Restaurant Pod Aniołami – Under the Angels, Krakow

During my business trip to Poland, we had a number of arranged group dinners (10-14 people).  I wasn't involved in picking any of the restaurants (I know, shocking), so I just went with the flow (or, attempted to, going with the flow is not exactly my strong suit).  We had some hits (like shockingly good foie gras at Padre) and some lowlights (like the entire meal at Kogel Mogel).  Our last night in Krakow, our journey took us to Restaurant Pod Aliolami, or "Under the Angels".  I did some quick research, and was excited for our visit, as the setting looked very unique, and the food generally well reviewed.

The restaurant is known for their lineup of wood fired and grilled meats, and their dumplings, although they offer an extensive menu of traditional Polish cuisine as well.  I enjoyed the meal, but didn't love anything enough to purposely seek the place out again, but I'd go back with no qualms if someone else wanted to.

Setting

Entrance.

The restaurant is located down a side street, just a half-block off the busy area.  And yes, that *is* a red carpet rolled out at the entrance.

Grill.

The space inside is fascinating, many levels, many rooms, lots of stonework.  There are multiple kitchen areas, one with the wood fire oven, another with grills, another for starters, and presumably one somewhere for the dumplings, although I didn't see that one.

Banquette Room.

We were seated all the way downstairs, down many, many stairs, in the depths of the restaurant.  We were surrounded by lots of stones, and, um, weapons.  Real candles on the table.  Uncomfortable bench seating with carpet squares/tapestries rather than cushions.  No cell phone service.

It was definitely an experience, and a memorable venue.  It was a great private area for our group of 14, as we had this entire banquet room to ourselves.

Food

Starters

The menu has plenty of starters, ranging from grilled oscypek (their local cheese), to traditional Polish herring, to tartar, etc.  Several salads and multiple soups round out the starters.

Our group didn't really get many starters, given a week straight of multi course heavy meals.  One person ordered it, so I did get to try the sour rye soup finally, a specialty of Poland that I had never experienced before.  It was really a fascinating, specific flavor.  Sour and fermented and nourishing and heavy all at once.  I wouldn't want a big bowl of it normally, but I can see the appeal, particularly on a cold day.  I was glad to fit a few bites in during my last day there.

Breads (complimentary).

Once we had ordered, we were provided baskets of bread, two kinds, not warm.  I didn't try the breads.

Lard & Bacon Spread (complimentary).

I did try the spread, made from lard and bacon, though.  It tasted ... like bacon grease basically.  Not particularly interesting.  People felt it needed a bit of seasoning.  **+.

Note that they do not warn vegetarians that this is pork based.  They did provide butter on request.

Pate. 54PLN.

"Our recherche, noble pate, served with cranberries, pickled pear, and home-made horseradish with a side of pickled mushroom."

The pate was decent.  Fairly strong (good) liver flavor, fairly smooth.  Not really notable, I liked it, but I wouldn't go back just for it.

The pickled pears were pickled with winter spices like cloves, which I hated.  The fresh horseradish was great.  I didn't try the pickled mushrooms, as others grabbed them first.

Interestingly, it was not served with a bread/brioche/crostini component on which to spread the pate.

***.

Dumplings

The restaurant is known for their wood fire and grill, but also, the dumplings.  They have won a bunch of awards.  The lineup is extensive, with 6 options, 2 savory vegetarian, 3 meat, and one sweet.  You can also order a sampler of the 5 savory.  We ordered multiples of most, the only ones we didn't end up getting were the venison.

These are probably the best pierogies I've ever had, granted, I've mostly had pierogies in college dining halls, or the generic kind from the grocery store frozen section.  They were in an entire different league than the ones we had the night before at Restaurant Kogel Mogel.

Mushroom & Cabbage Dumplings. 54 PLN. 

I didn't try the mushroom & cabbage dumplings.

Spinach and cheese. 54 PLN.

"Dumplings with spinach and Bryndza (sheep milk cheese), pan fried with butter, served with green dill."

