We spent a long weekend in the coastal city of Gdansk in Poland when priced out of more classic European beach vacations. Having been somewhat fascinated by Gdansk after seeing photos of its brightly coloured houses and picturesque waterfront, I was excited to see and do something totally new. Gdansk is an easy trip for a weekend. You can see and do most of the top activities in quite a short time. And if you’re one for eating local rather than international cuisine when you travel, you might get your fill of meat, potatoes and cabbage within that time frame, too. Here are our picks for the best restaurants in Gdansk.
Celestin Residence was the perfect base for our weekend bar and restaurant hopping in Gdansk. It was a 15 minute walk to the train station, and minutes from the famous old town strip. The rooms were spacious and including coffee making facilities which is always a bonus. All of the restaurants we recommend are a short walk away from Celestin Residence.
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Best traditional restaurant in Gdansk
Bar Turystyczny is a Polish milk bar. Milk bars, or a ‘mleczny’ in Polish, are classic cafeteria-style canteens serving (previously state-subsidised) traditional Polish fare. You take your tray, request what your plate is filled with, stack them up, and pay at the checkout. These milk bars only serve soft drinks, no alcohol, and serve ultra classic, cheap Polish food.
Best locals restaurant in Gdansk
Our final meal In Gdansk was at the first restaurant we had earmarked for a visit after landing in the city. Tawerna Mestwin was right beside our hotel, so we could dine and quickly grab our bags next door before heading to the airport. The interior of the restaurant looked more like a personal living room than a commercial restaurant. Despite being right downtown, no one who worked there spoke a word of English. We had soup and dumplings before the classic meat and potato mains. This might have been my favourite meal of the trip for the undeniable authenticity. It felt like someone was cooking for us in their own home.
Best Ukrainian food in Gdansk
There are quite a few places to try Ukrainian food in Gdansk. After our first 24 hours of eating meat and potatoes exclusively, we decided to mix things up at a Ukrainian restaurant. The tables at Pan Kotowski were setup in a pedestrian street, which was lovely. Nevertheless it turns out Polish and Ukrainian cuisine is not so dissimilar. As well as a deliscious bowl of borscht (Polish beetroot soup) we ended up with more of the same winning combo of bread, meat and potatoes.
Best street food in Gdansk
Similar to other parts of mainland Europe, Poland doesn’t really do a big breakfast. On our second morning we opted to go to the small outdoor market downtown. We picked up a punnet of raspberries from a fruit vendor. Our main breakfast though was a couple of delicious, deep fried, meat filled chebureki from Czebureki Krymskie, a Ukranian street food truck parked up outside the market by the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
Best restaurant with a view in Gdansk
We had our very first dinner at Gdansk Bowke. Gdansk Bowke is a traditional Polish restaurant. It is right on the waterfront with a beautiful view. A great spot to people watch. As you would expect by now, our heavy, meaty mains were served with a side of potatoes. Towards the end of our meal, a live acoustic guitar player turned up and started performing Irish songs. It was unusual but enjoyable and definitely worth a visit!
