Albertina Restaurant & Wine

Albertina Restaurant & Wine is one of the Old Town's more polished places to eat, on Dominikańska Street a few minutes from the Main Market Square. Its calling card is seafood, unusual in a city so far from the coast: lobster, oysters and scallops are the headline ingredients, and live lobsters are kept in the restaurant's own tank. The restaurant is recommended in the Michelin Guide and lists recognition from Gault&Millau, Forbes, Slow Food Polska, Star Wine List and a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

There are two ways to approach the menu. You can order seafood à la carte, perhaps starting with oysters and moving on to lobster or scallops, or you can choose the restaurant's own seasonal tasting menu, which draws on Polish game and local produce alongside the seafood. The tasting menu is the better choice if you want to understand the kitchen's style.

Wine is the other half of the name and is taken seriously. The list is organised into sections such as Great Classics and lesser-known discoveries, and about thirty-two wines are available by the glass, served through Coravin and Enomatic dispensers. That makes Albertina a rewarding place to try a range of wines without committing to a whole bottle, and a good stop simply for a glass and some oysters. The two list sections are a helpful way in: Great Classics for familiar regions and the discoveries section for something you are less likely to have tried before.

The restaurant suits couples, special occasions and business dinners, and the by-the-glass list makes it equally appealing to wine lovers dining alone. Prices reflect the ingredients, so it is a treat rather than an everyday option. It is open from 17:00 to 23:00 from Monday to Thursday and from 12:00 to 23:00 from Friday to Sunday, which makes a weekend seafood lunch possible. Reservations are made by phone or email using the contacts on the restaurant's website, and booking ahead is sensible for weekend evenings.

The restaurant is a few minutes' walk from the Cloth Hall and St Mary's Basilica, and Kazimierz is reachable on foot in around a quarter of an hour, so it is easy to continue the evening in either district.