Kuchnia u Babci Maliny

As an American in Kraków for a few days, this was the best place I could’ve stumbled upon. Thanks to other Unilocalers, I was able to find it (not exactly the easiest place to locate) and got more food than I could handle for about $ 14 USD.
The food is fresh, the atmosphere is comfortable and warm, and the beer is cold. Will definitely be returning again!

Hmmm, Pierogi-​Party satt ;) Mir persönlich schmecken die traditionellen Teigtaschen hier sehr sehr gut.
Es gibt sie in verschiedenen Varianten (gebraten oder frittiert) und mit vielen klassischen Füllungen (Russisch, mit Pilzen, Hackfleisch, gemischt etc.).
Aber Achtung: Die Portionen sind riesig und mächtig. Mit reicht dann ein Teller und dazu ein gemischter Rohkostsalat (hmmm, schmeckt mir nirgendwo so gut wie in Polen).
Es gibt natürlich auch weitere polnische Gerichte aus der Range der Hausmannskost :) Ich persönlich liebe polnisches Essen und kann auch die Zurek-​Suppe im Brotlaid sehr empfehlen.
Alle Speisen werden frisch zubereitet. Man bestellt unten am Eingang und erhält eine Nummer, die aufleuchtet, wenn die Bestellung fertig und zur Selbstabholung bereit steht. Ob das Personal Englisch spricht, kann ich nicht beurteilen, da ich Polnisch spreche. Aber notfalls geht es bestimmt auch mit Händen und Füßen:)
Das Ambiente ist urig — als wenn man irgendwo in den Bergen wäre oder eben bei Oma Malina zu Besuch ist: Selbst gehäkelte Tischdecken auf schweren Holztischen, hier ein Kissen, da Gardinchen. Ich finde es ganz süß**
Die Preise sind sehr moderat und günstig.
Smacznego (:

The food is nice, although not the best I had in Poland. The value you get for the price is good though.

This is a shared table place. You share a larger table with strangers. You order your food at the counter. It closes early. Even with the address, you may not find it. You enter the building, walk to the door at the back left, go into the courtyard, open the door on the middle left, and walk down the stairs.
The food is apparently authentic — and you will get a good meal. It is a lot more like eating at your Grandmother’s than eating in a restaurant. The food is tasty, but totally lacking in finesse. Order beer — the wine list is weak.
The place is often packed and the line can be scary — but if you get in line, you will soon be eating.
Oh, it is really cheap. A full meal with two meat mail courses and beer was $ 16.65 USD. And we had chicken and boar — not cheap food. I left a big tip, which took my bill up to $ 21 USD.
Would I go again? Sure, but this is a once a year place for the color and experience. You can get better, more refined food at street level for less than $ 20 USD per per at dinner.
And, as always, larger Polish cities have really very good English.

Best food I ate in Kraków. Truly a local spot with an extensive menu. Can’t stop thinking about th Budapest style potato pancakes. Covered in a delicious hunter sauce. So cute, quaint and a bit difficult to find. You walk through the lobby of a building and through a door at end of hallway.

Such a unique little restaurant tucked away just outside of the main square. Amazing food and very affordable prices, I couldn’t get over how good the food was and how big the portions were for the price! You order at a counter and they call your number when your order is ready. There is seating on the main level, upstairs and downstairs. Menus are in both English and polish which is a plus if you are visiting from another country. Also has free wifi which is always an added benefit!

