Restauracja Kogel Mogel, Krakow

I was excited when I found out that one of our business dinners was taking place at Restauracja Kogel Mogel, while we were in Krakow.  They had Michelin star at one point, and reviews looked good.

"Fine-dining restaurant with stylish decor presenting refined takes on classic Polish cuisine."

The setting was nice - a rustic building, filled with many different rooms, so it felt fairly private.  The menu was, well, Polish.  

This will be a quick review since I didn't have time during my business trip to write this up or even take notes.  But, the summary is easy: do not recommend.  Very average, if that. 

Service was slow.  Our server upsold every guest on something, somewhat forcefully pushing people to order entree size salads instead of side salads as starters, doubling up orders of shared dishes, etc. The food was all under-seasoned.  Overall, fairly bland, boring food really.  We ordered a large swath of the menu, as every person got an individual starter, and an individual main, AND about 7 other dishes (for a group of 10) that our server pushed on us, so 27 dishes + bread.  We left before dessert, as no one was inspired to try more (even though I liked the sounds of their dessert menu, I had no faith, and knew it would add another hour or so to our already drawn out dining experience ... so I stopped elsewhere on my way back to the hotel to satisfy my sweet tooth).

Asparagus. PLN 52.

"Asparagus, Hollandaise sauce, Bursztyn cheese, cherry tomatoes, truffle oil."

To start, a seasonal offering: asparagus!

I love fresh asparagus.  I love Hollandaise.  I like truffle.  This ...  just fell flat. The asparagus didn't taste fresh and vibrant, it just was there.  The Hollandaise lacked depth and acidity.  It all badly needed seasoning; salt and pepper would go a long way here.  I tasted absolutely zero truffle oil. 

This dish really seemed like someone forgot the final finishing steps of seasoning and drizzling with truffle oil.  Sadness, as these are all things that should have been good.  It also was served cold, which maybe was expected?  **.

Goose Liver Pate. PLN 64.

"Goose liver pâté, wine gel, port jelly, Maldon salt, caramelized brioche."

And then, liver!  Yes!   But ...

Meh.

The caramelized brioche was actually interesting, lightly caramelized, fluffy brioche. ***+.

But the rest again fell flat.  The pate itself was very liver forward, which is good, but it lacked needed salt (despite being a listed ingredient), and there wasn't any on the table.  Very one dimensional.  **.

The wine gel and the port jelly didn't have enough sweetness to really accent the strong liver, and the gel texture was a bit off putting.  **.

The crumble, which I'm not sure what it was, was good.  ***.

Overall, just not very good, particularly compared to the great one we had the night before at Padre.  **+.

Dumplings.  PLN 54.

"Dumplings with white cheese and potatoes, fried onion."

I didn't actually have the vegetarian cheese dumplings pictured here, but rather tried the veal filled ones in mushroom cream sauce (sorry, no photo).  The wrapper was thick and too doughy, the filling just dense.  Cream sauce was ok.  **+.

Bread and Butter.  PLN 16.

The bread arrived after the starters.  Additional fee for bread, which wasn't mentioned when the server suggested we get several for the table.

There were two kinds of bread. I didn't have.

Halibut. PLN 82.

"Halibut fillet, butter sauce, green asparagus, dill olive oil."

Halibut! More asparagus!  Again, things I really generally love.

This ... was another letdown.  Again, lacking any and all seasoning, and none available for me to fix it.

The asparagus was worse than in the salad, as this was over cooked, and flavorless, and greasy.  I didn't taste dill oil, although there was a tiny drizzle of something green and oily.  I don't even like sunddried tomatoes, but found those bits to be the best elements of the dish, as they actually had flavor.  * vegetables.

The halibut itself was cooked ok, but kinda airplane food quality, just poached I think?  Bo-ring.  No crispy skin or redeeming element.  **.

And then, the butter sauce, which truly seemed to be just that.  Butter sauce.  No lemon for acidity, no seasoning, just, butter.  It made the dish strangely rich.  *.

Overall, it honestly tasted like an airplane meal.  Such a letdown.  *.

The vegetarians who got the only vegetarian main dish, stuffed cabbage, were not pleased with theirs either.  Both said it just simply was not good.

Slow Cooked Beef. PLN 86.

"Slow-cooked beef, parsnip purée, wine sauce."

I didn't try this, but the person who got it enjoyed.

Others got a pork chop that seemed to fare better as well.