superior with a microbrewery you can eat a perfect meal and drink specially-matched beer. You have to try the spicy Gdansk fisherman’s soup. Delicious!
BrovarniaFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Another place on the culinary map of Gdansk is the Ritz restaurant. The owner and chef is Basia Ritz, the first Polish Masterchef. Her spectacular dish is a roast beef biscuit with goat cheese cream. Crunchy slices of beet combined with thick layers of goat cheese. And what a cheese it is! It is made by one of the most famous cheese-makers in the Pomeranian region. The starter is light, feminine and, like any woman, full of surprises – a dot of something sweet here, a dot of something spicy there, served with rosé reduction and white balsamic vinegar.
RitzFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Would you like to try one of the most popular Polish delicacies served in non-obvious way? Pop into Eliksir, where the chef serves Polish beef tartare with Starogdańskie beer ice cream, shallot and dried egg yolk. If you’re still not convinced, you should know that this is a hidden item on the menu, mentioned in the cocktails section. Eliksir’s mission is foodpairing, the right combination of flavours of dishes and drinks. With this in mind, each chef’s creation has its own, complementary cocktail which intensifies the tasty experience.
EliksirFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
The foodparing rule also inspires the brewer and the chef of the PG4 restaurant whose friendship results in extraordinary combinations. In PG4 each dish has its own recommendation of a complimentary home-brewed golden liquid. The menu includes beer soup, dumplings with beer sauce and pork legs or ribs prepared in beer. You will find here also traditional desserts with a surprising beer twist – Beeramisu and Creme Beerlee.
PG4Fot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
If you want a true lesson of Gdansk’s flavours and history, you should head to Szeroka St. to Pod Łososiem. Open since the sixteenth century, the restaurant is a flagship place on the culinary map of Gdansk. In 1598 Dutchman Ambrose Vermollen founded an alcohol manufactory here called ‘Der Lachs’, i.e. salmon (Polish: łosoś). The most famous of all drinks produced here is ‘Goldwasser’, a spicy vodka with swirling flakes of 22-carat gold. Today, in addition to the glass of Goldwasser, you can taste a dish that has made this place unique for years, salmon with 24-carat gold.
Pod ŁososiemFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Kubicki restaurant stands for hundred years of Gdansk’s traditional taste. In 1918, Roman Kubicki opened his restaurant in the Free City of Danzig. Up to this day dishes are prepared here according to almost unchanged and perfectly polished recipes. The pork leg or the duck from Kubicki restaurant are famous all over Gdansk. Numerous food lovers visit the restaurant just to try the traditional food prepared on-place only from local ingredients. Duck in mader sauce, beef tongue, trout, salmon are legendary. The guests claim the sour rye soup with weisswurst to be unrivalled.
Kubicki Fot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
You cannot create a culinary map of Gdansk without including Mercato restaurant. The restaurant has its symbols: broad bean grain, cultivated by the Pomeranians in the Lusatian culture; noble baltic salmon, served to Gdansk noblemen fished out from Hel to Vistula Split; “Fagas”, a large Pomeranian sheep bred on Żuławy by Mennonites who came from the Netherlands, and finally the duck, used as a symbol of birds bred for centuries in Pomerania and eaten by Polish, Kashubian and Prussian inhabitants of Pomerania.
If you’d like a delicious dinner in a casual atmosphere, you need to visit Niepokorni restaurant. The cuisine breaks all the rules, combines tradition with a bit of modern madness. Feisty, uncompromising and experimental. The chef, a cooking butcher connecting the innovation with a dash of history, together with his gang came up with the recipe for the best meat restaurant in town. In Niepokorni, each piece of meat is marvellous, and the bigger the portion, the bigger the delight! The beef ribs served here, with a subtle hints of coffee and onions, are deliciously moist and the intensive demi-glace works perfectly well with the silky puree.
Niepokorni
Fot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
If you prefer fish over meat, stop by the Rybka na Wartkiej bistro. The taste of their dishes will please every taste. Be sure to try the intriguing fish soup, and from a wide variety of glass jars choose the one with spicy herring. Eaten in a restaurant will be a great starter for a lunch, but taken home would serve as an unusual souvenir from your journey to Gdansk!
