Once Upon a time in Kazimierz

We dined here on a friday evening and at sundown it is the start of Shabbat so in this restuarant the Shabbat candles were lit.

The restuarant tells a story of Polish and Jewish living and working side by side in the Kazimierz district. The interiors of 4 small business premises have been knocked out to form this delightful restuarant and the interior decor of each premises is still displayed to reflect which part of the store you are seated in.

The entrance on Szeroka Street was where Chajim Kohan's general store stood, a mix of interesting old tools and an antique stove bearing the star of David on its front. The next section was Benjamin Holcer's joinery and carpentry workshop, you are seated at an original carpenter's workbench. A portrait of renowned Krakow carpenter Mordechaj Gebirtig & a wooden rocking horse hangs in the display window. We sat in Szymon Kac the tailor which displays his handiwork as well as being able to eat your meal at a singer sewing machine. Lastly Stanislaw Nowak's grocery store where you would have been able to buy preserves & smoked meats.

The atmosphere in this restaurant is very calming and I would suggest ideal for a romantic meal. We wanted to try some traditional food so we both ordered the Borsch soup which is beetroot soup with meat dumplings - absolutely delicious. We were also keen to try pierogi (rounds of unleven dough) which is the polish answer to ravioli, we selected a meat option as well as cabbage & mushroom stuffed pierogi. Trying to be healthy we chose for them to be boiled instead of fried but both with butter. I must be honest that I did not really enjoy this dish, they were rather stody and lacked sauce but no fault of the restuarant this is what pierogi is meant to taste like.

Favorite Dish: We shared a bottle of Spanish Rose which is more expensive then their local wines, which are usually from Hungary or the Moravian district. The hungarian red wines are actually quite good. It would be advisable to book in advance as we were lucky to be seated at the end of a large table, but when some other guests arrived without an appointment they were hesitant to seat them until we suggested they sit on the opposite end of our large table.

If you are planning a romantic meal I would request the singer sewing machine table, it is a very cosy spot in this restaurant.

Also bear in mind that in Poland there is no smoking ban in restaurants and there were no restrictions about where you could or couldn't smoke. Another thing to mention is there are no separate ladies & gents toilets.