9 Great Places to Eat and Drink in Gdańsk
We were visiting Gdańsk with the Christmas markets in mind but we wanted to explore more of the city’s food scene. After all, so there’s only so many times you can eat standing up, in the cold, with your fingers, wearing two pairs of gloves. So despite me telling Mr Fletche that I’d “hardly done ANY research” on eating and drinking in Gdansk, of course I had a list on my phone and a handy Google map of recommendations. Just in case. So here are are my suggestions for 9 great places to eat and drink in Gdańsk.
The Gdańsk food scene
There are options from all around the world in Gdańsk, from traditional cuisine to international dishes with a local twist. Meat plays an important part in the Polish menu, but we also spotted plenty of vegetarian and plant-based options.
Gdańsk is full of cosy cafes to warm up with a coffee and cake, quirky bars for a local beer or cocktail and elegant restaurants to sample traditional dishes. Piwna Street is the place to be for cafes, bars and both traditional and international restaurants. Sometimes venues can be difficult to spot, down a discreet alleyway or an unmarked doorway leading underground.
Bar-hopping on Piwna Street is a good way to spend a chilly December evening 🍻 After all, piwna translates as beer – so Piwna Street means Beer Street!
Contrary to popular belief, beer is actually more popular than vodka in Poland. Tyskie and Zywiec are the most common national brands – you’ll find them everywhere in Gdańsk . But craft beer bars, microbreweries and beerhalls are becoming increasingly popular too.
Our travelling food style is quite simple – locations that offer traditional fare. And street hall/food court/multiple vendor type establishments. No haute cuisine or fine dining for us. The occasional hot Instagram or TikTok spot so I don’t get FOMO. So read on to find out more about some of our favourite spots, favourite dishes and favourite tipples!
Where we ate in Gdańsk
Pierogarnia Mandu
If you’re going to try one traditional dish in Gdansk, then it should be pierogi. And there are plenty of places to try them, but Pierogarnia Mandu is regularly voted the best. In fact, it’s a little too popular if the long long queue on a Saturday lunchtime was anything to go by. We’d have queued if we didn’t have a date with a bottle of vodka or two (or six) already scheduled 😉
We returned on Sunday evening, with just a handful of queuers ahead of us. And Mandu certainly has quite the extensive list of dumplings. I went for the traditional dumplings with chicken, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese (in the foreground of the pic below) whilst Mr Fletche opted for deep-fried dumplings with pork, noodles, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage and chives.
The verdict? Delightful but a little too much of one thing. It would have been better if we could have had a pick n mix of multiple flavours. A dumpling buffet if you will 🥟
Pierogarnia Mandu, Elżbietańska 4/8, 80-894 Gdańsk, Poland 📍See location here
Other recommended places for pierogi: Pierogarnia Stary Młyn, Nova Pierogova
Gdanski Bowke
Wanting to dine somewhere a little more traditional for our final evening I made an online reservation on the day for Gdanski Bowke. And it was a great choice; our favourite meal in Gdańsk. This riverside restaurant serves regional specialties and their own craft beer. It’s pretty meat- and fish-heavy so it may not be your bag if you’re a vegetarian.
I opt for the fried perch after checking in with our server which fish are served filleted. Mr Fletche is not so bothered by a few bones and goes for the oven baked trout. My perch was delicious, but I raved about those vegetables and that mash for days afterwards. Everything was presented so beautifully too, and surprisingly good value for its waterfront location.
Gdanski Bowke, Długie Pobrzeże 11, 80-888 Gdańsk, Poland. 📍See location here
Other recommendations for traditional Polish fare include Pyra Bar and Restauracja Gvara. For more European or international dishes, try Chleb i Wino, Mono Kitchen or Zafishowani
Bar Mleczny Stagiewna
Our final meal of the trip was in this Polish canteen-style milk bar, serving generous portions of traditional food. We peer through the window first, to get the lay of the land and try to translate the Polish menu, until we spot the English menu on the wall by the door. Confidence boosted eating at a Lido in Riga, we decide to give it a go. The lad behind the counter was happy to give us assistance, although my menu choice is slightly lost in translation (I blame the Brummie accent). Which means instead of the bigos (sauerkraut stew) I end up with the pork and mushroom stew.
We balance our trays laden with food and beer and head upstairs to the practically empty second floor dining room. It’s not fine dining but it’s good, hearty, traditional fare, with generous portions for around 16PLN (£3.10).
Bar Mleczny Stagiewna, Stągiewna 15, 80-750 Gdańsk, Poland. 📍See location here
Food Halls
We stumbled across Słony Spichlerz, a lively but laidback riverside food hall, on our first evening in Gdańsk. With 9 street food vendors and 2 bars spread over two floors, it’s a great spot on Gdańsk Spichrzów, with al fresco waterfront dining in warmer weather. On the ground floor, there’s patisserie, pizza, pierogi, pasta, and other foods not starting with a “p”. Up the stairs you can find ramen and sushi and the Salty Bar for classic and contemporary cocktails. Our plan is to eat light so we order a couple of Korean fried chicken bao and fries from Cheeky Chicken, along with a beer each. The whole lot comes to 120PLN (just under £25).
