We heard it many times that there’s a famous Italian restaurant run by Italians in Murzasichle. That they serve amazing pizza, and pasta and make you feel like you’re in Italy. People were telling us this every now and then. “You have to go there, the food is delicious!”. When our Italy-loving friends who have lived in Italy and tried local cuisine at its best, recommended the place, we knew we had to go to Murzasichle.
It didn’t work out the first time we wanted to go and find this Italian gem. We planned to stop by for dinner on our way home from Zakopane in February, but Maks decided to spontaneously take a “bath” in a puddle of mud before entering Kościeliska Valley and made the visit impossible. This time we’re staying longer in Zakopane and we managed to find time for Murzasichle too!
We googled the restaurant quickly and got a bit surprised with the name – Le Chalet– not an easy guess and not a perfect shot since Chalet means toilet in Polish. But it’s not that important. Off we go! It’s Maundy Thursday evening. Even Krupówki street looks deserted and therefore we worry if La Chalet is going to be open. We type the coordinates into our GPS and quickly get there – it’s only 14 km from Zakopane. A little signboard and a highlander’s cottage, dark. I’m getting afraid that it’s closed and Maks won’t get the pizza i promised him. We enter at 8.25 pm and a girl our age (owner? waitress?) welcomes us and assures us that the place is open. I’m still a bit worried since the restaurant looks empty and the menu says that the kitchen closes at 8.30 pm! Well, we order anyway. We start talking and learn that Le Chalet is a family business where the father and son cook while mother and son’s fiancée (who’s the one talking with us) serve the customers. We learn that they often travel to Italy to buy the ingredients and that the restaurant has been in Murzasichle since 1991 and the chefs has been teaching Polish people what Italian cuisine is about ever since.
a simple interior
Menu is not too long (good thing!) but it should suit anybody. Approx. 20 types of pizza – since many come here to eat pizza in particular (like Maks!). Prices range from PLN 21-39. here’s one thing I see that makes me smile and assures me that we’re in the right place. It’s the warning on the menu: “Under ours and Italian tradition, we don’t serve any extra sauces (like ketchup) with our pizza”. Well, it’s not a place for those who like to spoil the taste of pizza with tomato sauce or, what’s even worse, garlic one. Not here! I already told you, that the owners teach Poles how does Italian cuisine look like. The menu also includes a risotto, a few types of pasta with classics such as tagliatelle al ragu (also known as “bolognese”, even though this name is not used in Italy), puttanesca with tomato sauce, olives, capers, anchovies and chilli and a carbonara. Or to be more precise carbonara polonese. Why? Because it’s with cream! The real Italian carbonara is bacon/ham, garlic, eggs and parmesan. However the staff in Le Chalet couldn’t stand constant questions about the cream sauce and that’s how carbonara polonese was born. Seems like the education didn’t work out in this part. The starters include Italian cold meats and high quality cheese, while main course section consists of veal escalope, beef tenderloin and gilt-head bream.
We started with a pizza. Lately it’s been an absolute must for Maks. We went for a standard capricciosa (PLN 28). A middle-sized one, with lots of ingredients (ham, artichokes, anchovies and mushrooms) sprinkled randomly on it.. The pastry is simple, crispy, not as delicate as in our beloved Bella Napoli in Warsaw (also run by Italians), but still very similar to pizza we tried in Naples or Tuscany.
Italian mess?
perfect taste of mozzarella di bufala.. but what’s the salad for?
When it comes to starters mozzarella di Bufala with tomatoes (PLN 27) and Prosciutto di Parma ham (PLN 23) also taste very good. Ordering two starters to share makes a perfect combination! I would only remove the salad from caprese – it’s absolutely redundant. Or is it customised to meet with Polish likes?
Gnocchi and tortelli were the most amazing things, though. I love ordering such meals in restaurants since I never do it at home. Before the child, own company and the blog, I made my own gnocchi a few times and I know how good homemade one tastes. Delicate, melting in your mouth. That’s how gnocchi al burro e salvia (with butter and sage, sprinkled with parmesan) (PLN 33) tasted in Le Chalet. Amazing. That’s what I thought on the first day. The day after I got even more ecstatic about tortelli di erbetta (with spinach and ricotta) also fried on butter with sage and sprinkled with parmesan (PLN 35). Melting in your mouth again, but with an intensive flavour of the filling. Amazing!
tortelli di erbetta, that I can’t forget about
Łukasz went for a classic. Puttanesca (PLN 28) was alright but not spicy enough for him. Fortunately pappardelle with ragu made from lamb from Podhale from the Easter menu made him absolutely happy. Same goes for tagliatelle al ragu with veal and beef meat that Maks had.
classic, but not too spicy puttanesca
After dinner, we decided to order the dessert. Desserts vary depending on the time of season and customer flow. There wasn’t a lot to choose from this time, but Italian yeast “Colomba” cake served hot with English cream was available. I’m not a big fan of yeast cakes (ate too much at home, you know what I mean :)), but this one, with hot cream poured over it, tasted really good. The simplicity of this dessert reminded me of Easter cakes that we had in Positano on Amalfi coast 2 years ago.
yeast cake with English sauce – a nice combination
I can say that the food in Le Chalet is delicious and genuinely Italian. I really want to drop by once again on our way to Warsaw! The prices are at Warsaw levels, but it’s still worth it… especially after staying 4-5 days in Zakopane and running out of decent places to eat that aren’t clones of highlander’s inns on Krupówki… Yes, it’s cheaper, but what’s the point if it makes you feel like in a factory (that’s how I felt in Owczarnia today, where we decided to have a quick lunch after a long walk)?? In Le Chalet, you will feel part like in Italy and part like in Podhale and the taste of tortelli will follow you for quite a while 🙂 And these are the people responsible 🙂
younger generation of Le Chalet owners – Paolo, the chef and his fiancee who serves the customers
PS. there’s a bit discouraging note on the door.. something about not tolerating naughty and noisy kids. Don’t worry, the owners are children-friendly, but they need to take care of crazy few-year olds 🙂 since the restaurant is tiny and quite crowded during the season. They just make it clear that they want the parents to look after their children (which is a good point!). After today’s spent with Maks I fully understand the note – he got a giant bruise on his forehead after a crazy day at home!
Practical information:
Le Chalet
ul.Sądelska 86 b
Murzasichle
te. 18 208 43 82
e-mail: info@lechalet.pl
opening hours:
Mon, Wed-Sun – 12-21.00 (12-22.00 in high season)
Tuesday – closed
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