July 12th, 2005 | The lowdown by Bryan Fox

More Than One Way to Skin a Potato.

The best thing about eating out in Krakow is that you don't ever have to feel like there are restaurants that are out of your price range. You couldn't spend more than $20 a person for a meal if you tried, and you can eat a two-course meal for three dollars. The portions are usually generous, and students get discounts everywhere, generally 10% off the menu price, by simply brandishing your legitymacja (student ID).

Its common in Eastern Europe for the weight of the food to appear alongside the price, as if you would walk into a place and say, You know, today Im hungry. I think I need about 300-400 grams of food to fill me up. Somewhat comical is the sight of an open kitchen where the chef places the plate on a scale to check that nobody's getting cheated.

There are a few good Bar Mlecznys (Milkbars) around town, but they all have roughly the same menu. In general, if you're used to spicy food, you may find that taste is at a premium. Boiled and fried seem to be the two methods of preparation in Polish culinary schools, and, as all cuisine is determined largely by climate, you may not see anything green except a beer bottle on your table from around October to April.

Vegetarians wont be overly impressed, but they (we) wont starve. There are a couple of veggie places that make do with what they have relatively well, but if you come from a warmer climate, be aware the supermarket becomes a pretty depressing place to be about half the year. There are two Vegas, real college-town veggie-bars with secondhand furniture, candles on the tables, and a fire roaring on cold winter days.

Poles know how to do soup. Greenway does franchise veggie food which is good value, and there's also a decent vegan place called Momo, and a world-food place called Smaki Swiat which does surprisingly good everything, including some of the best Naan bread that Ive ever had. Ask any local for addresses, all of the places mentioned are within 10 minutes' walk of the Rynek (Market Square).

Ulica Jozefa in the Kasimierz has three very good, very affordable places, virtually right in a row. U Vicente, with 20-odd types of pierogi (which begs the question why does every other restaurant with pierogi limit themselves to the same three?), Fabryka Pizza, which does the best affordable pizza and pasta in town (but make reservations if you are going for dinner because the 6 tables tend to be occupied all night), and a crepe shop almost directly across from Fabryka Pizza (the name of which escapes me at the moment, but you cant miss it), where you can get two nalesniki (crepes) filled with just about anything for 8 zloty. As a bonus, they've got a big beer garden out back in the summer.