Last week Joe and I jetted off to Krakow in Poland for a couple of days and during our visit we went to The Amarylis Restaurant in our Hotel The Queen Boutique to sample their 7 Course Tasting Menu with Wine Flight. Regular readers will know we’re huge foodies here at xameliax and we love a good tasting menu so this was a no brainer. What we found in Amarylis was a real treat at an incredible price to boot – if you’re visiting Krakow you need to make sure a visit to Amarylis is on your list.
With chic underground interiors, exposed bricks, open fireplaces and velvet armchairs Amarylis is small but stylish and feels really intimate – perfect for a mini break date night. We sat down in the lounge and enjoyed two of their cocktails (you must try the Polish Martini) before being called through to dinner. The atmosphere was incredibly relaxed and the waiting staff made us feel right at home.
First up was a little appetizer from the chef – some sort of goose. It was light and tasty like Carved Ham and Pickled Onions for Christmas day supper! We chose to have the wine flight with our meal for an extra charge and it was well worth the money.
First Course was Beetroot Macaroons with Goats Cheese, Salad with Herbs and Apples. These were lovely, well baked and nicely presented although they were quite sweet and would have benefited from a bit more goats cheese. Paired with a Chilean White that was crisp, dry and fresh, very similar to our drinking wine at home.
Second was Crayfish Ravioli, Pumpkin Confit and Crayfish Sauce. These has a really strong but fresh crayfish taste alongside that incredible Crayfish Sauce, almost like a fish gravy. The pasta was slightly undercooked but this didn’t impact taste in the slightest, such a fabulous dish. The wine paired with this course was a little bitter at first but mellowed perfectly with the food, what a truly fantastic pairing.
Celery Consomme with Pepper Jelly – a light course with the celery coming through alongside the sweet pepper jelly. As far as consomme’s go this was a great one and very nice after the fish.
Intermezzo was a Blackcurrant and Polish Vodka Sorbet as a palette cleanser – sharp and sweet, absolutely lovely. I’m thinking about giving this one a go at home as a boozy but light desert alternative for the weekend!
Next: Wild Boar, Apple Mousse, Cabbage Rolls with Black Pudding – one of our favourite courses from the menu. With cabbage rolls being a traditional Polish favourite and Wild Boar also being a regular on the menus out here this was a real treat. There was so much flavour in this dish – worthy of a place on a Michelin Star menu. Paired with a French red that worked so well with the rich boar and tart, smooth apple sauce.
The last savoury course was Salmon, Black Cous Cous, Citrus Gel Salad with Turnip and Bean. By this point we were getting full but this dish was lovely non-the-less, I would have preferred this and the wild boar to have been the other way round or to have had another sweet but the salmon was well cooked and the black cous cous full of flavour.
The first sweet was a Ginger Flan, White Chocolate, Black Sesame Seed Candies. I was expecting a bit more fire from this one but it still worked well against that deliciously sweet and vanilla white chocolate. The sesame seed snaps made with black treacle were incredible but still quite sweet. The white wine pairing went well however, heavy enough for the treacle but still not overpowering the delicate white chocolate.
The final course was a Caramel Ice Cream, Blackcurrent Syrup, Butter Cookie and Chocolate. I wasn’t a big fan of this one – the Caramel ice cream tasted far too buttery for me, like peanut butter without the peanut! Put with the tangy blackcurrent it held more substance but I much preferred the white chocolate and ginger course.
We finished our meal with a shot of Coffee and Vanilla Infused Vodka handmade by the chef which was incredible and definitely on the DIY booze list. We absolutely loved our evening at Amarylis and the tasting menu came in at around £65 all in including our wine flight of which the glasses were rather generous! If you’re looking for a relaxed taste of high-end Krakow then you must visit Amarylis, we’d go back tomorrow and absolutely adored everything about the menu, the setting and the service.
You can find out more about what Amarylis has to offer on their website and book a table ahead of your trip.
Have you been to Krakow? Where was your favourite place to eat?
Leave a comment below or tweet me @xameliax #amarylis
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