U Babci Maliny

You could write a book about the charms of this place. There's the ambassadorial entrance through Slawkowska 17, the jaunt downstairs into the cavernous cellars, the twee peasanty style decor, the charming babcia who might launch into a bedtime story at any moment, the large fish tank that recalls Mr.Largo of James Bond fame, the vast soldierly portions - the list goes on.... Try the tasty Placki po Wegiersku, or the epic Zurek w Chlebie. Did I mention the wild boar? That is the actual wild boar, fur, tusks and all, who maintains a highly dignified presense over by the fireplace. Classic Cracow.

I was at the Babci Maliny restaurant in July this year, courtesy of my friend Anna Korzec. It's not doubt a wonderful place to enjoy traditional Polish meal, in a most traditional setting. Check more for my take at- http://bit.ly/eYrGA7

At the time of our visit the premises was closed for refurbishment so we frequented the second restaurant at Ul. Szpitalna 38. The traditional Polish dishes were generous, superb and cheap. Three of us could eat for under 50PLN. The menu is subtitled in English. If you eat on the ground or first floors you will be called to the counter to collect your food and sit on benches at large picnic style tables. Eat downstairs and the setting is much more formal with servers and in the evening, live piano. You will pay more! That the place gets very busy at peak times comes as no surprise. Highly recommended.

Tricky to find. The building is a formal looking place ie university building. Walk through the building until you see glass automatic doors on left which lead to a courtyard. The sign for the restaurant should be there and it is located downstairs. Very unexpected. Excellent!

That thing with the change is a very Polish thing. Having a pocketful of coins is essential if you don't want to "upset" girls behind the cashier... Babcia Malina great though. Must go back!

Hmmm... True, it's quite dark to read the (English) menu or to see what you're eating. Glad we beat the lunchtime rush. Got the 'hint' (not very subtle) that they REALLY hate tourists paying in large notes. I thought it was reasonable to pay with a 50 for a 48Zt meal, but there you go... Food good but salty. Huge portions! Worth going for the experience & decor.

Simply brilliant!!! Very Hearty portions very well priced, we went twice!! Polish Pork Chops - Lovely. Beefsteak lovely! Fried Dummplings - Superb. Mushroom soup served in a cob of bread - lovely! Great Decor, brilliant atmosphere. GO GO GO!!

excellent resturant,food service and decor all good!!

I always visit this place when I'm in Krakow. It's very different to other places, but you get very good food at very good price.

The atmosphere was quite a bit more subdued than what I expected from the crazy website. The placed was packed with somewhat sombre university students enjoying delicious looking plates of home cooked food. We had stopped in for a quick snack and tried the 'baked' perogis recommended by another reviewer on this board. They were actually a very stodgy deep friend bread dish, more like small pastys than perogis. The flavour was o.k. but we found them too heavy and greasy for our tastes. I didn't enjoy the beet we had ordered dish either. I would go definitely go back again but just order regular perogis instead. Be sure to order sauce with them or you'll just get a plate of lonely dumplings. The egg garlic sauce I had at a Polakowski was to die for as was all their food. Polakowski's prices are similar and the atmosphere very different.

Babcia malina is hard to find... good food but there is a old women at the entrance who looks like Babcia Malina who is a grumpy old bat... she needs to learn some manners... other wise very dark inside hard to read menu and very confusing with orders, you do not get served, selfservice restuarant... good old fashion polish food... enjoy..just watch out for the old bat she will yell at you ....

Bêd±c u Was z przyjació³mi, na ul Szpitalnej by³am ¶wiadkiem chamstwa jakiego jeszcze nie s³ysza³am w stosunku do kobiet. Pewien kucharz rzuca³ takimi wyzwiskami do barmanki ¿e s³uchaæ siê tego nie da³o. Wprawdzie robi³ to na zapleczu, ale wszyscy to s³yszeli, moi przyjaciele i ja byli¶my zaskoczeni takim zachowaniem i dali¶my sobie spokój z jedzeniem, pewnie ju¿ nigdy tam nie dotrê, skoro tak traktuj± siê pracownicy, to co robi± z klientami.

I forgot to pick up an english menu and so we guessed! the pierogi were recommended to us by one of our tour guides as the best in Krakow. They cost around £1.50 and the portion was so huge it filled two of us all day! Definately worth tring to find this place!

Don't be put off trying to find this place. You will feel like you're walking through an office building, but when u go down thos stairs and open the door..... How cute! The place is wonderful. It's decorated as if you're in a wooden house and the food is great too. If you dont read polish remeber to pick up the little leaflet outside, it has an english menu on it (which we found afetr we'd eaten....!)

This place was worth the search! Very, very inexpensive for very tasty food - huge variety and enormous portions. We all had different meals which were ALL yummy. Very 'different' place - basic but in a nice way. Recommended - especially the baked pierogi with mushrooms and cabbage. English menu supplied upon request.

Delightful place with OVERWHELMING choice of food. Everything we tried was a feast for the eyes, tastebuds & stomach. The interior is great- especially for those folks with children. Our three year old ADORED it & kept asking to go to 'Grandma's'. The service was lightening fast, patient & friendly (unlike their other venture on ul. Szpitalna- with surly, grumpy staff).
Food was delicious, well cooked, HUGE and cheap as chips (but a million times tastier). Pierogi was YUMM, as was the stew in bread. We will definately visit here everytime we are Krakow way. You'll spot us sitting watchin the fishtank with an amazed little boy!!

As said before, a little hard to find but go through the courtyard and down some steps. They do have an English menu if you ask. You order at the bar and pay, then your number comes up and you collect your food. Huge portions, cheap prices and no alcohol. Decor is definitely 'Little Red Riding Hood/Grandma's House',which adds to the atmoshpere. Certainly worth trying at least once for the experience.

I agree with all the previous posts. Hard to find, but worth it. Homey, delicious, inexpensive, great experience. Linger time depends on what time you are there. We were there later in the evening with a large group and had plenty of time to linger. Definitely ask for an English menu - it exists though in limited supply.

did somebody bother asking for a menu in english? because there is one!!!!!
it is true that it's quite difficult to find but what a discovery! decoration is very cute, food is absolutely fantastic, servings are massive and so so cheap! order compot to drink, you,ll love it!!
i highly recommend this restaurant
cheers

Absolutely fantastic, well worth the trouble to find. Welcoming and warming, but geared towards a good understanding of Polish Language. No menu translations so hang back from the queue a little and allow time to decipher the menu & make your choices. Very atmospheric but not a place to linger & savour it- we felt we should vacate our table fairly quickly after finishing to allow incoming diners somewhere to sit.

Good place if you wanna taste some polish food with some kind of "polish atmosphere", the price are good but it's something like self-services, not good for people tired from the trip around the city :) ... but you have to try it... so....

Its such a wierd little place! Wanted to eat here after reading other reviews on this website, it was really hard to find. Don't go looking for it at 9pm as we did - its shut! Its open until 8pm and serves no alcohol, but for a really cheap meal, massive portions, and "grandmas house" decor its worth the trouble. You need to go through the big building located 15-17, through the courtyard and down the stairs! good luck!

Quite difficult to find - not somewhere you will stumble across unless you are actively looking for it. Once inside, you will be amazed - twee is not the word. However, our children loved the surroundings. Ordering from the menu can take some time, especially if you don't speak any Polish as the staff we encountered did not speak any English. When the food arrived, we were very satisfied with our choices, large portions, very tasty and I can recommend the 'soup in bread' which actually comes served inside a carved out loaf of bread - delicious! Worth the struggle with the language and menu. Excellent value - meal for 4 with drinks £10.