Kategorie: Eating Out

Last summer Peter and I spent a week in Kraków. It was his suggestion and at first I wasn’t that enthusiastic. I didn’t know what to expect, had never ever thought of going on vacation there, but the moment we arrived I started to love it.

Just a few notes before I start my list of where and what to eat when you’re in Kraków:
– Don’t worry about the language. I couldn’t speak a word of Polish before I got there, but everyone speaks English there, you’ll get English menus in restaurants and bars, so there’s no need to worry at all. (In case you were wondering, I could say about four things in Polish when we left, so there was not a lot of improvement there.)
– Try to find a hotel or an apartment that’s close to or preferably right in the middle of the old town of Kraków. Our apartment was on Grodzka Street, which was perfect, because we had everything in reach. You wouldn’t want to take the train, tram or bus to the center every day, because – let’s face it – the old town (Stare Miasto) is most likely where you’ll spend most of your time.
– Don’t think that you’ll get to know Kraków by staying there a few days – or even a week. Sure, you can walk around the old town in one day and pass every street, but that doesn’t mean you actually saw everything. We recently had brunch at some friends‘ apartment, who coincidentally spent ten days in Kraków last October and will return there this fall. We exchanged our Kraków food and restaurant memories and there was about one restaurant that both they and we went to. So, you can get out your little map of Kraków and think you will know it all within a few days, but you’re wrong. There are fantastic restaurants, amazing cafés and exciting jazz bars on every corner. So, if you decide to actually go there (based on my mouth-watering recommendations, I am sure), be prepared to be overwhelmed.

When it comes to eating out I love to try out new places. I still have my favorite places like the Italian restaurant right around the corner, but I am eager to find new little culinary gems. It’s nothing less than a quest for new dishes and tastes.

But how do you find new places? How do you choose? Of course you can just wander around and enter whatever interesting place you happen to pass by. Or you can buy a restaurant guide for your city and browse through it on your couch at home in search of a place that sounds like a possible gem. There’s the internet, magazines and of course helpful advice from friends. As far as I know all of these methods work.

Then there’s the Coupon Book. I’m not sure if this is a real German thing or if these books are sold and possibly worshipped in other countries as well. So in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain:

The Coupon Book is a great thing for the ever-searching foodie like me. Inside you find about 20 to 30 coupons for restaurants in your area you might or might not know. If you’re really lucky you have never been to a single one of them, thereby making it a great opportunity for lots and lots of new eating out experiences. The coupon book I was most familiar with offered a two-for-one deal on main courses, so you’d get the second (and cheaper) main dish for free. The book itself costs around 17 Euro, so if you eat out regularly and like to try out new restaurants, it’s a great way to get new inspirations and save some money.

On the downside it always seemed to me that the coupon book for my town focused too much on Italian and German cuisine. The reason for that might be that, considering this isn’t a big fancy cosmopolitan town I live in, the town itself focuses too much on Italian and German cuisine. Plus, the one time I witnessed the whole coupon handling, having dinner at a Cuban place with my husband, aunt and cousin, it was obvious that the restaurant owner didn’t really grasp the concept of the coupon book, but that’s another story and in my naiveté I like to believe that this was more like the proverbial black sheep of coupon cooperating restaurants.

Last weekend in Cologne I decided to go and finally buy a coupon book for the husband in me and I found another coupon book that appealed a lot more to me. This one works a bit differently. Instead of getting a main course (of your choice) free, each restaurant offers a special „Bon Cuisine“ (for that’s the name of the book) set meal, either three or four courses, an aperitif or digestif. You order two and get one for free.

Considering that I’ve been a lot into set (and even more welcome surprise) meals lately, just beginning to understand the joy of dinner starting with an appetizer and ending with a fancy dessert, instead of just having one main dish, this seemed like the perfect book for us. There are 24 coupons inside, the prices for each meal ranging from 17 to 58 Euro. Most of the restaurants are located in Cologne with two exceptions and there’s at least one Russian, one Austrian and one Vietnamese restaurant among them, justifiying the book’s subtitle „Eine kulinarische Länderreise“ (A culinary country-tour).

Needless to say, I can’t wait to set out for our first culinary expedition with this book, and I haven’t quite decided where to start. France, Russia, Italy, Indonesia or maybe just plain old Germany… we’ll see where the coupon journey takes us.