The old smorgasbord has some tricks up its sleeve

I've determined the bad side of the overnight train ride. I didn't sleep that well and so was exhausted when I got to my hotel. I was quickly asleep for an afternoon nap.

But at least it was a great room! I had lucked into the apartment of the Secret Garden hostel, located a good 8 blocks away from the hostel itself. The apartment was smack dab in the middle of the Jewish district of Kazimierz, south of the Old Town. It was a great location. It also had a comfy couch, which lured me in.

I awoke at dinner time. so there would be no sight-seeing for me on this first day in Poland. However, there was still time to eat. After a quick walk around my wonderful neighborhood, I settled on a place called Polakowski, which had apparently been around since 1899.

It was a self-service, deli kind of place. Make your order at the counter, pay, pick up your dishes when they're ready, and return them to the dishwasher area when done.

For libation I chose the Debowe Mocne beer. This was very good, a little smoky and a little dark.

My first dish was zurek with sausage. Zurek is often translated as Polish sour soup, as I think it has some rye in the broth. This version also came with a hard-boiled egg. It was great! Warm, hearty, with good chunks of sausage and bacon. It was full of flavor, a little dill, some other unidentifiable spices. Very easy to polish off.

My main dish was bigos, a traditional Polish stew of sauerkraut, meat, mushrooms, and plums. This turned out to be good but not great. The flavors of each of the ingredients had gotten very muddled together during the stewing, which had perhaps gone on too long. So it was a very good plate of sauerkraut, but very hard to pick out the mushroom or plum flavors.

It did, however, come with a side of thick rye bread that was excellent. Better still, there was a bowl of garlic sauce on the table that was heavenly. I spread it on like butter. It was so much garlic I knew I was safe from vampires. Unfortunately it also made me need to drink a liter and a half of water to mellow out the flavor sufficiently after the meal.

So, overall, it was a good first meal, and definitely raised my expectations for the week in terms of cuisine. We'll see if they are met.