Restaurants & dining – All our local tips

Ajdovo Zrno is a mini vegetarian restaurant hidden in a small courtyard, about 1000 chickpeas away from the main square. I am not really fond of their fried dishes (I mean – isn’t vegetarian supposed to be healthy?) but boy; I love their salad bar. It looks almost like an RGB colour palette in Adobe Illustrator – such a big variety of colours and tastes.

What I like most is that all ingredients are neutral and they don’t have pre-prepared salad combinations, so you can spice up your bowl just like you want: with seeds, cheese, lemon juice, different kinds of oils or home made dressings. Yummy!

It is not expensive. If you are in search for something fast, fresh and healthy, this is the place. Oh yeah, don’t forget to try chestnut puree for dessert!

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Ajdovo Zrno | Restaurants (Vegetarian) | Lunch € 6.00
Trubarjeva cesta 7 | Center | +38612301615
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 19:00

Are you up for some fun? Gather your gang of friends and head to the biggest fun center in Ljubljana.

You can get action in a cellar with the Terminator laser games or simply enjoy the funky decorated bowling in the main area. On the upper floor you can take one of the 31 billiard tables, but remember it’s good to make a reservation before, because the place is always full!

If none of these works for you, you can simply escape the reality in the XpanD 3D cinema, even though in my opinion the cost of ticket doesn’t equal the enjoyment. But you never know, maybe you’ll be treated with one of their specials: turning the lights on in the middle of the movie or a broken projector… Like one of Slovene’s self-proclaimed stars said: “The show must go!” …I don’t know, what happened with the “ON”!

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Arena Vodafone Live | Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Restaurants (Italian food)
Smartinska 152 | Moste | +38615205626
Mon – Thu & Sun 10:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 10:00 – 01:00

I first discovered this place one cold winter night when my friend invited me for a cooked wine. I was surprised to get hazelnuts floating on the top of the cup’s content and right away I knew the place hides more than it’s seen on the first sight.

Later on I discovered it’s also a lovely restaurant with chill out bossa nova music and great fusion food. My favourite: chicken quesadilla with guacamole sauce. Mmm, yummy.

In the night the place transforms into a classy, but not too fancy place with a big variety of alcoholic beverages…Can I give you another tip? Only one word: Margaritas! Hmm, actually I don’t even know why the place is called “cafe” – never had one there…

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Cafe Romeo | Bars, Restaurants (Fusion) | Cassadilia € 5.50
Stari trg 6 | Center | +38614269011
11:00 – 01:00 daily

Strolling the cobbled stone streets in the old part of Ljubljana always leaves me with a great time.

Visiting pleasant little restaurants and chick designers’ shops. Every time you can discover something new, a door leading to a gallery hidden between old walls of middle-aged house or new collection of… soaps.

At the beginning of the main pedestrian street of this part of the town, the City hall and the Robb’s fountain in front will welcome you. Continue along the way and at the end turn left. The path will lead you all the way to the castle, where you can enjoy in a great view over the city. Definitely a pleasant choice to spend an afternoon.

For a virtual tour see here.

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Cobbled stone streets | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Shopping, Restaurants (Mediterranean)
Mestni trg | Center
24 hours daily

Located in the center, near the Parliament and Cankarjev dom, it is certainly a must visit restaurant. It has nice Thai food (I even heard someone say it is one of the best Thai restaurants in Europe), a lot of absolutely fabulous cocktails and a great modern design put into a commie building.

Although this is one of my favorite places to eat, I don’t really get their menu. The restaurant opened about 2 years ago and they changed the menu like a dozen times! First there was only one list of things they can offer, and then they got a weekly menu, after that they got a “real” more page menu and now… well I think that now they have 3 different menus… The only problem is that they don’t explain their system on a web page, so I will help you with this one.

The first menu is the student menu. It’s available for Ljubljana students with coupons, and is the cheapest. There is no time limit for this menu. But don’t forget – if you are not a student of any Slovene university you cannot get this menu.

The second one is a menu at lunch time. It has more reasonable prices (still a bit more expensive than student menu), but not a lot of different options per day.

The third one is the one where prices go over € 10.00. It comes in the evening hours and has a wider range of options.

Now you can choose the right one for your wallet and choose the time of your visit. Enjoy!

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DA BU DA | Bars, Restaurants (Thai) | Pad Thai (lunchtime) € 6.50
Šubičeva 1a | Center | +38614253060
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 23:00, Sat 12:00 – 23:00

On Streliska Street, eastern of the old center of Ljubljana and near the Castle hill, you will find the best Spanish restaurant in the city. It will await you with kind waiters, relaxed atmosphere, Spanish music and of course with tasty and inexpensive Spanish cuisine.