Delicious potato pancakes and fried pierogi. Only reason for four stars and not five is service, not as welcoming as some other places we’ve been

Kuchnia U Babci Malini was every bit as good as described elsewhere here on Unilocal.Our BEST meal so far during a 2 week Central Europe guided tour, including restaurants in 4 & 5 * hotels.
DW and I had the Placek Po Wegiersko, Hungarian style potato pancakes with beef and hunter sauce on top. Also had the 3-​some sampler platter of Pierogi, dumplings with potato/​cream cheese, and mushroom/​cabbage, and beef. We opted for the fried version, but most customers around us were choosing the boiled. For a starter we shared a bowl of Zurek Soup, a slight creamy savory broth with sausage and a huge dollop of mash potatoes. Everything was outstanding. Getting very busy by the time we left at 8pm on a Sat night. Out of the way location and you must have patience finding it cause it is so worth it!
Stopped by a bakery (Consonni) for a Kremolki (cream-​filled bar) to go. Also heard the Napolenki (similar dessert) was awesome too!
Daniel

The best Polish meal I have had since I have been in Poland for the last week. Very unique place! Highly recommend!

Food was decent and service was fast. We had a bit of trouble with the language barrier but the staff was quite nice. The décor is a bit bizarre.

Kuchnia U Babci Maliny was my favorite restaurant by far on a 3 week trip to Eastern Europe. I found it on Unilocal and honestly it’s a wonder we found it at all. This place is basically a Polish grandma in a basement cooking all sorts of amazing Polish dishes. It’s not easy to locate… you have to wander through a deserted hallway back to a courtyard and then descend down stairs into what will become your new culinary heaven. The dining is communal which is A-​ok by me though it was weird that a bunch of tables were marked off as reserved and we stayed until closing and no one ever showed up for those tables. Food and drinks for 5 people was the equivalent of 35 dollars. Tons of pierogi, soup, amazing potatoes with sauce and the most magical pork chop I’ve had in my life (other than my own grandma’s) and I think some sweet crepes (they translate that to pancakes). The menu is mostly translated which is helpful and they flash a number up on a board so you know when to come to the pass out area. That first night we went I ordered way too much food. I hate wasting and wanted to take some food back to the hotel but when my daughter walked up to the counter to ask for a box, the black haired girl would not come up to the counter and just yelled from afar that they were closed. So then I googled how to say to-​go container and sent her back with my phone to just show her that was all we wanted but this time the girl yelled «closed» again. Sigh. I was sad.
The second time we went, Unilocal said that Kuchnia U Babci Maliny closed at 9 pm so we hoofed it across the old town after a day of sightseeing to make it there by closing. We arrived at 8:45 and the black haired girl was behind the counter again. This time she came up and wrote on a piece of paper 21:00 and said closed. I know that things in other countries are not like they are in the US where people are like «your sign says you are open so now I am going to sue you for not being open, etc.» so we sadly left.
Our last day in Krakow I was determined to eat at Grandma’s again (yes that’s what we started calling it because we had no idea how to pronounce Kuchnia U Babci Maliny.) So in an effort to make it to my new-​found heaven by closing, we literally ran through the old square from our last destination to make it in time. We arrived at 8:30 and and black-​haired girl was nowhere in sight. Once I could breathe again, I submitted our order (smaller this time) to a super friendly blonde girl, including in my order the «traditional Polish pork chop.» The food was great again but this pork chop was not what I had received the previous time. This one was like a schnitzel and did not have the delicious sauce of the other. I was crushed; I had blown my last chance. And to top it off, around 9:10 an English-​speaking patron walks up to the counter. The older lady who had been passing out the food all three days we had been in walks up and the girl says in plain English, «can I have a take-​away container» and she is handed one, no problem. Doh.
So now, before I die, I need to go back to Krakow again to take another stab at getting my elusive pork chop. I will make sure to show up earlier and know more Polish. Please eat at Kuchnia U Babci Maliny so it will still be there when I go back :)

This placeeeee omg.
Found it today when I was putting together some recommendations for my friend who was visiting Poland. I’ve been here many many times. Cheap eats and any kind of Polish dish you could want to try. Come here for lunch or dinner. Beer is flowin.
It’s a little tricky to find but ask someone if you get lost. It’s worth it!

Tourist trap! Try at your own risk… Piège à touristes… à vos propres risques ! Touristenfalle … auf eigene Gefahr!

