I was on a business trip in Poland from Sunday till Wednesday, with some free
time at the beginning and end of the trip. I am still editing the photos, but
my PAD for Wednesday is a pictorial record of a piece of Polish culture that
has survived from Communist times, and a piece of travel advice.
In every Polish town you will find one or more modest establishments called Bar
Mleczny. Literally it means “milk bar”, even though the food on offer is normal
Polish food, not particularly heavy on dairy products. I think the term
originates from the fact that they do not sell alcoholic beverages; in Poland
milk is traditionally something children drink, as opposed to real stuff like
beer and vodka. In any event, those places are by far the best lunch deal in
Poland. They existed when I was a small child in Poland in the 1960s, and have
survived the transition to a market economy and are holding their own by
providing tasty, nutritious and cheap food in a setting that has not changed
much in the past decades, except that the quality of the food and the service
is better than in the bad old days, and they take credit cards today. The
people who eat in milk bars are a mix of pensioners on low incomes, students
(another low income group) and just ordinary people who appreciate the
offerings. I count myself in the latter category, and a couple of hours before
heading to the airport in Kraków to fly home to Alicante, I went to Bar Mleczny
Flisak next to my hotel for a late lunch.
This is the general view of the place. You queue at the counter, order from the
menu on the wall, pay, and are given a number. Once your food is ready, your
number is called and you go to the counter to pick it up. It is all quick, and
you are expected to have made your selection when it is your turn to order so
as not to hold up the queue unnecessarily:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-vmNsQ8f/A
<https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-vmNsQ8f/A>
While you wait, you can look at the salads in the display case:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-vBvP4Hd/A
<https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-vBvP4Hd/A>
(1 EUR or USD equals approximately 4.75 złoty)
This is what I had for lunch, a celery salad, cucumber soup and pierogi:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-ZP5vNKL/A
<https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-ZP5vNKL/A>
It was filling, delicious and set me back just under 29 złoty, including a soft
drink.
The staff at these milk bars are usually women of a certain age who went to
school at a time when the only foreign language taught in schools was Russian,
so forget about English menus etc.—a modicum of Polish, at least enough to
understand the names of the dishes, is necessary (or going with a local).
Bon appétit!
Nathan
Nathan Wajsman
photo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.frozenlight.eu
Слава Україні! Героям слава!
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