You simply must try the potica, a cake roll filled with walnuts, poppy seeds, raisins, various herbs, cottage cheese, honey or crackling!

After shopping in Slovenia until your feet and legs hurt, kick back and relax in one of the great Slovenian restaurants. Our Slovenia restaurant guide below will tell you all about food and cuisine in Slovenia and the best places to dine or eat at. Relax and experience the delicious food in Slovenia.

Check out the local dining scene and some local restaurant recommendations in Ljubljana, Piran, Maribor and Bled.

Food & Cuisine in Slovenia

Slovenia is a hospitable country which leaves visitors surprised at the abundance of traditional Slovenian food and culinary masterpieces. Culinary masterpieces of varied foreign origin often receive a Slovenian finish. Excellent wines - from three wine growing regions - always accompany the dishes. Numerous traditional gostilnas (inns) and wine roads provide an opportunity for you to enjoy these. Gostilnas are owned by families who are trying to preserve their traditions. They are particular about healthy and nutritious food when they prepare traditional dishes in their home.

Slovene Cuisine

Slovenian food is very filling and plain, and consists mainly of meat. A typical three-course meal consists of a soup (juha), usually made of chicken broth, egg noodles and beef. It is accompanied by a dish which is served with fresh salad in vinegar (solata), fresh bread (kruh) and potatoes (krompir).

Sausage (klobasa), zrezek, a type of cutlet, and goulash (golaz) are among the choices in main courses. These dishes are generally prepared with pork; however, even if you stay away from the coast, you get delicious seafood and a large variety of fish (ribe) to eat. Pasta (testenine), ravioli (žlikrofi), pizza (pica), and risottos (rižota) are imported from Italy. In the countryside the slaughtering of a pig is considered a big event. Various products like ham (šunka), blood sausage, stuffed tripe, roasts, salami (salama), smoked sausage and bacon are made from the meat.  Traditional recipes for preparing poultry, especially capon, turkey (puran), duck, and goose (gos) have been preserved for centuries. Chicken and squid  are common, with squid being reasonably priced.

Traditional Slovenian dishes are not mentioned in the menu, but are served if you order them. Kraški pršut is an air-dried ham (which is similar to, but not the same as Italian prosciutto); žganci (polenta), štruklji (dumplings prepared with stuffed fillings like sweet fillings, vegetables and meatin 70 different ways), žlikrofi (potato dumplings quite similar to gnocchi, which are popular in the Idria region) are some of the traditional dishes. The cream cake of Bled is famous among the desserts. The other famous sweet is the potica; this is a type of nut roll that is stuffed with an assortment of fillings during holidays. Try out the gibanica, which is a very heavy cake like pastry consisting of poppy seeds, apples, walnuts, cheese and raisins, and is topped with cream.

Eating out in Slovenia

Restavracija is a fancy restaurant where waiters wait at your table. Gostilna and gostisce are more common rustic inns in the countryside which serve full Slovene meals. You get lunch sets, which include three courses (soup and salad accompanying the main dish), for a reasonable price.

Fast food is cheap, greasy and usually awful. It is advisable to stay away from the local variety of hamburger called bife or okrepcevalnica that is served in grills and snack bars. Greasy Balkan grills like pljeskavica (a spicy hamburger patty) and cevapcici (spicy meatballs) are sold everywhere. Instead you can opt for burek, which is a Bosnian speciality. It is a big flaky pastry stuffed with meat (mesni), cheese (sirni) or apple (jabolcni).

Vegetarians will find it difficult in Slovenia, although most of the restaurants in Slovenia serve a decent fresh salad (solata) if requested. Vegetarian dishes include dumplings and cheese dishes (sir). In the cities the Mediterranean chick-pea staple falafel and its cousin the vegiburger are common in fast food centre menus. The vegetarian plates offered in some restaurants include potatoes, fresh or boiled vegetables and soya 'steak'.

Drinks and Beverages

Coffee and tea

Coffee cafes (kavarna) are a common sight in Slovenia. Here coffee (kava) means a tiny cup of strong espresso which costs around €1-1.5. You can order milk (kava z mlekom) or whipped cream (kava s smetano) with your coffee. Coffee culture is common in Slovenia and you will see Slovenes enjoying coffee with their friends and chatting in the café for hours. Tea is not as popular as coffee. Slovenes prefer a fruit-flavoured or herbal tea over a basic cup of black tea.

Beer

Beer (pivo) is extremely popular and the well known brands are Lasko and Union. Adam Ravbar beer is a rare beer that is found only in a small brewery which is located in Domzale, a town 10km north of Ljubljana.

Wine

Except for the sickly sweet Riesling wines which are mostly exported, local Slovenian wines (vino) are extremely good; the Slovenians prefer to keep the good wines for themselves. The Goriska brda region produces some of the best red and drier whites (which would appeal to the French/ Italians) and the Stajerska region produces good semi-dry to sweet whites, which are more popular among the Germans and Austrians. Other specialities include Teran, which is a dry red wine from the Kras region, and Cvicek wine, which is a very dry and light red coloured wine.

Spirits

Try out a Slovene brandy known as zganje. Unlike the Hungarian palinka, this spirit can be distilled from any fruit. Medeno zganje, popularly known as medica, is sweetened with honey.

Slovenia Gostilna

Gostlinas are the soul of Slovenian cuisine. Traditionally owned and run by individual families, Gostlinas not only serve delicious home-made dishes but also follow the basic ethics of healthy nutrition. To be a guest of a Gostlina is to experience the world famous Slovenian warmth and hospitality. This is especially so because it is these Gostlinas that have preserved age old recipes handed down to families from generation to generation. You could also get a taste of Slovenian wine served along with the traditional food, particularly at Gostlinas located in the wine growing areas.

Tourist farms serve good Slovenian cuisine

A tourist farm is the best place to discover and relish Slovenian delicacies and scintillating wine. In fact, special events are organised to showcase the rich, traditional and tasty Slovenian culinary delights.

Everyday dishes in Slovenia

Potatoes, cabbage and beans are the vegetables popularly used to cook everyday dishes apart from the regional specialities. There are several varieties of bread and flour-based dishes in Slovenia. The local speciality is made using grey flour from buckwheat cereal. More than 70 types of struklji are available throughout Slovenia, of which the most famous is the generously filled prekmurska gibanica. The highly recommended potica is actually a cake filled with herbs, raisins, honey, cottage cheese, walnuts and poppy seeds. Fish delicacies cooked with vegetables, plants and fruits are a real treat at Primorska. Also try out the wind-cured prsut from Karst.