What to eat in Gdańsk?
Tasting local food is one of the best reasons for travelling, isn’t it?
That’s why in this article I would like give you a few tips about what to eat while in Gdańsk. It can be tough to manage it within one day, but the longer you stay the more local dishes you will be able to sample and enjoy.
What to eat for a cold starter?
Try a slice of home made bread with traditional onion lard (SMALEC in Polish) or traditional tartare (TATAR) made of beef tenderloin with an egg yolk, onion and gherkins.
What to eat for a warm starter?
BIGOS (called Polish Hunter’s stew) is a traditional stew made of cabbage, many kinds of meat and smoked meat and mushrooms. Traditionally our grandmothers cooked it on slowly for many hours if not days.
PLACKI ZIEMNIACZANE – crispy brown potato pancakes served with sugar and country sour cream. Just delicious and delightful.
What soup to eat?
We are told to be a soup country and we locals tend to agree. I think the average Pole can name by heart at least 10-15 soups he or she knows from home.
There is nothing better than a bowl of warming ŻUREK or BARSZCZ after a walking tour on a cooler day.
ŻUREK is a sour soup you eat with egg, sausage, smoked meat and horseradish. If you happen to visit a really, really traditional Polish restuarant then you might be surprised. You will often get the soup in a rye bread bowl since it is made with soured rye flour.
BARSZCZ a red beet soup which you most commonly eat during Christmas Eve but in general perfect in winter- sweet and sour and garlic spicy.
What to eat for a main dish?
PIEROGI – dumplings are by far the best known Polish food and the most delicious one.
They can be served with many different filllings and topings. The most popular stuffings are for instance ground meat, potato and cheese mix or sour mix of mushrooms and sauerkraut. Then with fried onion and oil on top they will just be delicious.
You can eat savory pierogi from the water but also fried to crispness. Yummy, yummy…
And if you still have some free capacity in your stomach defnitely try sweet dumlings with strawberries, blueberris or cherries.
GOLONKA – roasted beer-soaked pork knuckle often served with sweet and sour cabbage. It’s fantastic and It’s a Polish classic.
What to eat for a dessert?
SERNIK – is a cheese cake which is a must try dessert while in Gdańsk. You can bake it in the oven but there is also a variant without baking. You serve it cold usually with a fruit and jelly top on the cream cheese layer.
PĄCZKI– donuts are the most typical Polish sweet snack you can buy in Poland. 
They are round spongy yeast cakes stuffed with one of many fillings for instance: rose or strawberry preserves, liqueur, sweet curd cheese or chocolate. We eat particularly many pączki on the Last Thursday of Carnival.
In conclusion if you after this reading already know what to eat in Gdańsk read our post about Where to eat in Gdańsk.