After seeing the Unilocal reviews we decided to eat lunch at this place, which is also less than 5 minutes from our hotel. Very interesting décor inside. Looks really like I have arrived at someone’s grandma’s home. We ordered beet soup with meatballs (first time trying this), roasted meat and cabbage pirogies, which were heavenly and finally goulash soup with mashed potatoes, also very good. The only reason why I gave one less star is because of the service. There weren’t a lot of people there and usually they have a number that you see displayed. The lady called out the orders in polish and for some reason everyone else got their food, who came after us. I finally got my order after I stood by the counter. :(anyway, small glicht, definitely recommend others to go!

Impressed by the food quality, size and low price! Very nice ambience and helpful staff. Highly recommended and a place to return to.

There is a place with Polish Food as we all know from the times while we were children. The food is so tasty and you might feel like time would ever changed. It is cosy place with these dockets to handed over while picking up your previous ordered meal. Kompot is there –real one and all dishes we forgot after whole world changed.
Money wise and friendly place. Poles would love it and foreigners too– equally :)

The old polish pork was delicious. Fantastic hunters sauce on top of the schnitzel and a side of potatoes made for a hearty and tasty meal. Started with the dumplings which were the best I’ve had in Kraków. Also started with the Golabek, minced meat wrapped in cabbage with hunters sauce, and it was out of this world. Favorite restaurant in Kraków by far.

LOVE, love this place! Affordable quality Polish food with a unique 1930’s feel (in the basement). I come here every time I visit Krakow. I highly recommend it.
It’s walking distance to the main square (Rynek) and it’s across the street from the park and theatre. It’s really a beautiful view in the evening.

Simply affordable, delicious and adoring! I could eat at a lot of fancy restaurants in the city however no one’s food I believe can match the food that is served here for the price! The potatoe pancakes are outstanding, but my favorite has to be the beef steak hunters style with mixed salad. I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life!
There’s also a wide variety of other foods to choose from anything you pick will be delicious and mouth watering! If you go to this restaurant go to the one that’s hidden in the back of one of the local schools, It’s authentic and you will not get a better meal in the entire city!
Don’t get 5 stars often but when I do I mean it, so go check this place out if you’re ever in Krakow!

super lecker, sehr gemütlich

I’ve been to Europe a few times before. This trip was for 6 weeks and 10 counties. I had some really amazing food prior to this but this was the first meal that I felt was old Europe and tastes I’ve never tasted before. Down home cooking. The white borsht was amazing as was the chicken in nettle sauce. Can’t wait to go back and try the beet root soup. kind of hard to find but made it that much cooler

Very good restaurant in front of Krakow’s theater. It’s self service, but with the very low prices and the cosy wooden interior it’s no reason at all to complain! I had the mushroom soup served in bread for the starter and potato pancakes with Hungarian goulash as the main dish. Excellent place to explore Eastern-​European food!

Cleverly hidden in one of the basements of Krakow’s old town, this place is allegedly loved by many locals for its authentic home cooked food at reasonable prices, with good reason. I would suggest that Babcia Malina offers those who long for their own grandmothers’ pierogis and soups some good options, though being a foreigner in Poland I am hardly the best person to make such judgments!
So once we found the actual entrance it led us downstairs to a room which looks like the interior of a Polish mountain cabin with long tables and benches. Crammed onto two benches me and my friends enjoyed heaps of Polish cuisine with large and satisfying portions so it was a pleasant lunch indeed. Except for the slight misunderstanding with one of the pierogi dishes that never seemed to make it out from the kitchen (which we did get in the end after eagerly discussing the issue over the counter with my poor Polish) it was a lovely experience and I am definitely coming back when that pierogi craving kicks in!

Dieses Restaurant (gehobene Milchbar) gibt es zwei mal. Sind beide nicht ganz einfach zu finden.
Aber sind gemütlich, haben super Essen und es geht schnell.
Meine Favouriten sind Rotebeetesuppe, Pierogie und die Krautsalate, aber eigentlich kann man nichts falsch machen beim bestellen.