Coffee & tea

Well hidden behind the corner of Peglezen, a house build by Jože Plečnik, who is a famous Slovenian architect, is a little bar called Green Moon. It could be just another of many similar bars in Ljubljana, but it is special because it is gay friendly. In fact, they say it is straight friendly. Anyway it is a nice place to visit regardless of your sexual orientation.

Outside there are only a few tables, but it is interesting to sit inside, because the walls are painted with drawings of Aztec and Mayan gods. The waitresses are kind and friendly. The bar offers coffees, beers and other beverages. I recommend you try the Agwa cocktails, which are their specialty. Every Thursday they organize student events with special discounts on drinks.

What used to be a tiny bookstore called Azil (Asylum,) is now a bookshop café that combines two bookstores and a café. Azil has a bookstore sister called Beletrina next door and a café inside and outside this place. Novi trg or New Square is surrounded with beautiful baroque palaces, so visiting this place will also give you a possibility to see one of the palaces from the inside.

Azil is run by the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, so what you can mostly get there is academic literature on humanistic and sociological sciences in Slovene, English, French and Russian. The atmosphere here is truly cozy and you can almost smell all the knowledge that the shelves store.

There’s a really good English language selection on philosophy. You can also find books on cultural studies and anthropology, arts, history, gender studies and even comic books. Check out for books by Slavoj Žižek, the most prominent and notorious Slovenian philosopher of all times! Azil is also a bookcrossing zone, so you might even find some free books or leave your own behind.

By the Koseski bajer pond (see the Koseski bajer pond article), bar Pri Cvicku is situated. The lovely bar is named after Dolenjska’s (Lower Carniolia – Slovene region) great “Cvicek” wine. It offers great views of the pond and perfect shade in summer.

Gostilnica Pri Cvicku is a simple bar, quite well known among the locals and it attracts a crowd that wants to enjoy their coffee or a glass of Cvicek wine. This rosé wine is bought directly from wine producers so you shouldn’t be disappointed, but be prepared, this wine could be quite dry for some tastes.

They also offer dried sausage with minced lard, which is traditional Slovenian, but obviously it is not suitable for vegetarians since it’s made of bacon and spices.

Bar Pri Cvicku can be an excellent stop on your way around Ljubljana on The Path of Remembrance and Comradeship.

The picture is from March, but these days as the summer is close there is a lot more people catching the sun and fresh air there.

The restaurant is decorated with a traditional Turkish decor; throw rugs, seats, various cultural artefacts and even the staff themselves wear traditional garb.

Besides offering meat and vegetarian dishes, they host belly dancing performances, sometimes a fortune-teller and even culinary delights with explanations. This typically takes place in the evening. As it should be, one also has an opportunity to smoke some Narghilé – the famous Turkish pipe.

During the day, until 15:00, a three course lunch is served for only € 7. It is not uncommon to smell Turkish-style coffee wafting out of the typical Slovenian home, however in the bars and cafes it is typically espresso that is served. Perhaps this is why Yildiz Han is so liked by locals here in Ljubljana. Here can you get what we call Turkish coffee.

The best is to sit outside in the summer garden, which is already operating.

From time to time, when I want to feel like a child again I go to see a theater performance in Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, which is located on Krekov trg in the city center of Ljubljana. They have a small stage where families with children come every weekend and watch puppet shows. On the right side of the theater, beneath the Ljubljana Castle’s funicular lie a few coffee bars.

Kljukec is the neighbour of a recently opened bar Daktari. Every time after the performance in Puppet theater we sit there, get ourselves coffee, hot wine, cacao, smoke, talk and listen to other guests. We don’t know them, but listen to the stories of puppeteers, costume designers, playwriters, directors and other employees of the theater, many of them foreigners with a guest performances.

Kljukec is also a convenient place when Daktari is overcrowded (which is quite often at the end of the week.) Recently the bar started to offer Suspended coffees. This great idea originates from Italy as caffé sospeso (in Slovenian Kava na zalogo) and means you pay for two caffees and drink only one. The second one you buy goes to those who can’t afford it.

Kljukec is indeed a favorite place of all the previously mentioned creative minds. If you want to know why they like this place so much, you’ll have to ask them. I am sure, they will answer you like a real “Kljukec“, a cunning, twisted boy from the roofs. I wasn’t satisfied with the answer. Will you be?