Sausages & Poland

Oop, almost forgot to blog about one of the best eating experiences in Vienna. Viennese Sausages. The best (according to a trusted source) are the Bitzinger sausage stands located stand behind the Viennese Opera House and by the 100 year old ferris wheel (which we got to ride!). We tried the the Burenwurst (or Kolbasse) and another variety that was apparently spicier. We both liked the spicier one better. Best part was the amaazing beer that it was served with. Apparently, the sausages' fat content is so high that you need to drink coke or beer with the meal to prevent indigestion. lolz. Either way, it was delicious. Somebody *cough* liked them so much that he ate them three times in less than 24 hours. 

Weird that one of the best beers I've had in Europe came from a sausage stand. hehe.

MMMM. Rows on rows of sausages. 

So yes, these are hands down the best sausages I have had in Europe. They easily surpass the sausage stands in Wencelas Square. Although the sausages my mom and I recently tried this past weekend have come a lot closer. Did I also mention that V and I fell into a food coma nap for three hours immediately after? Well no one said all of these foodie adventures are easy. Ok so that should wrap up all of Vienna's eats.

Moving on to Krakow, Poland! The city was absolutely adorable and we did manage to get a lovely tour of the square market and castle. But of course, we spent most of the time eating a lot of meat and pierogies.

On our way to the market square, we passed an adorable bakery bustling with people (who were Polish!) so we figured the place must be legit. I bought a box of cookies for my mom and then we tried a sample of everything that looked good.

Pastries from a very famous bakery (who's name I have of course forgotten), from top left to bottom right: apple cake, chocolate wafer, tiramisu tart, chocolate tart, meringue cookie

Of course the most epic thing we ate were the Pierogies. I've definitely had pierogies in the states but I absolutely despiseddd them. They were also the frozen Mrs. T kind filled with potato and cheese (which I discovered I still don't like). Fortunately, going to Poland completely changed my mind. We were SO obsessed that we ate them with every single meal (and even once at 2am because we had ANOTHER craving). First time we got the chance to sample these dumpling like pockets of goodness was at Nostalgia,  then at Miod Malina, and then...at one last restaurant whose name I don't remember...Our verdict is that boiled pierogies are way better than fried and the fried bacon/onions that come with the traditional fried ones are a bit superfluous. We also decided that the meat filling is the best kind :)

+ Fried spinach (top left)
+ Fried meat with bacon (top right)
+ Boiled spinach with sour cream (bottom left)
+ Boiled meat with bacon (bottom right)

Dinner at Miod Malina which apparently means Raspberry Honey in Polish! And can you believe it, this place is in the Michelin guide? Pretty exciting stuff. Sure there were plent of far more refined options for our dinner but we wanted the authentic Polish experience and went with this massive platter of meat. (and pierogies). I literally could not eat for two days after this dinner. 

+ grilled sheep cheese, bacon, steak, chicken, ribs (my favorite), hash (reallyyy icky stuff) & Polish beer (technically had this at Nostalgia but oh wells)

So I wound up eating more than V during this meal. And we almost finished all of the meat. A dish that was meant for like 4 normal people. 

Anyways, prior to this crazy dinner. We decided to drop into Baroque (they have a pretty sick website), a well known and prominent bar located in the Jewish Quarter (new location) and downtown (old location). The new location, better known for its drink concoctions lived up to its reputation. These were hands down the best cocktails we have ever had. As usual, I do not remember the names of the drinks but you really can't blame this time because the menu was around 20 pages long. There was separate section dedicated to each time of liquor and cocktail. I even tried scouring the menu online but everything was in Polish and google wouldn't translate for me. There was also a particularly yummy looking drink with green tea ice cream! but they were sadly out of ice cream when we went :( These drinks also took the bartender literally 15 minutes to make. And I'm not exaggerating because we were the only ones in the bar ordering cocktails at 3pm :p. 

+ a raspberry concoction made with fresh raspberry juice among other ingredients
+ the best drink ever made with pineapple juice, orange juice and...potentially polish vodka?
+ coffee & rum raisin gelato from 4D Gelato

The last place we ventured to (told you we did a lot of eating) was to 4D Gelato in the mall on the northern bit of the city. This place had a monopoly over the entire second floor seating space, that's how popular it was. There were outrageous sundaes of every kind imaginable but we went with a classic waffle cone of three flavors including coffee, rum raisin and potentially tiramisu. Dubbed the most famous gelato place in Krakow, this place easily rivaled most of what I had in Italy. 

On another note, I've actually been cooking quite a bit these past few weeks and (after the Italy posts) will soon be posting some of the dishes/recipes I have been making. yay!