Eating my Way Across Poland - Part 1 Łódź, Poland

During the summer of 2023 I had the unique opportunity to accompany my wife on a nine-day business trip to Poland. During this trip while she was working, I spent my days taking in all the food and cultural experiences that Poland had to offer. I had no idea what an awesome experience this would end up being! I was overwhelmed with the pride possessed by the Polish people especially with the dining experience accentuated through their attention to detail in presentation. Eateries across Poland wowed me with their culinary creations making their offerings a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. In my first entry, we start in Łódź a city in central Poland, known as a former textile-manufacturing hub. Its Central Museum of Textiles displays 19th-century machinery, fabrics and handicrafts linked to the trade. Once a textile factory, the restored Manufaktura complex is now a lively culture and arts center boasting a massive shopping complex with hundreds of shops and restaurants.

Our hotel, the Puro Hotel was directly across the street from the grand Poznanski Palace, home to the City Museum, with artwork and objects depicting the history of Łódź. Our third floor room offered an amazing view of the Museum. 

We arrived late in the evening into our hotel and most everything was closed with the exception of the rooftop bar at our hotel. We had enough time to enjoy a few drinks and smoke a cigar. I learned a valuable lesson that night that in Poland when you tip your bartenders well, closing time can become negotiable.

Now looking back, I had many memorable and enjoyable experiences on this trip but I can safely say that one of the most impressive food experiences I encountered was the massive Polish hot/cold breakfast that was offered in literally every town we visited. Traditional American breakfast items such as eggs, bacon, sausages, fruit juices, coffee were present as well untraditional items such as a wide variety of pickled vegetables, cold cuts, deviled eggs, baked beans, breads, meat loaves, breakfast desserts, fruits making this a literal cornucopia of food! This was all offered buffet style so you could visit the bar as often as you wanted tasting and sampling all the chef had to offer. After my first day this became a favorite part of the day for me and I would search out in each city a restaurant that offered this as a day starter.

After a much bigger breakfast than I am usually used to, I decided to hit the hotel fourth floor gym and burn off some of my breakfast calories. For a hotel exercise room, it hade every thing a regular gym would offer plus amazing views of the main street. Got a great workout in making me feel better about all of the food I ate at breakfast.

With a few hours still remaining before lunch and a full tank still in my belly, I decided to go for a walk and learn the lay of land around our hotel. A pleasant surprise was stumbling across the the Museum Sztuki, Lodz's contemporary art museum. I spent the rest of the morning snooping through downtown shops and sitting and enjoying some people watching.

For my afternoon activity, I decided to visit the massive Manufaktura shopping complex. The enormous main factory building was two stories high and contained tons of shops and restaurants. The outlining support buildings were also full of eateries and shops. A pleasant surprise was finding a tobacco shop that sold Cuban cigars. 

Even after exercising and taking a walking tour of the city, I still had not built up much an appetite but did want to stop and get something to snack on. Now I'm a charcuterie board junkie from way back, so when I stopped in the Bawełna Bar and saw they had a Regional cheese plate with artisanal bread and local blonde ale on the menu, I was sold. It offered a delightful array of local cheeses and the locally brewed  blonde ale was refreshing and hit the spot!

I spent the rest of the afternoon browsing through the remaining shops at the factory complex and then headed back to the hotel to enjoy an afternoon Cuban cigar. Melissa had a business dinner after work so I found myself on my own for dinner. Rainy weather caused me to opt for the hotel restaurant which was Asian fusion but rated as one of the best in Lodz and dinner did not disappoint! The appetizer was a bowl of roasted duck breast broth and lamian noodles with shitake mushrooms and bak choi. For an entree I had a a delicious shrimp and chicken pad Thai with tamarind sauce, bean sprouts and leeks and for dessert a delicious Japanese cheesecake with yuzu sauce and cherries.

In the morning I hit the Polish hot/cold breakfast again, a quick gym workout and then we loaded up and headed west an hour and half, with our next stop being Kalisz, Poland. I was extremely impressed with Łódź especially the Polish culinary scene and looked forward to what other adventures my trip had in store! In eating my way across Poland Part 2 I'll share my encounters in Kalisz.