Poland sketches #6 Food in Krakow

Excerpt of my text in Diários de Viagem 2 (Travelling journals 2) freely translated from the original Portuguese:

In Poland, food is cheap and delicious! Partly due to the many Soviet-era Bar Mleczny (milk bars), a kind of social canteen for workers that used to be subsidized by the state, serving cheap and nourishing meals in a grey, depressing atmosphere, mostly with one-seat tables. Polakowski is an ultra-decorated modern interpretation of these characteristically Polish establishments. The dishes, simple, but heavy on the cream, dairy and cabbage, featuring chunky kielbasas, pungent bigos, rough golanka or pasty pierogi, are ideal for workers, students, pensioners, or weary travelers.

After a few beers and wódkas, late in the evening, the simple, ubiquitous zapiekankas become intelligentsia-worthy delicacies, equivalent to Sweden’s falafels or the Portuguese bifanas.