For Friday's lunch, I was excited. I was headed to U Pani Stasi, a pierogi joint that came highly recommended from friends and from foodies online. I made my way there just after noon.
Oh no! Closed! For the whole month of July! Or, as the sign read, for 01 - 31 VII, which took me a little while to translate before my dismay could set in. I had no Plan B and really wanted good pierogies.
I gave Lonely Planet one more chance in the fine town of Krakow and headed for U Babci Maliny (or "At Granny Raspberry's", as it is translated). The place was full of kitsch but also full of people. I made my order at the front and sat down.
Dish one was oscypek z grilla z baczkiem, also known as grilled oscypek cheese with bacon. This was served on a skewer, with bacon alternating with cheese. It is one of the most inedible dishes I've come across in 3+ months of traveling. Wow, was this bad. The cheese was so hard to eat I had to stop myself from spitting it back out the moment I tried to take the first bite. It was so sharp and so old tasting. It was also indescribably chewy. And overcooked to the point of being burnt. And not good at all. The bacon, supposed to be the redeeming quality of the dish, was also so well done that it was largely carbon. I rejoiced when I found a little bit that actually tasted like pork. The only part of the dish I might have again was the cranberry sauce. Maybe.
Dish two was nalesniki z espinakiem z serem polane z czranydolo (or something vaguely similar...), or pancakes with spinach in garlic and cream sauce. Whoever made this has never heard of restraint. So much sauce and so much oil. Whenever I could find a little bit of the pancake that was bare, it was actually pretty tasty. Unfortunately that was only 5% of the dish, and the rest was a soggy, creamy, fatty, unappetizing mess.
So, Plan B failed. Big time. One more shot at a good meal in Poland, coming up tonight!
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