I went straight for the spinach and cheese dumplings.  These ones had a great sear on them.

The dumplings were very well made.  Thick, but not too thick, skins.  Crispy on one side.  DELICIOUS crispy fried onion bits.  Butter sauce.

The spinach dumplings were very spinach forward. They made you feel a bit healthy (besides the fried nature, and the fried onions, and the butter of course).  Lots of spinach inside.  

I liked them, my second favorite of the 4 kinds I tried.  ***+.

Cheese/potato/onion. 54 PLN.

"Dumplings with cottage cheese, potatoes, and onion, known as Russian dumplings, brought to Poland in the 15th century by King Jagiello from Kievan Rus, pan-fried with butter and onion, or water boiled."

The cheese/potato/onion were the only ones that had an option to have boiled rather than pan fried, but we still went for pan fried.

I'm not 100% certain the ones pictured here were the cheese, as dumplings were arriving by the plateful all over the table and I lost track, but I think it was these.

Many people thought these were the best, but I felt they were just kinda average.  I think I just wasn't excited by the texture of the cheese inside, akin to cottage cheese.  My least favorite of the dumplings.  ***.

Meats. 56 PLN.

"Dumplings with several kinds of meat, pan-fried with butter and onion, served with cranberries."  

I loved these.  I'm not sure what the several meats were, but they were stuffed with a very flavorful mash of shredded meat bits.  Well seasoned.  Great sear on these ones too.  The cranberry sauce with them was a lovely compliment.

Hands down favorites for me, I'd get these again anytime.  Probably the best pierogies I've ever had. ****.

Dumplings with smoked plums and sweet cream. 49 PN.

Since I knew this group wouldn't order dessert (even though I wanted to try several dishes on the dessert menu!), I got the sweet dumplings with the main meal.  

They were a bit lackluster.  The dumplings weren't crispy like the others (intentionally I think), the filling was just not very flavorful. Not sweet, not particularly sour or fruity, just kinda bland.  I did really like the sour cream though, it was lightly sweetened and really quite smooth.

**** cream, **+ dumplings.

Other

Most of the group was a bit burnt out on heavy food, so they sadly skipped the extensive lineup of grilled meats and got salads.  You could tell our waitress was confused why we got only one starter at our huge table, only a couple main dishes, and mostly salads and dumplings.  The few people who got the meat seemed underwhelmed.

Gnocchi (Vegetarian). 62 PLN.

"Polish mountain mushrooms in cream with our cut-up parsley leaves, served with pan-fried potato gnocchi."

Vegetarians had two choices for a main (besides dumplings), either stuffed cabbage or gnocchi, both of which we saw on menus basically everywhere.  The vegetarians in the group went for the gnocchi, having just had stuffed cabbage the night before (that they didn't like).  I was glad they picked this, and got in on their sharing party.

I thought I'd love it, but, wow, I didn't.

Thick mushroom stew base, not as cream forward as I hoped, and not particularly good mushrooms.  The potato gnocchi were fine I guess, decent sear, but, compared to the dumplings, no need to indulge in these for carbs.

Didn't even want a second bite of this.  *+.

Special: Asparagus. 38 PLN.

"Green asparagus served with butter and breadcrumbs."

It was asparagus season, and I adore asparagus.  So I clearly had to get the special.

This was good.  Dramatically better than the asparagus I had the night prior at Kogel Mogel.

The asparagus was a bit softer than I'd like (ok, a lot softer) but it had a good taste to it, large stalks.  The butter sauce was good, and I loved the flavorful bread crumbs.

** cook on the asparagus, but *** overall.

Peppermint Vodka.

"On parting, our home-made mint liqueur to health and good memories."

At the end of the meal, we were all provided a shot of their peppermint vodka.

I actually really enjoyed it.  Refreshing.  Lightly sweet and minty.  Others felt it was like liquid toothpaste.  I thought it ended the meal nicely.  ****.