Percheron Restaurant - Cafe Oranzeria

Foremost on offer at Percheron restaurant and its connected Café Oranzeria is its breathtaking view of Krakow. From the seventh floor of the modern 4-star Kossak hotel opens a full, unspoilt panorama of the historic architecture along the Wisla riverbank. The windows of Orangeria look straight out onto Wawel's towers, resting in the very centre of the cityscape while removed from the rush of the streets below.

Adjoining Hotel Kossak is named after the painter, Juliusz Kossak; an enlarged and illuminated reproduction of his 'Szymon Mohort Presenting the Stud Farm to Prince Jozef Poniatowski' dominates the wall of the hotel's Lobby Bar, where fine wines from around the world are served in a relaxed atmosphere. In the ground-floor-level Percheron restaurant, an artist's taste is visible in the elegant but subtle decoration, modern but not overly so, in pale lilac and shades of burgundy, with original, twisted red lampshades and neat, square-backed but softly upholstered chairs and sofas. Historical photographs of Krakow, from the turn of the twentieth century, line the walls in neatly-spaced rows of thin black frames.

In an establishment named after a painter, the food is necessarily a work of art. Percheron boasts the only Polish member of the renowned French Académie Nationale de Cuisine as its chef. A blend of fine European dishes includes the largest selection of carpaccio in Krakow, from meat and fish to fruit and vegetarian. All manner of egg dishes are served for breakfast; hors d'oeuvres include tasty treats that are rarer in Krakow, like mille feuilles, salmon tatar, or goat cheese, sun-dried tomato and fresh herb salad. The lunch and dinner menus offer a wide array of meat dishes, from beef to lamb to wild boar marinated in cranberries and honey; creatively seasoned pasta dishes; and a dessert menu that covers everything from the typical ice creams and sorbets to crème broulée, pistachio mousse, nougat and crêpes.