Kuchnia U Doroty - Krakow, Poland

Kuchnia U Doroty, or Dorothy's Kitchen in English, is a wonderful Polish restaurant we discovered in Krakow, Poland. We ended up eating there three times! The first time was when we had just finished a tour of Auschwitz and the Salt Mines and asked the tour guide for a good place to eat pierogis. He dropped us off near his recommended restaurant and we found that it was closed. So Judy got on her iphone and found Kuchnia U Doroty, about a half mile walk away. It got 4.5 stars on Yelp and 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor and was rated the #87 restaurant out of 1,635 in Krakow. It was traditional Polish, the menu was extensive, the food was good and the price was reasonable. So we went back again for dinner the next night. On our last day we'd signed up for a food tour. The guide asked the group how many were familiar with Polish food. We raised our hands and told him we'd frequented a Polish restaurant in Los Angeles called Polka Polish which was run by a Polish couple and was quite authentic. He was skeptical and said we'd see. We had a number of stops and several times we were able to say we'd eaten a particular food. Finally, our guide said our final place was primarily visited by locals and it was just like home cooking. Of course, it turned out to be Kuchnia U Doroty. He was quite surprised to learn we'd already been there twice. He conceded that we probably did know a little bit about Polish food. 

Kuchnia U Doroty

Our first night we were seated in the basement. I got a pork chop with mushrooms and gravy which was very good (the Polish do wonderful mushrooms and gravy). 

We shared four mushroom and feta pierogi. They were good - boiled - but not as large or as good as the fried pierogi we had at Restauracja Zapiecek in Warsaw. 

Judy got a salad with greens, goat cheese, orange slices, beets and candied walnuts. 

She also got bigos, a mix of sauerkraut and meat. 

We shared a cheese cake with sour cherry sauce which was just okay. I like my cheese cake a little more moist and sweet. 

Our second night we continued our Polish eating adventure. I got a small Greek salad with feta, olives, tomato and cucumbers with an olive oil/lemon dressing. 

Judy got some tomato soup, which I have no photo of, and golabki, cabbage filled with meat and rice. 

I got a Polish sausage with onion, which was nice

and chicken livers with carrots which were not very good. They were way too over-cooked. 

Watrobka - chicken livers with pear and cherry liqueur.

On our visit with the food tour we got fruit compote, which I quite like.

Potato pancake.

A breaded chicken cutlet.

Bigos.

Burazki, or chopped pickled beets.

Golabki.

And rachucy, kind of like a scone, with sweet cream to put on it. 

If we'd stayed in Krakow longer, we'd probably have gone back and tried everything on the menu.