Don Felipe is one of those modern fusion-Spanish restaurants spreading all over Europe. In their menu, you can find a lot of different tapas: vegetarian, meat and seafood and a lot of Spanish wines. During lunchtime (from 12:00 to 16:00) you can take a 3 course meal which costs € 8.60. They also have some really nice desserts, but the best one is “tarta del muerte” – the cake to die for.

The restaurant is very popular among students and businessmen, so the shortage in place is quickly noticed. For this reason, it is better to make a reservation for lunch as well as for dinner. You also need a reservation if you want to check the flamenco night.

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Don Felipe | Restaurants (Spanish) | Lunch € 8.60
Streliska ulica 22 | Center | +38614343862
12:00 – 23:00 daily

All meat lovers unite! You will love this place. The only vegetable they use in this restaurant is onion (and yet only for the sake of better meat digestion), so it is not really vegetarian friendly. Also don’t expect fancy wine card or French desserts – here the only drink is beer and as a desert you get strong traditionally cooked Turkish coffee together with ‘old school’ Drina cigarette, packed with nicotine. Healthy food is for pussies anyway.

The menu is simple: grilled meat (cevapcici and/or sudzukice – a kind of sausages), home made bread, also a bit grilled, onion and kajmak – a special sort of cheese that you melt over meat.

And that’s it – that’s the whole magic. If you will try & eat everything you will have successfully passed the basic introduction course of traditional Balkan food. Congratulations!

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Harambasa | Snacks, Restaurants (Balkan) | Cevapcici € 5.00
Vrtna ulica 8 | Vic | +38641843106
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

Another Ljubljanica River faced place worth mentioning is Livada, not far from the centre.  Its speciality is Slovenian meat dishes and of Ljubljana’s speciality: fried frog legs.

Even though waiters are not the best and sometimes they look quite fed up with their job, it is a charming place. Definitely the most romantic thing to do is to come here by boat, which goes every hour from Dvorni trg square.

Livada is a neighbourhood with small houses and a lot of canoe and kayak clubs. This really quiet part of the city is already geographically opening towards the south, towards Ljubljansko Barje marshes.

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Livada | Restaurants (Slovenian) | Daily lunch € 6.90
Hladnikova cesta 15 | Rudnik | +38612803870
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 22:30, Sun 10:00 – 18:00

Not so impressive inside, but so much better outside. Ljubljanski dvor, the place with the best pizzas in Ljubljana, should really think about renovating its interior. Fortunately, you can eat outside most of the time and enjoy the view of Old Ljubljana.

They have around 50 different pizzas, from those with tons of cheese to pizzas without tomato. The prices are reasonable and you never leave the restaurant hungry. There are also family pizzas – huge pizzas that I strongly recommend for those, who are thinking about ordering one pizza for 2.

On the square, where Ljubljanski dvor is found, there is also a small wooden stage and there are a lot of jazz, latino-jazz and rock concerts.

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Ljubljanski dvor | Restaurants (Pizza) | Pizza from € 7.00
Dvorni trg 1 | Center | +38612516555
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 00:00, Sun 12:00 – 00:00 (in winter closed on Sun)

Do you know the feeling when you are hungry and just want to get something quick, good and not too expensive to eat? Then you start to think about places that meet these criteria and you find out that you’ve already been in the Thai restaurant this week, you are not in the mood for Spanish, and you have had enough of pizza…In short you have no idea where to go.

This is why Lunch café is ideal! It’s not too expensive - a meal costs € 5.00 – and you have several new menu choices every day. It’s also quick and located in the old town center! The prices for a la carte can get above € 10,=, but this is still quite normal considering the place is in the old center.

They also have some really nice desserts like tiramisu and cheesecake. You should also try ginger soup… it’s absolutely delicious!

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Lunch café | Snacks, Restaurants (Lunch) | Light meal € 5.00
Stari trg 9 | Center | +38614250118
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 23:00, Sun 12:00 – 23:00

Restaurant Mirje is one of those restaurants that are really busy during weekdays around lunch time. So don’t be surprised to see people waiting in front of this yellow house to get an empty seat.

It is quite common to join the table if there are any empty seats. Of course you should be polite and ask to do so, but don’t be shy we’re all doing it. So it’s almost certain you won’t be eating by yourself. Besides, this is great opportunity to get to know Slovenian students. During summer and on Saturdays it’s much more quiet.

They offer mainly Italian cuisine and serve daily menus (for € 5.50), where you can always choose between three options, at least one is vegetarian. They also have really good pizza, properly made in a real pizza oven.

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Mirje | Restaurants (Italian) | Meal € 6.50
Trzaska cesta 5 | Vic | +38614266015
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00

I am well aware of the fact that you can find an Irish pub literally everywhere on this planet, but the true beer lovers know that an Irish pub in all those places is always a mixture. A mixture of Irishness and local atmosphere.

For all the beer lovers it is really important to know that they are offering 38 different beers! Not to forget whiskeys are there speciality also. I was told they have more than 30 different kinds.

