Asian food - is it easy to find in Poland (particularly Lublin)?

Hi,
I'm moving to PL for a couple years for school... Lublin in particular, and I was wondering how hard it is to find products from other ethnicities. I've visited the city on several occasions as a kid, but have not been back for years now, and have never stayed more than a couple months.

I'm from a very asian part of California (USA) and have more or less gotten hooked on various Chinese, Vietnamese and especially Japanese foods/products. Here there are ethnic stores (where about 1/2+ is stuff imported from the country or countries in question).

I've been told by Polish contacts that there are asian sauces and food available, but ever since an aunt took me to a Chinese restaurant half a dozen years ago I've been very wary of 'asian' products in Poland. I've heard sushi is taking off but fear ever being asked to try it... Are there stores where such actual asian food stuffs, etc can be found, or is it mainly PL brand terriyaki and sweet n' sour marinades?

I've grown quite dependent on a proper rice cooker and rice vinegar (ever since room mate showed me how to freeze rice and nuke it back to steaming perfection in 3min for quick dorm food); nori, fish and housin sauces, bamboo shoots and udon noodles as well... but I fear I can't be too hopeful on those.

ps~ posted this as a comment in another post before I realized the forum here had a food section... -__-; sorry

in warsaw you can get everything even tofu. i cant speak for Lublin as I have never been there. but my guess is that there will be vietnamese people there with restaurants and food shops. shouldnt be a problem for you but if it is than you will have to make a trip to warsaw. pm me and I can tell you where the shops are here.

I've never been one for tofu, unless you mean inari packets. Those are tasty ^_^
So long as I can get nori sheets (for sushi), a good rice cooker (would hate to use up so much space to haul one over), udon, memmin, nishiki rice and rice vinegar, a trip to Warszawa will be well worth it. Oh, and my bamboo shoots ^_^...

How are they on asian veggies (lychee, bok choi, etc)?
So is vietnamese the main asian group in Poland at the moment? Does that mean that pho is popping up over there as well ^_^?
Thanks for the quick reply!

Oh! and how are the prices on those things, if you know of a couple examples (a good rice cooker especially)?

Ive had Chinese in Poland a few times including Warsaw, all i can say is that it tastes nothing like the real deal.

That's been my experience too, Wroclaw Boy...
my aunt took me to 'zloty smok' (I think)... i ordered kung po chicken, only instead of peanuts they used walnuts (the bitter coating still on), instead of scallions they used brown onion and I think the chicken still had bones in it. It was interesting... kinda.

That was in 2000 or so, thus my Q's about the state of asian food now.
I love to cook and have had enough friends in undergrad to learn how to make most of the dishes I like provided I have enough of the ingredients to improvise the rest ^_^

There is a Vietnamese place in Zabrze but virtually nothing here in Gliwice. There was a good Thai restaurant in Warsaw. However, it tends to be pricy and not like the original.

hmmm...
how much are we talking about? for ingredients and for restaurants?
A big bowl of pho here runs about $5-7 depending on the toppings... bowl of ramen $6+
10 sheets of nori run about $4 and a 20lb bag of nishiki runs about $20
most of the sauces run $2-5 for a regular sized bottle

That's been my experience too, Wroclaw Boy...
my aunt took me to 'zloty smok' (I think)... i ordered kung po chicken, only instead of peanuts they used walnuts (the bitter coating still on), instead of scallions they used brown onion and I think the chicken still had bones in it. It was interesting... kinda. [/quote]

The cooking in Poland is extremely rustic to say the least, its not a surprise to find bits of wood and crushed up bay leaf in your bigos. Adds to the flavour i suppose.

The one thing i really cant stand is egg shell in scrambled eggs.

haven't had much experience eating out, besides the aforementioned chinese dish and a few times while sightseeing.
Never had bits of wood or eggshell... quite thankful for that
Though your comment did make me reinvest in my resolution to NOT try the sushi, which my grandparents insist is getting popular there (I made them some last time they came to visit... and they have a habit of trying to prove Poland has everything just like the US... -__-; not to complain but yeah... ). Raw fish + Polish track record with foreign food = me staying the hell away. Specially after the yummies I've had for my birthday dinner ^_^ $100/person, but OH so worth it

I've been to Lublin and can't say i've seen any Asian restaurants nor products

i live in poznan... and i tried all the asian restaurant i can find here...
don't think any of the food/ products are as good as the ones in asiatown in north america.

if you are really serious about asian food, i suggest you to go to berlin, there are some good restaurants there. =)

You tried all of them in Poznan?