Rybak na WartkiejFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
And speaking of fish… We cannot miss the Zafishowani restaurant! The chef can charm his guests with various versions of fish. Each dish is prepared according to original recipes with the use of the finest seasonal ingredients. Everyone who wishes to know the Gdansk’s flavours, needs to try their marinated herring. Be sure to give it a try!
ZafishowaniFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
In an old district of Aniołki, just one kilometre from the Main Railway Station, we can find a family restaurant Winne Grono. Due to its location, the restaurant offers its guests peace and quiet. Menu is based on local ingredients, prepared in the French style. You should try Grandmother Marianna’s herring paste, Kashubian ferkase which is sous-vide kikok chicken breast, rice with brunoise veggies and leek.
And for dessert…
UMAMFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
If you wish to try something sweet and exquisite, we have a few delicious suggestions! One of them is UMAM restaurant. You wouldn’t find here well-known pastries from other patisseries, but unique sweets that will surprise you with their extraordinary appearance and sophisticated combination of flavours. UMAM recognizes and creates new trends while drawing inspiration from the Spanish and French confectioners. One of their flagship pieces is sea-buckthorn pastry served as a dome of white chocolate that stashes the sea-buckthorn puree embellished with a blueberry mousse and crème chiboust.
Z Innej Parafii is a unique café situated on a busy Targ Rybny (the Fish Market) on the Motława bank. If you’re looking for an interesting place with good coffee and delicious snacks at a very affordable price – you hit the jackpot! Z Innej Parafii is a perfect place for a moment of relaxation with good, freshly-ground coffee brewed also in alternative ways or with one of the freshly-baked cakes, cupcakes or desserts. You can also find sea-buckthorn here, in a cheesecake made of this marine plant. Those who love craft beer and home-made liquors will also not leave the place disappointed.
Z Innej ParafiiFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Speaking of the best place for a dessert, we cannot miss the Gdansk Natural Ice-Cream Factory. It is here that milk, cream, sugar, roasted almond flakes and dark rum create the most interesting Pomeranian Gdansk’s milk ice cream, a flavour of a long-forgotten dessert from the past. You definitely need to try them, as even though other ice-cream parlours can also serve them, the key to this specific taste lies in the quality and ratio of the ingredients.
Gdańska Wytwórnia Lodów NaturalnychFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
Relaxing with beer!
Brewing traditions in Pomerania go back to the oldest of times. The quality of the golden liquid was watched over by the brewers’ guild already in the twelfth century. It’s not without reason that one of Gdansk's streets is called Piwna (Beer St.) – it’s the place where lived most of the members of the mentioned guild. They brewed the excellent Jopenbier beer. It is noteworthy that back then beer was not only supposed to relax your senses, it was also a medicine and an excellent spice.
Beer tasting in Gdansk is linked not only with exceptional taste sensations but also with great fun! There couldn’t be a Tricity map without the Craft Beer Trail, where you can get to know the flavours of original beer brewed in Tricity. What’s the fun part? It’s the tasting, the collecting of stamps and winning great prizes. Every volunteer receives a guide describing the breweries on the trail. In addition, you can find there fun facts about the golden liquor brewing traditions from the middle ages. And finally - the stamps. Anyone who visits a chosen Tricity venue and buys a mug of beer, receives a stamp. The more the stamps you collect, the cooler the prizes in the form of beer accessories. :)
The trail features places like Eliksir , Brovarnia Hotel Gdańsk or PG4.
Each region in Poland has its own cuisine, but it is the seaside that can boast a great reputation and wide offer. There probably isn’t a person who didn’t try a delicious fried fish in Gdansk or the natural Gdansk ice-cream. Whatever the weather, Gdansk always offers great possibilities for your taste-buds. Come and see for yourself! And if you’re in the mood for more Flavours of Gdansk, come here. Enjoy! J
BrovarniaFot. gdansk.pl/smakigdanska
