A Balkan Meal in Ljubljana, Slovenia

The facade

Gostilna Čad 1889

During our visit to Slovenia, Rod’s colleague, Gorazd Avgustin took us around Ljubljana one day, which was great. The highlight was definitely lunch.

Gorazd took us to a restaurant that he really likes, as he wanted us to try what he called Balkan-style food, especially Serbian-inspired. Apparently, for many locals this would top the list of favorite restaurants. It’s the longest-running restaurant of its kind in town, as it opened in 1889.

It’s called Gostilna Čad and it’s a little out of the Old Town, near the American Embassy, Rožnik Hill, and a large park called Tivoli Park. It’s a lovely local place that we would probably not have known about and, even if we did, we’d probably have had trouble getting there---although we did find out there is a bus stop quite close by.

Sonya and Rod at the entrance

A special soft cheese

There’s a beautiful leafy garden, with shade under old chestnut trees, for outdoor seating, which was perfect for a very warm summer day. But, there is nice indoor seating too, with a cozy fire for cold days. It wasn’t too crowded when we were there, and the service was not rushed, so we could relax and enjoy the whole experience. And even better, the prices are very reasonable.

Gorazd picked out a selection of wonderful dishes, according to him a lot of typical Balkan foods, which is what this restaurant is well-known for. Famous ones are: cevapčiči, which is minced meat in a sausage shape and grilled; ražnjići, which is a Serbian pork kebab; roasted, then marinated, red bell peppers.

special meat plate

Sonya and Nath

Our feast

The special marinated red peppers

We had a meat platter with pork medallions, and different shaped cevapčiči; a very nice cooked bean dish (prebranec); marinated red bell peppers; flat bread with a kind of ajar (a red peppers mixture) and a soft cheese spread; a salad. All really tasty. Sonya had a beer and then we all shared a special red Serbian wine, called Milica, the label written in Serbian using the Cyrillic alphabet. Except Nath, who stuck with bottled water.

A lovely experience. If we are ever back in Ljubljana we’ll definitely return.