Download Love Is Ta Ta Ta (cmj Edit) Feat. Brick Amp; Lace [NEW]

I love Morskie Oko, and for many, many reasons. First, the restaurant is decorated like an authentic Polish hunting lodge. It's a 200-year-old building featuring sheepskin throws on the seats, Polish pottery and handicrafts, brick walls, lace tablecloths, wooden stools -- and even evergreen boughs in the ceiling. The wait staff is dressed in authentic folkloric clothing featuring reds and green colors, right down to the medieval slippers called Kapcie. Most nights, there is also a trio playing live Polish folk music -- just to put you further in the mood to celebrate Poland. The restaurant is named for Lake Morskie Oko in the ski resort town of Zakopane, about 80 kilometers away. In other words, it is the only restaurant in Krakow that takes pride in being of genuine highlander style -- even though the Tatra mountains are far, far, away.

Second, well, the cuisine is second to none. I love the fact that I can order simple, healthy Polish foods, and not have to worry about my waistline. My typical meal -- if I'm really hungry -- is to have a bowl of traditional beet soup, followed by roasted salmon, with a side of carrot and apple salad and maybe even a salad of cucumbers in sour cream -- all authentically Polish. Of course, you can also order an entree of Polish pierogi -- the famous dumplings filled with potatoes and cheese -- and get the full plate of fantastic too. (They taste just like my mother's and are so, so satisfying. ) Also on the menu is genuine highlander sheep cheese -- which you find everywhere in Zakopane. (A side note: I also traveled to Zakopane on my trip to Poland last month, and you can buy gorgeous leather goods, sheepskin coats, and much, much more, for a song, at the marketplace.)