Sounds great to me - I love diner food. Can you actually get a cold glass of milk there? I love milk and its one of the things I miss when going abroad.
Milk Bars
05/31/2012 09:49
When we’re in Poland, we’ll have to go to a milk bar if for no other reason than to experience a restaurant with the authentic feel of communist times. Milk bars are the Polish equivalent of the greasy spoon, offering homemade foods at unbelievably low prices. They’ve apparently been around a long time, but really came into their own during the height of the old communist system, when the hardworking masses had to fill their lunchtime bellies on just a few groszy (Polish coins). They’re called milk bars because they traditionally featured dairy-based foods, but in reality they also sell a good variety of other products such as soups, cutlets and Polish pigeons.
Once the old government fell, private restaurants began to spring up all over the place, and milk bars began disappearing rapidly. However, in the past few years they seem to have made a little bit of a comeback, partly because there is still a large number of people who exist on the economic fringes, but also because there is now a trendy nostalgia for all things PRL, or the old Polish system.
When I was a student in Krakow, I managed to eat on maybe three or four dollars a day, largely by chowing down in the milk bar about a hundred yards away from my apartment in Kazimierz. I remember regularly buying a bowl of soup, a plate of pierogi, a cup of creamed beets, two pigeons, and a drink called kawa inka (a communist coffee substitute) for about two bucks! Today, though, it would certainly cost more, but it would still be very reasonable. If I’m not mistaken, there are still about three or four “old school” milk bars in the area where we’ll spend a lot of our time. We’ll definitely have to check one out, not only to experience Polish grub at ultra-cheap prices, but also to feel the indifferent stare of a pissed-off cafeteria worker as she slops a big pile of food onto your plate.
Finally, there is a second meaning for the term “bar mleczny” or “milk bar”: It’s Polish slang for referring to------Breasts!!! :-)
Tags:
Topic: Milk Bars
Re: Milk Bars
Brian | 05/31/2012
Good question. They probably do, but I've never had milk at a milk bar, believe it or not. If they do, my guess is that it might not be too cold. Maybe Ewa or Marek can chime in on this one. They do sell real kefir, though, which is pretty nasty. It's sort of like a lumpy yogurt drink. Not for the faint of heart, but I've come to like it on rare occasions. You can, though, get cold milk in stores.