Vegetarian in Poland
When I was traveling on my own in Warsaw and Krakow, I always made sure to look for Polish cuisine. Even after eating it many days in a row, I still didn't get sick of it. When I met up with my Polish friends in other cities, however, when we ate outside of the home we always went to non-typical Polish places. In fact, the two restaurants I went to in Łódź and Katowice were both "wegetariański" restaurants.
Even living in the Bay Area, where you would expect a lot of vegetarians to live, I rarely find myself in a vegetarian-only restaurant, as I don't find them very plentiful, and the ones I've been to I haven't found a desire to return. Perhaps "regular" restaurants do a good enough job catering to vegetarians?
In any case, the vegetarian restaurant I went to in Łódź is a little chain called "Green Way." I had a bowl of hearty vegetable soup (the Polish name I forgot), and a glass of carrot, celery, apple, and orange juice, freshly squeezed.
The vegetarian restaurant I went to Katowice is called "Złoty Osioł." You can see it's decorated in groovy patterns and colors. My friend told me that vegetarian restaurants are popular especially for families on Fridays, when Polish people give up meat, Polish people being devout Catholics on the whole.
The ordering system is interesting here. You point out what you want in a glass case (the selection varied even during the time we were waiting in line as some items ran out and new items were brought in), and then the staff heats it up for you. While they're heating it up for you, you get a small plate where you can pile it high with whatever you want from a salad bar. Not a leafy salad bar like in the US, but a bar full of filling items like carrot and sunflower salad, potato salad, or beet salad. The main course I chose was an interesting looking burger. The three patties were egg-based, and in betwen were sliced mushrooms, lettuce, and (a bit too much) mustardy mayonnaise.