Handy for our visit to the European Solidarity Centre is Montownia Food Hall. This 1000sqm food court in a repurposed U-Boat hall opened in 2024, and is located under Montownia Lofts. There are plenty of nods to its former use, with a crane operators cabin elevated above the food hall and wagon tracks along the cobbled floor. It’s surprisingly busy for a Sunday lunchtime, filled with families. There are 20 food stalls to choose from; we shared calamari and chips from SeaYou – a vendor that prides themselves on that British classic, fish and chips. Lunch comes to 58PLN (just over £11) and a couple of beers are 38PLN (£7.50)
Both of these food halls operate a pager system, whereby you order and pay at the counter and are given a buzzer which lets you know when your food is ready for collection. It can sometimes be a struggle to find a table in these venues – see also Time Out Lisbon – so I recommend finding a seat BEFORE ordering food. Or at the very least, grab yourself a drink whilst you hover close to those that look like leaving soon.
Where we drank in Gdańsk
Berg Cafe
Located directly opposite Neptunes Fountain, Berg Cafe was a perfect coffee/hot chocolate pit stop during our walking tour ☕️ Recommended by our tour guide Tufi, the staff seemed a little bemused by this sudden influx of customers but managed to deal with us all efficiently and get us back to our meeting point on time. There’s a toilet here too for customers, which Mr Fletche took advantage of whilst I waited for our drinks!
Berg Cafe, Długi Targ 2, 80-828 Gdańsk, Poland. 📍See location here
Other cafes and coffee shops which come highly recommended in Gdańsk include Pomelo Bistro Bar, Drukarnia and Lookier Cafe
Brovarnia Gdańsk
Post vodka-tasting we decide to keep our alcohol levels topped up with beer and cross over the Motlawa River to Brovarnia Gdańsk at the Hotel Gdańsk. This microbrewery and restaurant is reservation only but we managed to secure one of the few counter seats near the bar. Undecided on what to drink, we both ordered the beer set (flight) for 38zł (£7.40) – a selection of four flagship and seasonal beers. The food menu looked good too, with an excellent selection of beer snacks and sharing platters – but we stuck to a liquid dinner this time round 🥴
Brovarnia Gdańsk, Szafarnia 9, 80-755 Gdańsk, Poland. 📍See location here
Labeerynt
This basement pub with a maze of rooms, board game collection and a rock/metal playlist was definitely a craft beer highlight. There’s an informative beer board with an extensive selection both on tap and in the fridges. I found an alarmingly green sour by Łańcut Browar, which followed a more classic Red IPA nicely.
This was also where Mr Fletche and I discovered the board game “Ticket to Ride” but found that – quite naturally – all the rules were in Polish. I suggested Uno instead – no translating of rules necessary. Labeerynt is located underneath another quirky bar – the film-themed Pub Polskie Kino.
Labeerynt, Szeroka 97, 80-835 Gdańsk, Poland. 📍See location here
Josef K
This quirky two-floor cafe and cocktail bar on Piwna Street is hidden behind an inconspicuous façade with a small terrace to the front. Long narrow windows stretch the height of the frontage, letting light flood in to the cafe bar by day. There’s a mix of retro furniture and salvaged scientific equipment inside, and it reminds me a little of Szimpla Kert in Budapest. Minus the woman selling carrots.
Our vodka tasting guide Monika had suggested that I try the Szarlotka or “Apple Pie”. It’s a sweet concoction made of apple juice, bison grass Żubrówka vodka and a hint of cinnamon. The taste is something akin to an apple custard doughnut and not entirely unpleasant (although Mr Fletche would tell you different). He plays it safe and goes for a classic Old Fashioned.
Josef K, Piwna 1/2, 80-831 Gdańsk, Poland. 📍See location here
Other cocktails bars and pubs which come highly recommended in Gdańsk include Flisak 76, No To Cyk, Pulapka and Pixels
The cost of eating and drinking in Gdańsk
It’s incredibly cheap to eat out in Gdańsk . The most we paid for a meal for two with drinks was 260 PLN (around £50). Which was about what we paid for a mediocre meal at Stansted airport. In terms of drinks, a large beer in a craft beer was around 16 PLN (£3.10). Our most expensive drinks were at Brovarnia Gdansk, 38 PLN (£7.40) for a flight of four small beers. Tipping isn’t mandatory in Poland, but as in the UK, a 5-10% tip is appreciated for good service
Milk bars like Bar Mleczny Stagiewna are cheap places to eat serving hearty traditional dishes. During the communist era, food at these milk bars was subsidized to provide home cooking at a low cost. Restaurants on the main street and along the riverside can be a little touristy, and prices are inflated for that reason, but we still found the costs to be reasonable.
Gdańsk food and drink tours
We sacrificed a food tour this time round in favour of vodka tasting but this four hour food tour comes highly recommended. You’ll taste 12 foods at a number of venues around Gdańsk, and looks great value! Here are a few other options:
I try my hardest to keep the information in this travel guide up to date; however if you notice anything has changed please let me know! Happy travels, Emmalene
