Under the tourist radar and just the right size to explore, Poznań is full of surprises, from cafes in hidden courtyards to riverbank summer pop-ups. Its bourgeois facade masks its anarchic, rebellious side, and it has friendly people, an entrepreneurial spirit and artistic vibe. I also appreciate its intimacy whenever I return from tours, and its flat, bike-friendly geography giving the sense that everything is nearby, including the countryside. With all that, I think Poznań – halfway between Warsaw and Berlin – might be the best starting point for tourists new to Poland. After all, this is where our country was founded, back in the 10th century.

Oskoma

This restaurant deserves Michelin stars. Its muscly tattoed head chef, Adam Adamczak, may look like a ruffian but actually he’s a visionary, creating delicate dishes that are traditionally Polish but with ultra-modern twists. I once had beef tartare served with an upside-down wine glass of hay smoke atop. Every detail, down to rare little mountain flowers, is beautifully crafted, every ingredient top quality. Follow the staff’s recommendations: though some combinations sound odd, they work amazingly well.

• Four-course tasting menu £28, Mickiewicza 9, oskoma.pl

Noriaki street art

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I love graffiti, so it’s pleasing that one of the world’s great street artists is from Poznań. He’s known only by the tag Noriaki, after the Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai, and he has his own distinct monochrome style. His main character is a stick figure called The Watcher, who has a periscope eye and can be spotted everywhere – on road signs, pavements and on walls. The best place to see it is the old town, on the corner of Szkolna and Paderewskiego streets. Noriak’s Watcher can also be spotted in Shoreditch, east London.

• instagram.com/noriakinoriaki

Mercure Poznań Centrum pastry shop

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This traditional bakery is the only place where I buy Poznań’s speciality: the St Martin’s croissant (rogale świętomarcińskie). On 11 November every year, St Martin’s Day commemorates a young priest who cooked croissants for the poor; today, we consume tonnes of them all year round, and there’s even a museum devoted to them here. Folded exactly 81 times and shaped like a horseshoe, the croissants are filled with a paste of white poppy seeds, almonds and raisins, then topped with icing and more nuts. You need a special licence to bake them, and the Mercure’s shop makes the best.

• Roosevelta 20, accorhotels.com

Zemsta

Zemsta is hugely important in Poznań. It’s a small, neatly decorated anarchist bookstore where you can read unusual texts, eat vegan food, drink Zapatista-made coffee and meet free-thinkers or radicals. Poland has seen a shift to the far right, so places like Zemsta, whose owners hail from Poland’s oldest squat in Rozbrat, are really important as they encourage political debate and change.

• Fredry 5/3a, zemsta.org, closed Sundays

Glanc

In Poznań, having coffee without eating something sweet feels weird. Beside the central Baltyk Tower skyscraper, shaped like a giant glass staircase, sits an old printing house that now houses design companies. Also here is Glanc, a hip cafe with marble tables and iron chairs. The coffee is good but people really come for the homemade desserts and cakes. Beautiful and vivid, they include Portuguese tarts, praline pastries, Belgian chocolate-piped buns and macaroons with little dollops of colourful cream. Yum!

• Zwierzyniecka 3, on Facebook

Świetlica

“Świetlica” means a children’s playgroup but this cafe is for adults. It’s inside the modern part of Zamek (the imperial castle) – actually a neo-Romanesque palace built under German rule in 1910 and now an arts centre that hosts over 2,500 annual events, from film festivals to concerts. Above the Great Hall’s two galleries, this cool cafe-bar is open until 10pm. I like to sip a non-alcoholic bomba (spinach, pineapple, orange juice, banana and linseed) here before playing a concert, or catch up with friends over a few glasses of prosecco. In the foyer below, there are huge beanbags to chill out on.

• Święty Marcin 80/82, on Facebook

Tylko U Nas – U Dziadka

U Dziadka (pronounced “o-jadka”), as it is known to everyone, is a local institution popular with workers and students. Close to Old Market Square and run by Paulina, it’s like going to your grandparents’ house for lunch. Its chunky pan-fried pork chops are legendary, served with buttery potatoes and cabbage salad, and so cheap (£3). Everyone eats together at one long communal table, or you can get takeaway.

• Szkolna 7, on Facebook, closes 6.30pm weekdays and 4.30pm weekends

Klub Dragon

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When first entering this place, close to Old Market Square, you think there’s only one room but beyond the first dimly lit bar, corridors and stairs lead to a courtyard and balconies, to corners for quiet chats, to basement raves, secret restaurant and room that holds 80-100 people for jazz or improv gigs. Often open until dawn, Dragon also serves great food – I love the French fries with orange sauce or red-curried shrimps. Above all, it’s full of artists: if Poznań’s famous film-music composer Krzysztof Komeda were alive today, he’d be here drinking cherry vodka.

• Zamkowa 3, on Facebook

Lodziarnia Kolorowa

This shop sells Poznan’s best ice-cream, and you’ll probably have to queue to get it. While the city has seen a craze for liquid-nitrogen parlours in the last two years, Kolorowa serves “natural” ice-creams and sorbets made the old-fashioned way. I normally order strawberry cream, but the Snickers and blackcurrant-and-mascarpone flavours are really popular, and chocolate-filled cones are available on request. Opposite the Okrąglak building, its prices are sensational but it’s cash only and there’s no seating.

• Around £1.60 for two scoops, 27 Grudnia 21, no website

Bo.Poznan

Named after its owner, Borys, this restaurant – next to Zamek – is the best breakfast place in town. Borys serves food to rival modern fusion restaurants, for around half the price (£3.20), and frequently changes the menu. You can choose between shakshuka, salads, porridges and french toast, all with unusual twists like beetroot tartare or red-onion jam from old family recipes. I recommend the brioche with black pudding, poached egg, bacon and caramelised onion – it’s astonishing!

• Kościuszki 84, on Facebook, open from 8am, closed Thursdays and Fridays

Getting there

Wizz Air flies direct to Poznań from Luton, Birmingham and Doncaster/Sheffield.

Where to stay

Airbnb has options across the city but many are run by agents, so try for a genuine local home like Magda’s top-floor flat (from £30 a night) in the hip district of Jeżyce.

Best time to go

Between June and late August, urban beaches open along the Warta River’s grassy banks, linked at weekends by the dinky Water Tram.

Exchange rate

£1 = 5 zlotys. A small beer costs from 5 zlotys and a coffee from 3 zlotys.

Daga Gregorowicz performs with the band Dagadana, which fuses Polish and Ukrainian music with jazz, electronic and other global influences

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