Opalkowa Chata, Boleslawiec

Opalkowa Chata, Boleslawiec

Opalkowa Chata is a restaurant in a small city in the west of Poland named Boleslawiec. On one of our recent 'adventures' we stopped here for a spot of lunch and this is a review of our experience.

Location

Opalkowa Chata is located on the main road which goes around the city of Boleslawiec. At the time we visited I wasn't driving so I cannot comment on exactly how to reach the restaurant, but I did see that it is clearly visible from quite far away if you are travelling along the only main road surrounding the city.

The exact address (taken from the restaurant website) is:
Restauracja Club'ik Opalkowa Chata I
Boleslawiec
ul. Cieszkowskiego 17
Boleslawiec
Dolnoslaskie
Polska
59-700

There is a decent sized car park located at the rear of the restaurant and it is free to use.

Eating in a Barn

Walking into Opalkowa Chata was like a cross between walking into a converted barn and a chalet in the mountains. The design of the building made it look like a log cabin and the amount of hay and fake hay they have used in the decor of the restaurant gives it the barn look.

Opalkowa Chata is split into 2 medium sized rooms, both rooms have wooden tables with benches on either side of them. We chose to sit in the 2nd room simply because there was a table available in there.

Once we were seated a waitress dressed in what I was told was traditional Polish costume, but I think it looked like a red version of a French maid, came over with the menus'. The menu is written in both English and Polish and browsing through it I could see I was a bit spoilt for choice. Eventually I settled upon Pierogi which is a kind of Ravioli crossed with dumplings creation, but there is also a number of other traditional Polish dishes including Bigos, Potato Pancakes and Pork Cutlets. For those who don't want something traditional you can always go for chicken or fish dishes.

We ordered our food and drinks and simply enjoyed the pleasure of relaxing while we waited.

I did find our waitress to be a little unfriendly and like she wasn't interested in what she was supposed to be doing and I did find it a quite rude when I was still eating my food and she leaned across me to remove an empty glass from the table!

Food Quality

My plate of Pierogi cost 13zl (Polish Zloty) and from looking at the menu this is about average for most of the dishes. In general you can expect to pay between 12zl and 15zl for your main meal and if you do choose to have one of the soups or other starters then these are around the 8zl - 14zl mark. We didn't have these though as generally a main meal is usually enough to fill me up.

My pierogi came served nice and hot in a bowl, I had chosen the variety with a cottage cheese, potato and onion filling and I am pleased to say they were cooked perfectly and delicious. I have eaten this dish in quite a few different restaurants and these were easily the nicest, the only thing I thought they could have done with was the option of having a sauce as I love the taste of pierogi when it is dipped in a sour cream or similar sauce.

Opalkowa Chata does have a desert menu which consists of 2 items both priced at 7zl. They were cheese cake and apple cake but we didn't want either of these so therefore didn't bother with them.

Our drinks were a coke and a small water, these were priced at 6zl and 4zl respectively. Other drinks available include juices, a small choice of beers or if you want to stick with the traditional you may want to try the boiled fruits or natural yoghurt options.

Children's Play Area

At the back of the restaurant is a rather large children's play area. I didn't go here as I don't have children, but it may be useful to know that it consisted of a large wooden climbing frame, a wooden seesaw and some balance beams. I can definitely see the appeal for children to play here as I thought it looked quite fun and I liked the setting it was in with large trees and general 'greenery'.

Toilets

The toilets at Opalkowa Chata are hidden away in a corner through a cute wooden door, they are kept extremely clean to the point of the sinks even sparkled! They had ample toilet roll at the time of our visit and plenty of soap near the sinks.

Wheelchair Friendly?

The restaurant is wheelchair friendly although you may find some areas a little tricky to manoeuvre around if you delve further than the first room of the restaurant.

Exchange Rate

The current exchange rate as of June 2012 is 5.3zl to every £1. With this in mind I think the prices here are excellent.

Overall

Overall, I would recommend Opalkowa Chata, it is a lovely restaurant which serves traditional Polish food as well as less traditional dishes if you prefer. The restaurant has lots of character, I have never visited a place like this before and would more than happily re-visit here in the future.

Thanks for reading :)