The long lines at “Polish Lody” in Wroclaw. [Photo courtesy of behindorangecurtain]

The last two summers I spent in Wroclaw, I found one of the best kept secrets not only in Poland but all of central Europe.  It is a small ice cream parlor with huge lines in Wroclaw named simply, “Polish Lody” (pl. Bema 3/1B).  I started queuing for ice cream before lunch, sometimes 30 minutes before it opened at 10am–and I wasn’t the only one.  Long lines throughout the day are the norm for Polish Lody, and for good reason.

The homemade, no artificial color or flavor, all-natural ice cream at Polish Lody is what everyone should be doing at one point during their summer.  It can go toe-to-toe with any place in Europe, even the best Italian gelaterias.  But it’s more unique than gelato.  (After all, it is quite proudly Polish lody.  For a Polish language take on it and other ice cream places in Wroclaw, see here.)  The natural ice cream is smooth and melts slowly but surely, a testament of the quality of ingredients and the proper storage temperature.

The standard set of flavors are chocolate, a strawberry sorbet (which is somewhat different in texture and style than the rest), sesame (with crushed sesame seeds), and the now legendary cream, along with up to two other daily flavors.  Polish Lody has surprised me with a (pre-lunch) salted caramel or cinnamon or Snickers.  The shop is quite new, and sits conveniently in Bema Square, walking distance to Wroclaw Rynek.

If the lines are simply too long and you want to kill some time before it dies down (which it won’t), head to the nearby Bema Café, a modern cafe with a small, local bottled beer selection, homemade cakes, and Wroclaw’s best AeroPress coffee.

Here’s a Polish language look at Polish Lody: