Krakow - Pijalnia Czekolady WEDEL

Dear sweethearts,

It is said that a small portion of chocolate on a daily basis is actually good for you: a piece of dark chocolate of over 70% cocoa is good for your heart arteries, a piece of chocolate being eaten before heavy exercises at the gym also keeps the muscle pain away... there are multiple ways in which chocolate can be used to benefit the human body! Not to mention the positive feeling one gets after savouring a bit of it... what is best during wintertime than some hot chocolate with marshmallows? And in the summertime some chocolate icecream? Perfect for every season and moment in life, one could say ;) of course it is said that the best chocolate is manufactured in Belgium and I can agree those beauties produced there are fingerlicking good - especially the Guylian Chocolates! But I don't feel ashamed with the chocolate that Poland produces as well: Wedel being one of the oldest and the best producer of chocolate. It also has its own shops and coffee places where one can buy only Wedel products. They are typically named "Pijalnia Czekolady Wedel" - the "drinking" place for the Wedel chocolates - and located in extremely popular/touristic/busy attraction spots. For example, in Kraków, one of their oldest establishments is in the Main Market Square, very close to the ending of the Florianska street. 

It is an extremely popular place and you will rarely find a a place during weekends. If the weather is cold for sure everyone will huddle in for some hot chocolate. It's a popular place also for the locals so you will hear Polish language being spoken around you, but fret not as the menus are in Polish and English and the waitresses are very nice and speak English as well. If you are a chocoholic, a chocolate fan, for sure you will enjoy this place as it's all about chocolate. The menu pictures look amazing and if you are there for the first time it will be a tough choice what to pick! For sure I recommend though having something light to drink so it will compensate with the sweetness of the cake/ icecream/ pancake/ gofry that you will have. I had some still water with lemon, to make sure all goes down well + chocolate pancakes with cheese cream and strawberry sauce. They did not look as appealing as in the menu picture but they tasted heavenly! I ate them all even though they were quite sweet and filling. I must say I did not regret my choice ;) 

The inside of the Pijalnia Czekolady Wedel is quite large and at the entrance it has a smaller room with a bar where you can also buy chocolate to go. Then there is a small corridor that leads to a bigger high ceiling room - glass ceiling with natural light. This room also provides an upper floor small seating place. The bathrooms are in the big rooms at the back, between the columns and for ladies there are 2 cabins with quite a large area to wash - 2 sinks and dryer and paper towels as well. The seating area is nicely done, in dark and white chocolate color, with the seats marked with the Wedel brand. The menu is quite large and you can pick and choose between having several types of candies, hot chocolate, cakes, pancakes, gofry, sorbets and icecream. You can also enjoy local seasonal fruits dipped in chocolate or have a treat by sampling on the types of chocolate that Wedel produces - the liquid version or the hardened one. Either way I believe everyone would be satisfied and would have something to pick from the menu :) 

The horrible downside to it all is the waiting time... it will take you a while and there will probably be a queue to get you seated. Then you will wait around 15 min or more for the menu to be brought... then you have to wait for the goodies to be received by you; do when you get the goodies maybe it's best to ask for the check as well as that will take some time as well. It's the Main Market Square so you have to expect that... on the other side, the serving at the Pijalnia Czekolady Wedel in the Galeria Krakowska on the upper floor is way better! They are faster, so if you want to try the Galeria Krakowska place instead you can give it a go ;) either way the products are the same and the taste of the chocolate does not differ - it's the same good old receipe. Plus the one in the Galeria might not be as crowded as the place in the Main Market Square ;) but it ll depends where you are and where you want to have a break. The Pijalnia Czekolady Wedel on the Main Market Square is open daily from 9 am to 10 or 12 in the evening, according to the day of the week. You can also check their products online ;) and have an idea before you jump inside the store. Either way you are in for quite a ride!

Prices:
- 18 zloty for 2 pancakes with strawberry mousse = 280 grams - very filling! I recommend you to have it with some lemonade or still water with slices of lemon. I am not a huge sweets eater ;)

Yours sincerly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug that ocasionally loves sweets ;)