They serve lunch Thursday to Saturday from 11:00 – 16:00 and have live, Irish style, music every Thursday after 9 p.m. with no entrance fee. This bar is also a good option if you are a sport lover, since they have a big screen TV for watching sports, like rugby, football, ice hockey, cricket and many more.

Their lovely slogan is: There are no strangers here, only friends who haven’t met!

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Patrick’s Pub | Bars, Music, Snacks, Restaurants (Fish & chips) | Lunch € 5.50
Prečna ulica 6 | Center | +38612301768
Mon – Wed 16:00 – 01:00, Thu – Sat 11:00 – 01:00, Sun 16:00 – 00:00

This little restaurant is located in Krakovo, the oldest Ljubljana suburb. It’s a bit quirky-it doesn’t have a menu and interior looks pretty much the same as a typical Slovene kindergarten, so if you have an opportunity  find a place outside.

Despite those two facts it’s still one of the best chances to eat in Ljubljana. It’s true, they don’t even have a menu, but they have the nicest staff and the waitress will tell you what can they offer you (sometimes it depends on the season), and sooner or later you will found out that they have EVERYTHING. They have all kinds of steaks, pastas, seafood, salads, desserts, soups and more.

Another advantage is that you won’t spend too much of your precious euros. An average meal costs about € 10.00.

The last but not least advantage is, that when you eat here, you eat almost in the centre, which is full of tourists, but get a feeling that you are in a cosy little village with friendly locals.

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Pri Skofu | Restaurants (International) | Meal € 10.00
Recna ulica 8 | Vic | +38614264508
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 00:00, Sat – Sun 12:00 – 00:00

Smarna gora is a hill at the most northern part of Ljubljana. It’s a butte and looks like two humps of camel. You can reach it with city bus number 8 ( Gameljne ). The bus drives in 10-20 minute period.

There are many ways to reach the top of Smarna gora. There are paths that are a bit steep, but take only 20 minutes. There are also more gentle paths, which are most of the time full of climbers, especially on Sundays. But if you are not walking on the main paths, you can relax and enjoy the fresh air.

Smarna gora has two peaks. Smarna gora and Grmada. The first peak is the popular one and is full of guest. On this peak you will also find an inn called Ledinek. Here you can buy some typical Slovenian dishes, a cup of tea or a beer. It has a nice view on whole Ljubljana, especially when the weather is nice.

Grmada is a located a bit higher and only a bench on the top so it doesn’t have so many visitors. It’s better if you would just like to relax, read a book or study.

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Smarna gora | Relaxing, Restaurants (Slovenian) | Tea € 1.20
Smarna gora | Siska | +3861511655
07:00 till dusk

Sushimama is the only good Japanese restaurant in the city. Located in the centre of Ljubljana on the Wolfova street is really easy to find. Since the street has changed into pedestrian zone, you have a chance eating outside and enjoying a sunny day.

Sushimama is not just the best Japanese restaurant in Ljubljana, to be fair we only have 2, but also one of the most stylish restaurants in the country. With a minimalist ambient, waiters dressed in black and a happy Japanese cook it has some vibrations and you could easily close your eyes and find yourself in Tokyo in the next moment.

The most popular meal in the restaurant is of course sushi. Prices varies from €5.00 for plain tuna sushi to €10.00 for Californian sushi with salmon caviar. For those who prefer cooked meal, they have a lot of dishes based on rice and noodles. If you would just like to eat something sweet, you can choose between some specialties of modern Japanese cuisine like ice cream made of green tea or mango pudding.

Food is not the only Japanese thing in the restaurant. You can also order some Japanese beer or sake.

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Sushimama | Restaurants (Japanese) | Sushi from € 5.00
Wolfova ulica 12 | Center | +38640702070
11:00 – 23:00 daily

I know, I know, I know….I’ve already written an article about one Thai restaurant (see this article) and one could ask me which one I prefer. But I can’t answer that, because I like them both.

One has better curry, the other one has better pad Thai noodles… Well, Thai Inn Pub is the one with better curry and the menu also tells you how spicy the meal is.

This one also offers you higher flexibility. For each meal, not counting vegetarian menus, you can decide if you’d like it with pork, shrimps, chicken or beef. Each dish on the menu costs €6.00 so there wont be a problem with deciding which dish will you order regarding on your budget.

At the end of the day they turn from a restaurant into a pub ( I guess this is the reason for the name…) with some nice cocktails and Thai beer.

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Thai Inn Pub | Bars, Restaurants (Thai) | Main meal € 6.00
Rimska cesta 17 | Center
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 00:00, Sat 08:00 – 00:00

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

Besides offering meat and vegetarian dishes, they occasionally host belly dancing performances which typically take 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 € 7.00. 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 proper Turkish coffee.

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Yildiz Han | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Music, Restaurants (Turkish) | Lunch € 6.00
Karlovska c. 19 | Center | +38614265717
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 00:00