Polish cuisine has long conjured images of queues in milk bar cafeterias and cottage kitchens with surly babcias behind the counter, but the reputation of the national kitchen has been on the rise as a new generation of Polish gourmands have been reinventing traditional dishes and rediscovering the diversity of Polish products and tastes. Though once decried as bland and boring, modern Polish cuisine is now hailed for its simplicity and richness of flavour, and a newfound appreciation for the creativity and inventiveness of Polish food (particularly its embrace of pickling vegetables for the winter) has emerged. Since medieval times, and with little change since, Polish cuisine has actually been rooted in the principals that have now gained traction internationally in contemporary gastronomic trends like the 'slow food,' 'farm to table' and 'eat seasonal' movements.

While Polish food's rep has been on the rise, Warsaw's restaurant scene has become arguably the most competitive in the country thanks to 9.6 million visitors a year on average, all of whom want to try a taste of what the locals eat regularly. It's all culminated in Warsaw's choice of eateries booming in the last decade or so, and quite frankly, the pace of change and output quality may seem unthinkable for anyone who visited just twenty years ago; but it's the very expansive choice which aptly illustrates just how far the local gastronomy market has progressed. Below we list the best of traditional, innovative, modern and inherently Polish restaurants in Warsaw today. Whether you're a neophyte, or your dearest babcia fed you rosół and bigos your entire childhood, you'll be surprised and delighted by how these restaurants are taking Polish cuisine to new heights. Smacznego!