Head Chef and Co-owner Adam Chrzastowski uses a lot of international influences in his original and exciting cooking. The core is Polish, but there are several Mediterranean, Asian and European influences as well. Adam Chrzastowski is loaded with talent and would have done more if he was based in a bigger and more international city.

Ancora Restaurant is centrally located in Krakow opposite the Dominican church, on the corner of the Dominikańska and Poselska streets. Krakow is one of Europe’s most picturesque and beautiful cities and managed to survive without any bigger damages during the Second World War. The restaurant has several dining rooms on two floors and Head Chef Adam Chrzastowski welcomes all his guests to see him cook in his open kitchen.

It is not expensive to dine anywhere in Poland compared to most other parts of Europe and wine and champagne will not set you back too much even if you order in something extraordinary like a bottle of Krug for not more than 260 Euros. Whatever you order will it still be difficult to get a dinner for two for more than 200 Euros with standard wines and vodka. The value for money at Ancora Restaurant is perfect and what you get compared to what you pay is truly great. It is sad that the economic situation of Poland and the country’s food culture is not more evolved when the country has talents such as Adam Chrzastowski.

Since you are in Poland you should of course start off with some herring and at Ancora Restaurant you can have a Matias herring marinated in boletus on top of rye blini and roots vegetables salad and this you pair perfectly with six centilitres of Chopin Vodka. Head Chef Adam Chrzastowski really knows how to get you started (and drunk) so order in an intermezzo shot of pepper vodka and oyster and an intermezzo cocktail of sorbet of cucumber with bison grass vodka before you proceed to the main courses. We can recommend going for the fish course of Baltic turbot with asparagus and young potato as the main. It is quite simple in its composition and does not offer that much of innovation, but the texture is almost perfect and the taste is right on.

It is almost impossible not to get affected by Adam Chrzastowski’s enthusiasm and passion for fine dining while you dine in his restaurant and to share his humour, for what else can it be, when you are served a chocolate soufflé with blue cheese and grape & chilli chutney?

Written by Andy