Description:
Pizzerias have taken Poland by storm, cropping up everywhere particularly along tourist-frequented areas. It's no surprise then that more than a dozen pizzerias have suddenly opened in Krakow's Old Town. Pizza Hut serves the usual deep pan pizza, an uninspiring thick layer of dough containing a savoury cheese mixture and a lot of tomato sauce. Better than this is the pizza served at Pizzeria Grace. With three branches at ul Sw.Anny 7, ul Sw.Jana 1 and ul Sienna 17, this is an Italian-style pizzeria that merits a prize for tasty food, excellent service and cheap prices.
Better by all standards than Pizzeria Grace is Pizzeria Cyclops, a veritable restaurant that has lately become a symbol of Krakow's best Italian cuisine. Hidden inside a medieval building on ul Mikolajska only a couple of minutes away from Rynek Glowny and St.Mary's Church, Pizzeria Cyclops serves delicious pizza, savoury pasta and risotto dishes and a wide range of mouth-watering soups. The owners have never bothered to put a sign outside to indicate the restaurant's precise location. There's actually no need to do this since the premises is always full up with locals and tourists. It's not unusual to turn up and find that there's no room for you.
The street door leads into a medium-sized anteroom that Pizzeria Cyclops shares with Jadlodania U Stasi. Managed by the same owners, these two side-by-side restaurants are ideal for those who are after huge dishes of tasty food at cheap prices. Unlike Pizzeria Cyclops, Jadlodania U Stasi does not offer Italian food; the menu here consists of typical Polish dishes whose main ingredient is usually a fatty meat product. Popular with locals, Jadlodania U Stasi opens only on weekdays at 12:30pm and closes as soon as the prepared dishes run out, sometimes as early as 4pm. If you want to taste the best Polish food Krakow presents, come here and choose a dish of pierogi from the wide variety on offer.
Lovers of Italian food will find the rich variety of Italian dishes at Pizzeria Cyclops as tasteful and inspiring as the excellent atmosphere inside. Accompanied by recorded Italian music, a dinner at Pizzeria Cyclops is always a manifestation of plenty of good food served in an atmosphere of festivity and amusement. Cooked inside a wood burning brick oven in full view of the customers, all dishes are equally delicious. My wife's exquisite dish of cannelloni stuffed with spinach and topped with fuming Parmesan cheese was well-presented and rightly-sauced.
However, it is where pizza is concerned that Pizzeria Cyclops excels. Prepared by a native Italian pizzaiolo, the pizza served at Pizzeria Cyclops is the best I've ever tasted anywhere north of the Alps. Opting for a large pepperoni pizza, I didn't expect to find such a huge dish of divine food. Though oversized and over-stuffed with delicious ingredients, I couldn't resist eating it all. A bottle of red Chardonnay from Trento completed the evening.
Pizzeria Cyclops opens daily from 12:30pm to 10pm.
Close