We went to the The Dilettantes restaurant in the first week of the holidays, when our children were at sports camp. It was the first time in 13 years that we had been alone for a while. Despite the stress of it being the first time my son had been away on his own for such a long time, it was a special occasion. Above all, we were able to unwind mentally. We love our children, but a short time without "Mum!" every ten seconds was invaluable. The cinema, theatre, restaurants, walking and time together – this was something we had needed for a long time.

We found the Dilettantes thanks to Trip Advisor. Sometimes, when we don't have any idea where to go, we use their recommendations. A few times we have discovered some really nice places. The recommendations depend on your taste and individual feelings, which means you get mixed results. However, we assumed that on our first day of freedom it somehow had to work out. We didn't imagine, however, that we would find a restaurant which would win over our hearts and stomachs and which would make it to our list of favorite places.

We started the dinner with light vegetable starters. Carrots with peas could sound boring, but not when the dish is done by the Dilettantes. They were part of a colorful and excellent meal served with coriander dressing, ramson and linseed crisps. I was entranced with the beetroot terrine, which made the perfect dish with kumquat, walnuts, pickled ginger and a surprisingly refreshing horseradish sorbet. They were quite big dishes, even though they were just starters, and the composition on the plate pleased the eyes, tempted with the aroma and surprised with the flavors.

One of our favourite holiday destinations is Croatia. It enables endless opportunity to rest. Every tourist can find something for himself there. Those who like history can visit the Dioklecjan Palace in Split or the Castle in Dubrownik. Nature lovers can spend a wonderful time in National Park Plitvice Lakes or National Park Krka. Those who like water sports have favourable conditions for sailing, windsurfing or diving. Those who like spending their holiday on a lawn chair can find hotels with swimming pools in the touristic resorts and crystal azure water in the picturesque sea coves. An unmistakable asset of a holiday in Croatia is the weather. Hot summer and a clear sky tempt you to sunbathe and swim. We were also delighted by Croatian food. Fish and seafood are as fresh as you can imagine. Add some summer fruit and vegetables to this and you have a holiday menu which you will mention dreamily all year.

Today you can get to know the yummy Balkan flavour in Munja Restaurant on Grzybowska Street 43 in Warsaw. This nice restaurant is run by a family from Montenegro and their Polish friends, and it is only place in Warsaw where light and hot Adriatic Sea food is served.

The weather on the day we visited Munja Restaurant wasn't nice, so we decided to warm up and we ordered winter teas: one with raspberry liqueur and the second with citrus fruit and honey. Both of them were yummy, warmed us up brilliantly and we were able to peruse the not-too-long but varied menu. We love fish soup, so we chose this dish as a starter. Strong with mussels, octopus and fish, it was spicy and great on this wintry day. It was a wonderful beginning to the dinner and then it got even better.

Though the late autumn doesn't encourage us to go on long walks, I think it is worth finding the motivation to go outside and get some fresh air. An empty autumn park, nostalgic fog and rustling leaves underfoot can be quite nice, especially if you are accompanied by somebody pleasant. If the chill and bitter wind trouble you acutely, you can call in at Videlec – a new place on the culinary map of Warsaw. Here you may start your culinary adventure with strong, fragrant and warming winter tea, which is full of spices. Then you can calmly explore the secrets of the menu.

I recommend starting the feast with one of the small but very tasty starters. There is something for everybody: bruschetta with dried tomatoes, olives and Parmesan, light beetroot carpaccio with smoked cheese, steak tartare with mushrooms, capers and onion and even not so popular ox tongues. The offer is very attractive and I admit I had a problem settling on something. Choosing the soup was easier. There were two soups on the menu and we tried both of them. I especially recommend sunchoke cream soup, beautifully served with beetroot, pine nuts and truffle olive oil. The mushroom soup surprised us with its fixings: smoked trout, thyme and chanterelles. Among the many main courses we chose perfectly baked duck served with mango-pumpkin puree, blackcurrant and sandthorn and fragrant fettuccine with shrimps and cherry tomatoes.

We were in Videlec on Saturday afternoon so we were regaled with the dinner dishes. The chef also recommend a very interesting breakfast and from Monday to Friday a very tasty lunch, as advertised on Facebook.

At the Polish seaside you can eat anything you like: fish and seafood, pizza, hamburgers, creps, dumplings, sushi, and tasty homemade dinners. When we visit a small town for the first time and we don't have any favourite restaurants, we visit the places which somebody has tried already and evaluated and recommended. Obviously, we may have different tastes and expectations, and this way of choosing could be unsuccessful, but in Jastrzębia Góra the internet users' opinions didn't let us down.

We came across the tavern "U Rybaka" ('At the Fisherman's place' ). Right after our first dinner we knew it was a success, and we stayed faithful to "U Rybaka" ('At the Fisherman' ) until the end of our stay in Jastrzębia Góra. We didn't eat there every day, but for a few days we tried some of the yummy dishes.

At dinnertime the long queue of hungry vacationers waiting for a free table may be off-putting. For me it was a sign of the quality of the food in the restaurant. The tavern has a lot of seats and the nice staff efficiently steer you towards free tables. If you are patient and wait for a few minutes you won't be disappointed.

There is something for everybody on the menu. We focused on fish, but if somebody doesn't like it, they may also eat a tasty dinner. There are meat dishes, traditional soups, pasta dishes, dumplings and salads. The herring starters and steak tartare with salmon were our first choice. Both of them were excellent. The herring dish was so big that we were all able to try it.

This year we spent our winter holiday in Tri-City. We lived within easy walking distance of "Monciak", i.e. the most popular street in Sopot, which is comparable to the well-known Krupówki in Zakopane. Thanks to that, the walk to the beautiful seaside and the pier lasted about 15 minutes. Everything would have been great but for an intrusive and mouthy lout who tried to ruin our holiday on the very first day. But that is a story for the another entry. We decided not to pay any attention to the boorishness, and slamming the door we started our stay in Sopot with a walk to the pier and beach. Strong frost, gathering dusk and a cold wind tried to cut our walk short, but we were tough and we hung in. Waves, rumbling wind and seagulls are the stuff of the Polish coast. In the summer we can add hot sand and a maze of windbreaks, but now, for obvious reasons, we didn't encounter this.
However, we are not made of steel, so we were absolutely freezing when we got down from the pier. Fortunately, we found a nice restaurant called Fish band. It was placed very attractively by the pier on the first floor in the left arcade. This entrance could be misleading. We saw a slightly subdued light and we thought that the restaurant was closed. We made our way inside where it was much better: light, tasteful, warm and above all - very tasty.
Though the menu predominately consisted of fish and seafood, in the restaurant you can also find a dish for people who don't like fish or can't eat them. We ordered fish soup - mild but with a strong fishy taste and a hint of horseradish.