February 5th, 2006 | The lowdown by Steven Brooks

Dining with the Students on Kuznicza Street in Wroclaw.

The Poles love their own food so much that any restaurant in Wroclaw will do if you wish to give the local cuisine a try. The best restaurants are situated, naturally enough, on the market square, and do serve highly commendable Polish and central European fare. However, a cheaper and more authentic experience can be had just one street off the market square on Kuznicza Street.

Running west from the north west corner of the market square in the direction of the old university buildings, Kuznicza Street teems with students while school is in session. There are several food bars and cafes which can get very busy at lunch, but which serve the kind of Polish food that the students’ mothers would otherwise be cooking for them at home.

Until a few months ago, the first such place you would encounter heading down Kuznicza Street was a café/book shop on the right hand side called Prasa-Ksiazki, which the guide books advertised as a good place to meet the local student population – this place is now a bank. The student population has now retreated further back, and as soon as you reach the first intersection you are officially in Student-Land and have an immediate choice of food bars. Off to the left is Misz-Masz, just over a year old and probably the smallest of the publicly owned places. Here they have a variety of set meals for less than 10 zloty, the Kotlet Schabowy (traditional bread-crumbed pork cutlets) being my favorite. Back on the left hand side of Kuznicza Street is Bar Mis, which is always packed at meal times and, although it is the cheapest place in the area, is probably the least pleasant.

Immediately after Bar Mis is Bar Karczma, which is larger, and rarely crowded even at lunch times. The food can be a bit hit and miss, but the selection changes every day and is displayed in front of you so you can point at what you’d like. Bar Karczma is the place where you’ll most likely be able to pick up some Bigos, a traditional Polish stew that's very hearty and tasty, but probably not that good for you.

As Kuznicza Street bends round to the left opposite the university church, you’ll walk past Bazillia – a modern university refectory which offers outstanding value set meals which include a soup as a starter and can set you back as little as 8 zloty; again, be prepared for long queues and to have to point at what you want, but, as with all these places, there are lots of students around and most of them will have good enough English and be friendly enough to help you out if you are unable to communicate what exactly takes your fancy.