You poor thing...I wouldn't risk some of them.

damn... looks like I'm SOL after all...
*shrug*
how's Poland in imitation crab meat and avocado's? super $$$ or hard to find?

I lived in Lublin for 4 years and now not far away and I used to know a Korean guy who lives in Lublin and he has a oriental come Chinese restaurant and I know for 100% it is still there, so you just need to ask around.

As to Chinese food products you will find them in shops and I have noticed an increase in the availability of them.
With a bit of searching it isn't so hard to find Chinese food products, but unfortunately don't expect a huge range of products.

*edit* just remembered where it was, but I cannot remember the name ul. Krakowskie Przedmiescie

zumi.pl/31539,Restauracja_Chinska_Zloty_Smok._Food_Group,Lu blin,firma.html

lol... maybe it changed owners, cuz that's the one i went to in 2000 or so in my post up top (the one about the weird kung po)

the menu still looks similar to what it was... inc the bad english that made me laugh at the time... Here we're used to the menu being in chinese with eng translation... not polish (native language) with english subs... struck me as hella odd ^_^

zlotysmok.lublin.pl/index.php-wh=rch.htm

The free delivery, however, is new... I think. Might try it when i go back, see if it's gotten better.
As for the products, do ytou mean in regular stores? Nothing like a dedicated ethnic store around there? Guess I'll have to bug family to take me to warsaw on a semi-regular basis. *adds 'big bottle of Marukan' and '50-sheet nori' on her to-pack list*

^_^

I have never seen any Chinese restaurants before but i second whoever said that you can find excellent Chinese food in Berlin....the best i have ever had and i spent 6 weeks in Asia =)

Berlin is kinda far from Lublin...
I don't really need restaurants so much as ingredients, AKA stores that sell bamboo shoots and eel sauce and rice vinegar...
Oh, and a wok. Can you find good size (cheap) wok's there, or should I bring my own?

there wont be any problem with buying wok. probably it would be even 'made in china' ;)

pft... i was under the impression most things were, nowadays ^_^
what about the other stuff? Can they be found in Lublin or are they more of a 'trip to Warsaw' kind deal... or is it one of those things that you just can't get? I mean, half the stuff i routinely buy is from ethnic stores cuz the big markets (leklerk-type, though I know I've butchered the spelling) only have a couple stereotyped items at highly elevated prices (some soy sauce, maybe some rice vinegar for 3x what i pay, some seasoning packets and so on)

Czesc, There is a shop called Nowa, near the castle and the main bus station. Me and my girlfriend always find lots of sauces and exotic teas here. This would be a good start for you.Czesc Marecki (mark)

thanks, I'll check it out when I get there ^_^

Where is this Vietnamese place in Zabrze? I'm really curious. And there's A-Dong restaurant in Gliwice, it looks slightly "PRL"ish inside but food is really delicious..

It's in the shopping centre called Platan. It's opposite the travel agency where my fiancee works. I haven't tried A-Dong, unbelievable given that I've lived here for over 4 years. What is the range of their menu?

I've been there twice, but that was long time ago, last time I ate sichuan style spare ribs, really delicious food.. check their web site: adong.com.pl

I was gonna go on the weekend but my fiancee had to work. Szechuan-style sauces are legendary.

something struck me, how is PL about mexican food items, too? Tortillas and taco shells in particular? (didn't want to start a new thread for just the sidenote ^_^)

There is a Mexican restaurant here in Gliwice, Elssha. I can forward info if you like.

Are there any Chinese and Mexican places in Wrocław?
Sorry DN...

There is a Cuban bar just off the rynek, past Pizza Hut coming from the station. It serves South American stuff. I guess it's still there.