favourite dinner in krakow - pod norenami

From favourite breakfast (and dessert) to favourite lunch it's now time for dinner in Krakow. At an Asian restaurant called Pod Norenami. Which in fact was a place I learnt of from a business contact - yes, even on holiday Prosit books meetings it seems - who took me there on lunch one day.



It may seem obvious, in this day and age, but it hasn't always been and far from every one take that into account but I find that it's always a good good thing to be very up front with your vegetarianism when it comes to meetings which involves food. Because a) it's a statement that says a lot about a person's values and b) to of course avoid the ridiculous situation of ending up at a restaurant where there are no decent vegetarian/vegan options.



So this was pretty much the first thing I was very clear about when he suggested lunch, 'it must have good vegetarian options, other that that I'm flexible'. So when we walked to the restaurant he told me that the place served mainly vegetarian food, but also meat for those who wanted, that it was a restaurant that got very good reviews, also from other well-known chefs, and was very popular.



When the sign and the menu clearly said vegetarian and vegan restaurant and the dishes on the menu said "chicken" and "beef" with quotations marks it's very clear to me that it's not real chicken or animal beef. But my company insisted that to make sure I didn't get any unwanted ingredients I'd better ask.



Needless to say I was right and he was shocked. Admittedly that made me laugh. A lot. Sorry, but I just couldn't help it. And I'm thinking that's a great sign that the vegan and vegetarian food served is of good quality, so good in itself that it can "fool" a sceptic meat-eater whose not used to quotation marks of such meaning.



And how was the food then? Well, the menu is super extensive and contains sushi too (vegan of course) so it's tricky to choose (and also one might question the quality of each dish when there are so many dishes...) but for lunch I chose the pad thai. Which was really nice, though to be honest not as good as the Wagamama one.



The lunch was a very pleasant one - thank you so much for taking me to lunch there! - and the restaurant intrigued me so much we had to go back for dinner another day. Then we had starters which were cucumber seaweed salad (again, not as good as the goma wakame salad at Wagamama) and two kinds of tofu with sauces. Really nice flavours from all.



M had vegan beef in "oyster" sauce (which he said tasted just like kebab meat, I have no idea about that, to be it just tasted good) while I had vegan chicken and broccoli in garlic sauce. Very nice, although not much of garlic flavour. Both dishes so large and packed with protein the rice was completely unnecessary and we felt very full after the meal.



There was a crispy side salad which was really lovely and flavourful too. The service friendly albeit a bit on the slow side. The prices very affordable, the quality very good obviously. generous portions and generous opening hours. The interior lovely, Asian inspired but with a quirky twist. Not to mention a totally fabulous dragon in the window! (The city Krakow is said to have been founded by Krak after he had slayed a dragon.)



Too little time, too many places to eat so sadly there wasn't an opportunity to return. But some day I hopefully will, because Krakow is a city well worth return visits and exploring. And not only for the great places to eat for vegetarians and vegans.



Pod Norenami
ulica Krupnicza 6
Old Town, Kraków
Poland
Mon - Wed 10 am - 10 pm
Thu - Sun 10 am - 11 pm