Gdansk – Cukiernia Sowa (Ulica Długa)

This is the first day in Poland on this trip that I didn’t have breakfast at the hotel, so I thought that I’d pop to my favourite Polish chain that is Cukiernia Sowa. This is a substantial sized shop on Ulica Długa, the city’s main street, and it stretches across numerous properties.

Just as I thought I knew Cukiernia Sowa and their set-up, I realised (well, was told by a polite staff member) that there was table service offered and the counter service was for take-away customers only. I was reassured though to note that from a few on-line reviews and customers in the shop that others were also confused. The usual tempting display of cakes is visible though, all looking beautiful and well presented.

I had a pleasant seat by the window. The staff member took a few minutes to come over but he was helpful, although seemed moderately surprised that my order was limited to a hot chocolate. They do more substantial meals here to an extent that I haven’t seen before in this chain, the cheese and meat platters looked interesting, but I was saving myself for my lunchtime pizza that I had been planning elsewhere.

And here’s the entirety of my order, the hot chocolate. I might have been tempted (as I set the bar quite low here on being tempted by an eclair or something) to get a pastry with it if ordering at the counter, but I couldn’t be faffing with that for table service. It’s a rich hot chocolate that you can stand a spoon up in, always a delight, and it costs around £1.70, which I think is a bargain for such decadence.

As usual, the environment here is calm and comfortable, quite a cosy little arrangement. It took me a few minutes to get the staff member’s attention to get the bill, but it wasn’t an excessive wait. I can see why they’ve switched to table service here, as most customers probably want something a little more substantial and that’s more difficult for the staff members to deal with at the counter in a busy environment. I’m sure one day that will be replaced with ordering via an app, which is always a handy option for me. Anyway, I recommend the hot chocolates here, very delightful.