On the vegan map of Krakow, there’s one place that stands out. Not only because of the original menu, but also thanks to its peculiar name. Turlaj Klopsa is a wordplay on an old-timey Polish phrase ‘turlaj dropsa’, which means ‘get lost.’ Now bear with me, the wordplay goes deeper than that, I promise! Another way to say ‘get lost’ is “wypchaj się,” which literally means ‘stuff yourself.” “Klops” means “meatball,” and there you have it! “Stuff yourself with meatballs.” Which is what you can do at this delicious establishment.

Turlaj Klopsa is 100% vegan so there’s no meat in the meatballs! They have a mix-and-match menu, that allows you to choose your base (black rice, buckwheat, veggie ‘spaghetti’), your sauce (tofu bolognese, ‘African’ stew, ‘cheese’ sauce with broccoli), and of course your meatball (kale, sweet potato, ‘multi-plant’)

On top of that, there’s a ‘soup of the week’ and every day a different dessert! They also have their own signature yerba mate-based drinks, in 4 different flavors, one of them being elderflower.

Turlaj Klopsa started out as a food truck, and now they have a small place at Karmelicka Street and 2 more food trucks around town: on Słowackiego, Izzaka and Jana Pawła II St. (in front of Beksiński Gallery, check it out!). As a matter of fact, they managed to expand despite the pandemic – I think this only adds to the fact that Turlaj Klopsa is worth a try, no matter if you’re a vegan or not!