Poland has a distinctive cuisine, with typical ingredients being dill, marjoram, caraway seeds, wild mushrooms and sour cream, which is frequently added to soups, sauces and braised meats. Soups play an important part at mealtimes and are usually rich and very thick, and are often served in cups with small hot pasties stuffed with meat or cabbage. Poland is also a good country for fish (ryba). Pastries (ciastka) are also very good. Table service is the norm in restaurants. Western drinks, such as whisky, gin or brandy, can be obtained in most bars but are expensive. Wine is available but, again, is imported and expensive. Bars have table and/or counter service. Coffee shops are very popular in Poland and are the favourite places for social meetings from early morning to late at night. They do not close during the day and have the same function as do pubs in the United Kingdom. Alcoholic drinks are available throughout the day.
National specialities:
• Bigos (sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, onions and any variety of leftover meat).
• Carp served in sweet-and-sour jellied sauce.
• Poached pike with horseradish in cream.
• Salted and rolled herring fillets with pickles and onions.
• Kulebiak (a large mushroom and cabbage pasty).
• Kabanos (long, thick sausages).
• Barszcz (beetroot soup, excellent with sour cream).
• Zrazy zawijane (mushroom-stuffed beefsteak rolls in sour cream).
• Kasza (buckwheat).
National drink:
• Vodka (wódka, in many various flavours).
• The best bottled beer is zywiec, a fairly strong lager-type beer.
Tipping: 10 to 15 per cent is customary in restaurants and cafes. Tipping in self-service restaurants is not expected. Tips for porter’s services in hotels and train stations are customary but amounts are at the traveller’s discretion.

Warsaw has about 17 theatres and three opera companies. Cinemas in Poland show both Polish and foreign films. There are some discos, as well as a growing number of nightclubs and music bars in Warsaw.

Special purchases include glass and enamelware, handwoven rugs, silverware, handmade jewellery with amber and silver, dolls in regional costumes, woodcarvings and clay and metal sculptures. Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0600-1800/1900, shorter hours on Saturday and Sunday. ‘Night shops’ open 2000-0800. Supermarkets and department stores open Mon-Sat 0900-2000. Bookshops open Mon-Fri 1100-1900.