Image by jost derlink

As I said in the article Smetumet, I decided to write thematically related articles. In this one I’m going to present you Gostilna dela (the working bistro/ bistro of work). It is one of the results of project Tovarna dela (factory of work) and gives another chance to the young and unemployed without proper education. With this job they get social security and experiences for further job opportunities, so it’s like a job and a learning workshop.

Their daily menu is based on balanced diet with less sugar and fat, full of vitamins, fiber and minerals. Yummy! They have breakfast, snacks and lunch, for which they prepare every day soup, meat or a vegetarian main course, salad and dessert.

The interior is also in spirit of sustainable development! They have reused old furniture. They also received an award for the perspective interior at the Month of design in Ljubljana. So those were the reasons why you must love places like this one, and when you finish your meal in Gostilna dela, just walk a few meters on Poljanska stret, where you’ll find bistro’s cousing – Oblačilnica dela.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Gostilna dela | Snacks, Restaurants
Poljanska 7 | Center
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

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. Don Felipe will await you with kind waiters, a relaxed atmosphere, Spanish music and of course with tasty Spanish dishes.

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 €8.70. 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 seating 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 attend the flamenco night.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Don Felipe | Restaurants (Spanish) | Lunch € 8.70
Streliska ulica 22 | Center | +38614343862
12:00 – 23:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

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 find 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: when you eat here, you eat almost in the centre, but you get the feeling that you are in a cosy little village with friendly locals.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Pri Skofu | Restaurants (International) | Meal € 10.00
Recna ulica 8 | Vic | +38614264508
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 00:00, Sat – Sun 12:00 – 00:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Union.SLO

This is a unique experience in Ljubljana: drinking coffee on the terrace, 50 meters above the streets, in the first skyscraper in this part of Europe. The café on the top of Nebotičnik finally reopened its doors in 2010.

It was the center of the social life in the past. Each person has its own memory of the place. Older ones think about all that jazz on the top at nights, while younger ones still fancy a strawberry juice with whipped cream. Sadly the place shut down in late 90′s and we almost forgot that this existed in Ljubljana.

I remember the first time I went for a coffee after the renovation. It was cloudy and somewhere in the middle it started to rain, but I didn’t care. The view from the top is spectacular!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Nebotičnik | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Intern.) | Coffee € 1.60
Štefanova 1 | Center | +38640601787
Cafe Sun – Wed 09:00 – 02:00, Thu – Sat 09:00 – 03:00 | Restaurant Tue – Sat 12:00 – 22:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

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 3, 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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Sushimama | Restaurants (Japanese) | Sushi from € 5.00
Wolfova ulica 12 | Center | +38640702070
11:00 – 23:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Tjasa Janovljak

Probably you’ve noticed that this is not the only article about Balkan food on Ljubljana Spotted by Locals (Check also Harambasa). The reason for this fact is easy understandable if you have been travelling through the Balkans and in case you still haven’t been around let me tell you, besides other things, food is amazingly good there. True, a lot of it is based on meat.

Deset v pol means “ten in the half” where 10 refers to cevapcici and half refers to a very good sort of bread called lepinja. No doubt that this is their speciality and don’t forget to order Sarajevsko which is beer from Sarajevo and one of the best beers on the Balkans. On Friday their speciality is lamb’s meat.

For all of us that we have already experience Sarajevo, Deset v pol is just another place that helps us to get by until we go to Sarajevo again…and we will definitely go soon.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Deset v pol | Restaurants (Balkan) | Cevapcici (10 pieces & bread) € 5.60
Litijska cesta 47 | Moste | +38615421299
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Eva Taucar

All meat lovers unite! You will love this place. The only vegetable they serve 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, stuffed with nicotine, and ratluk (traditional candy). Healthy food is for pussies anyway.

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

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

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Harambasa | Snacks, Restaurants (Balkan) | Cevapcici (10 pieces & bread) € 6.50
Vrtna ulica 8 | Vic | +38641843106
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Eva Taucar

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, but boy, I love their salad bar. It looks almost like an RGB palette in Adobe Illustrator – such a big variety of colors 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 how you like it: with seeds, cheese, lemon juice, different kinds of oils or home made dressings. Yummy for sure!

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

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Ajdovo Zrno | Snacks, Restaurants (Vegetarian) | Lunch € 6.00
Trubarjeva cesta 7 | Center | +38612301615
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Tim Pipp

A pretty popular place, not so unknown by the tourists as you may wish, but it is so for a reason (two, actually): no. 1 is their great location in the old part of Ljubljana with a terrace by the river bank and a nice afternoon sun, and no. 2 is their food – obviously.

The menu is a fusion of Mexican dishes like quesadillas, quesadas and tortillas, which, together with great salads and crazy pancakes, make an unique choice. My 2 favorites are grilled goat cheese salad and Schwarzwald pancake with cherries, Nutella and roasted nuts – the latter is so good, I do not share it with absolutely anyone! Good news is they have their menu in English and all their dishes listed on their site, so you can start to water your mouth in advance.

In the evening the place transforms into cocktail bar, and the interior atmosphere is quite “hot” so it might be a good party warm-out place, if you are into the lounge kind of scene.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Romeo | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Fusion) | Salad plate € 8
Stari trg 6 | Center | +38640706070
11:00 – 01:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Tjasa Janovljak

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. On Saturdays it’s much more quiet.

They offer mainly Italian cuisine and serve daily menus, 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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Mirje | Restaurants (Italian) | Meal € 6.50
Trzaska cesta 5 | Vic | +38614266015
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana