would buckwheat also be called 'Polish rice'?
Yeah, pretty much, I've been to Krakow a few times, and it gets sold in boil-in-the-bag sachets in most shops, and is on a lot of restaurant menus.
It makes a change from rice, more interesting shape, and the purplish, brownish and white colours make the meal look more exotic.
If you ever get the chance, Krakow's well worth a visit. A Polish prince married an Italian princess, she brought some architects across with her (well, who wouldn't, doesn't everyone take an architect with them when travelling?) so a lot of the buildings have this mix of medieval Eastern European with twirly Italian bits. Fantastic 200 metre long central square with stunning buildings dotted around it like something out of a Terry Gilliam movie.
The food can be a bit heavy, but the creamy borscht beetroot soup is like eating silk, although it can be a bit hit or miss on bolusing as some chefs use sugar with it. Goloncka is a huge big ham hock braised in beer, flesh just falls off the bone. Zureck's a soup made from fermented rye flour - sounds nasty but has got a nice tang to it.
Good value for money, I've often left the hotel around noon, had a couple of meals, hung around a few bars till the early hours and still gone home with change from about £20!
