Polish Delights

EAT/DRINK

Favorite high-end restaurant:

blow up hall, ul. Kosciuszki 42.
A hotel and restaurant inside a converted historical malt house called Stary Browar. It is a very exclusive and elegant place that serves Polish and fusion food.

Best deal restaurant:

Pierogarnia, ul. 3 Maja 48b/3.
They serve typical Polish dumplings in all different flavors — cottage cheese and potato dumplings, fried dumplings stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms, with meat, green pea, spinach, and even fruits.

Best street food:

Ankara, ul. Wielka 22.

Favorite Cafe:

U Przyjació , ul. Mielzynskiego 27/29.
A pub/club where I like to go after work with friends. It is like a refuge in the center of town — a secret garden — because not many people know about it. It is located in a lovely courtyard within an old apartment house.

Pod Pretekstem, ul. Sw. Marcin 80/82.
Music and art cafe/restaurant, situated on the Rose Courtyard of “Zamek” (the Castle) Culture Centre. You can listen to music by talented artists like Stanislaw Sojka, Leszek Mozdzer and Grzegorz Turnau. In the summertime there is a lovely garden.

Best place to work on laptop with free wi-fi:

Stary Browar , ul. Półwiejska 42.
Old Market Square

Best bar:

Proletaryat , ul. Wroclawska 9.
Communist inspired club. You can drink different kinds of Polish vodka; Krupnik, Pieprzowka, Luksusowa, Zoladkowa Gorzka and snack on some typical snacks like bacon, pickled cucumber, herring in vinegar or bread with lard.

Cafe Miesna, ul. Garbary 68.
Good dance/electro music. Best parties are on Friday and Saturday.

Dragon, ul. Zamkowa 3.
A two-leveled beer garden situated in an old apartment house. This is the best place to go for a drink in the summer time.

READ

Best bookstore:

Gośna Samotność, ul. Ratajczaka 18.
You can drink wine, beer, eat some sandwiches, and read some books.

Stary Browar Dziedziniec Sztuki , ul. Półwiejska 42.
You can buy or read books about art, architecture, design, literature. It is based in the courtyard of the Stary Browar.

Best bookstore:

Empik, ul. Stary Rynek 63.

SHOP

Best boutique:

Stary Browar, ul. Półwiejska 42.
Posh shopping center. People spend all day in restaurants, bars, or just walking around. It has a very unusual architecture.

SIGHTSEE

Favorite art space/gallery/museum:

Stara Drukarnia, ul. Spiewaków 14.
It is an old printing-house converted into a design center.

Arsenal, Old Market Square 3.

Ego Gallery, ul. Wrocławska 19.



Favorite outdoor space:

Stara Rzeznia, Malta Lake
An old slaughterhouse, converted into an exhibition and theater space. The Malta festival is held here and every Sunday there is a very popular flea market where you can buy almost everything.

Only local does or knows about:

Sródka district and Kino Malta (Malta Cinema), ul. Filipinska 5.
Sródka district is my favorite place in Poznan. It’s best to get there by bike. It’s one of the oldests districts of Poznan with beautiful old apartment houses under renovation. When I’m there, I feel like I’m transported to a place where time has stopped. Visit Malta Cinema, a non-commercial cinema with uncomfortable seats, no special sound effects and a huge disco ball.

The must-see thing in your city:

Old Market Square

Stary Browar

EVENTS

Best events in each season?

European Museum Night
(May) Every year, many of Europe’s museums are open and free.

Animator Festival
(July) International Animator Festival. 

Malta International Theatre Festival
(June/July) The joy of this festival is that hardly any of the shows takes place inside an actual theatre at all.  In 2006, Project Bandaloop from the US choreographed stunts and dance moves on the face of the Novotel Hotel. 

Mediations Biennale
(October) The first international bi-annual contemporary art exhibition in Poznan. 

International Workshops of Contemporary Dance
(October) Dance companies from all over the world are invited to present new methods of theatrical dance.

Best website for local info

http://www.aktivist.pl