Warsaw Cuisine

What to order in Warsaw, from the Bib Gourmands to the historic cafés, and why the Warsaw table is built around soup, dough and a glass of something cold: our guide to the food of the city.

Warsaw cuisine

Warsaw cooking is like the city, the Warsaw Tourism Office says: diverse, multicultural and full of energy. You can book a MICHELIN-starred table one night and eat in a milk bar the next, and the classics of the Polish kitchen are on almost every menu.

Żurek and barszcz

Start with soup. Żurek is the quintessential Polish soup: meat broth soured with rye sourdough, served with a boiled egg and white sausage, often in a hollowed-out loaf, and filling enough for a whole meal. It is also part of the Easter breakfast. Barszcz, beetroot soup, comes in many versions; the clear red one is served with croquettes or, on Christmas Eve, with little mushroom dumplings called uszka. In summer, look for chłodnik, a cold soup of kefir or whey with radish, cucumber, chard and dill.

Soup to start, dough to follow and a shot of vodka with the herring: the generous table of Warsaw.

Pierogi

When you think of Polish food, you think of pierogi, and there are many: with meat, cabbage, mushrooms, fruit, potatoes, cottage cheese or grits, and now with feta, spinach or mozzarella too. Pyzy, potato dumplings sprinkled with pork scratchings and fried onion, are a people’s dish once famous in Praga.

Herring, jelly and a glass of vodka

Warsaw is not by the sea, but herring has always been a local delicacy, served in oil or many other ways, and the best thing to chase a shot of vodka with. Pork knuckle in jelly, with a touch of vinegar and a slice of bread, is another classic starter. Flaki, tripe in a slightly spicy broth, is a true Warsaw dish for winter.

The pork chop

A pork chop with potatoes and cabbage is a staple of every Polish home, and any restaurant serving Polish food will have one on the menu.

Warsaw’s cakes

Save room for the wuzetka, a cocoa sponge layered with cream, named after the W-Z route that runs under the Old Town, and the zygmuntówka, a newer Warsaw cake of almond pastry, chocolate mousse, cranberry jam, whipped cream and meringue, named after King Sigismund on his column. On Fat Thursday, the queues outside the pastry shops are for pączki, filled doughnuts.

Chocolate by Wedel

E. Wedel has made chocolate in Warsaw since 1851, and its factory in Praga still runs. Have a cup of hot chocolate in one of its chocolate drinkeries, and take home ptasie mleczko, “bird’s milk”: a marshmallow-like foam covered in chocolate.

The Wigilia table

On Christmas Eve, Wigilia, families sit down to a meatless feast: carp and herring, beetroot dishes, forest mushrooms and soured cabbage, with dried-fruit kompot to drink. Traditionally there should be twelve dishes, and every one should be tried. See our Christmas in Warsaw page.

Where to taste it

For Polish classics, try Stary Dom, alewino and Źródło, all in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide, and WYRAJ, which holds a Bib Gourmand for traditional cooking; Ministerstwo Śledzia i Wódki on Foksal is the place for herring and vodka. Sources: go2warsaw.pl (“What to eat in Warsaw?”, “Dessert”, “End-of-year treats”) and guide.michelin.com (2026).