Quick Review: Bonjour Pho (Krakow, Poland)

By the fourth night of our trip a trend had set in. We were having great luck with non-Polish cuisine choices. Specifically Asian options were treating us right. Bonjour Pho solidified the trend. I had read something about this little area in the 'second layer' of the center, just on the west side of Planty Park at about 9 o'clock if you look at the map of Krakow like a clock face. The zone between Rajska on the north, Krupnicza on the south, Podwale on the east, and Dolnych Młynow on the west is home to a number of cool cafes and restaurants to try. Very accessible from any part of the center. 15 minute walk from our Airbnb in the southern tip of Stare Miasto. Well worth checking out if you want to experience something beyond the dining options in the epicenter.

Good vibes, good menu. Great food. I think Judy has the pics of our meals so I'll need to update this. She said the Massaman Curry was the best she's ever had. And my tofu pad thai was quite nice.

Just before closing time and right as we were taking care of the check we noticed the chefs gathered for their end of shift meal. They had some authentic and native talent serving up the dishes that night.

100% recommend if you're craving some great Asian food in a cool spot next time you're in Krakow.

Quick Review: BIM TO BAP (Krakow, Poland)

Knowing we would be spending some time walking around Kazimierz and Podgorze I had flagged some spots to try in those parts of the city as well. This came in very handy after our walking tour, which ran from 10:30 - 1 or so. We had failed to really get a meaningul breakfast before the tour. We tried. Did a bit of a walkabout pre-tour near the Rynek. But didn't find any sit down places open and didn't love any of the quick take away options we saw. Couldn't do a donut that morning. So we subsisted on some light snacks. But by 1pm we were starving.

Our tour ended in Ghetto Heroes Square, aka Plac Bohaterow. BIM TO BAP was a short 6-minute walk away. Not sure we could have made it if it were a 7-minute walk.

Their layout is clean and sharp. Their model is simple. Maybe 5-6 options (tofu, salmon, chicken, bulgogi) and 3 sauces (gochujang, miso, and something else). Young girl running the counter was friendly and on top of it. Overall a pretty good experience. I loved my tofu with gochujang. Judy felt the bulgogi was too dry, not enough of its own juice in there. Think it was $9-$10 per for the small. Just enough to hit the spot.

Quick Review: Tandoori Flame (Krakow, Poland)

While our breakfast experience at Fable Cafe was just okay, we loved dinner at Tandoori Flame. Our first date nearly 25 years ago was dinner at an Indian place in Chicago. This was an anniversary trip, so we needed to work in at least one meal at an Indian restaurant. Found Tandoori Flame during my scan of Google Maps.

Quiet on a Sunday night.

Fun decor.

Good looking food. Okocim porter available to wash it down.

Glad we went and would definitely go back.

Quick Review: Fable Cafe | Specialty Coffee | Breakfast (Krakow, Poland)

Before the trip I had been combing through listings in Google Maps hunting for breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. Always hard to do just based on reviews and photos, but what else can you go on? Fable Cafe had a great location in Stare Miasto, about a 2 minute walk from our Airbnb. Google rating of 4.6 on 450+ reviews. It made the list.

We walked up and it looked good. Clean, cozy. Service was friendly enough. Food looked good when it hit the table.

But honestly, our take away was it was just okay. Pleasant, but not delicious.

Visiting Stary Kleparz & Hala Targowa: Krakow, Poland

We enjoy food hunting, or food window shopping, more than anything else when we travel. So when I'm researching the destinations we will be visting I make sure to pin places like Stary Kleparz and Hala Targowa as 'must check out' sights.

Stary Kleparz is wonderful.

It's on the north side of the city center, just 3 minutes walking from the Krakow Barbican. If we lived in Krakow or were doing an extended slow travel type stay in Krakow I'm certain Judy would be here multiple times per week. It has a lot of the basic groceries you'd need, plus some elevated gourmet level products, traditional and artisanal products (jams, honey, sweets, breads). There are multiple stalls riding the Dubai Chocolate craze. And a number of quick, convenient take away options from a variety of backgrounds (Portuguese, Italian, Tunisian?).

And if you're looking to rest up after your visit or fuel up before your visit, Kawa i Wino looked like a solid option. Had we more time we would have checked it out.

But I wanted to keep it moving and cover some ground, so we headed over toward Hala Targowa. We weren't so hurried that we couldn't check out the first of approximately one million paczki shops we would come across over the next 12 days.

Always game to check out markets, but I had also read about some sausage cart that supposedly posts up near there. Unfortunately our visit didn't coincide with their schedule, so no sausage for us. But it was still good to see what more of a 'standard' market looked and felt like in a less touristy pocket of the city center. Reminded us of the markets we have here in Mexico City, where each colonia has their own that serves as a hub and heartbeat of the area (like ours, here).

That 'feels like home' vibe was emphasized when we heard some spanish and saw a little Mexican place on the side. Note the "Jarritos" umbrella.

We took advantage of having some common language speakers available to find out where the closest public bathroom was. Not super easy to find around Poland. We learned it's not common for grocery stores to have a public restroom. And smaller restaurants / take away shops do not have them either. So you need to keep your eyes peeled for useful opportunities. The good news is most accept credit card payment with a tap and for 3-5zł you can take a pit stop.