The plates that define Ljubljana: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Ljubljana: what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Kranjska klobasa is the Carniolan sausage: hot-smoked, at least 75 to 80 percent pork, and an EU protected geographical indication since 2015.
Where to try it: Klobasarna, Gostilna Sestica, Gostilna Sokol, Slovenska hisa Figovec, Ja, pr' Lectar
Price: €5.50-13.90
Klobasarna's history page dates the Kranjska name to the early 19th century, under the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and gives the oldest written recipe to Katharina Prato in 1896. It says the Rozman butcher shop of Ljubljana won a gold medal for its sausage at a world food exhibition in Brussels in 1932. Slovenia entered the name in the EU register of protected geographical indications in January 2015, despite objections from Austria, Croatia and Germany. Klobasarna on Ciril-Metodov trg serves it with mustard, horseradish and a roll.
Watch out for: Gluten (in the roll)
Idrijski žlikrofi are hat-shaped dumplings from Idrija filled with potato, onion and lard; in 2010 they became the first Slovenian dish with EU TSG status.
Where to try it: Gostilna Sestica, Gostilna Sokol, Ja, pr' Lectar
Price: €16.90
The Slovenia portal the-slovenia.com says the origin is a mystery, though the first žlikrofi are said to have been made over 150 years ago by a German mining family; the name resembles the German schlichtkrapfen, a slippery dumpling. The EU recognition in 2010 came about eight years after domestic traditional-product status. Idrija serves them with bakalca, a lamb and vegetable sauce. In Ljubljana, Gostilna Šestica lists them with Carniolan sausage and boletus sauce, Gostilna Sokol with a house ragu and Ja, pr' Lectar with pancetta, leek and cream.
Watch out for: Gluten
Potica is a Slovenian rolled walnut cake of paper-thin leavened dough; Slovenska potica has been an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed since April 2021.
Where to try it: Gostilna Sokol
Johann Weikhard von Valvasor gave an early detailed description of the rolled honey-and-walnut pastry in The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola in 1689, and the word descends from povitica. Potica is a festive pastry that marks Easter and Christmas tables, weddings and christenings. The protected Slovenska potica is baked in a ring-shaped potičnik mould and must have at least three to four turns of dough and filling. Gostilna Sokol lists a house potica among its Slovenian sweets.
Watch out for: Gluten, Walnut
Viator · 3 h
Amusing, educational and above all tasty tour of Slovenian capital. Discover the best local food, delicious wines from various regions, learn about Slovenian tradition...
Guided tour · 4 hours
Discover the city of Ljubljana and learn more about Slovenian culinary traditions on a walking tour. Taste a variety of traditional dishes and wine from across the country.
Viator · 3.5 h
Taste your way through Slovenia’s savoury capital on this small-group food tour through Ljubljana. Taste national specialties as you explore the city on foot with your...
Štruklji are rolled dumplings of thin dough with sweet or savoury fillings, steamed, boiled, fried or baked; Klobasarna lists three of them for €6.50.
Where to try it: Klobasarna, Slovenska hisa Figovec, Gostilna Sokol, Ja, pr' Lectar, Slovenska hisa
Price: €6.50-7.40
Wikipedia says the first recorded štruklji recipe is from 1589, when a chef at a manor in Graz wrote down cooked štruklji with a tarragon filling; they became a festive dish of the urban middle class in the 17th century and reached rural households two centuries later. In Ljubljana, Figovec lists savoury štruklji with wild garlic sauce and sweet cottage cheese štruklji with honey, Gostilna Sokol cottage cheese and walnut štruklji, and Ja, pr' Lectar buckwheat štruklji with porcini and truffles.
Watch out for: Gluten, Egg
Prekmurska gibanica is a layered pastry of poppy seeds, walnuts, apples and quark from Prekmurje, an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed since March 2010.
Where to try it: Gostilna Sestica, Slovenska hisa, Gostilna Sokol, Ja, pr' Lectar, Slovenska hisa Figovec
Price: €7.90-8.80
Wikipedia says it was a festive and ritual dish in Prekmurje, and that the oldest extant document describing it dates from 1828. Prekmurje was under the medieval Kingdom of Hungary until the 16th century and mostly under the Habsburg monarchy afterwards. In Ljubljana, Gostilna Šestica lists a Gibanica Šestica, Slovenska hisa the Prekmurska gibanica for €8.80, and Ja, pr' Lectar says its Prekmurska gibanica won a gold medal.
Watch out for: Gluten, Egg, Dairy, Walnut, Poppy seed
Jota is a soup of beans, sauerkraut or sour turnip, potatoes, bacon and ribs, found across the Slovenian Littoral, Istria and around the city of Trieste.
Where to try it: Gostilna Sestica
Price: €12.90
Wikipedia lists jota as popular in Istria, in the Friulian areas of Carnia and the Torre and Natisone valleys, and especially in Trieste, where it calls it the prime example of Triestine food. It says jota is found in the whole Slovenian Littoral and that in Slovenian Istria it is often served with polenta. In Ljubljana, Gostilna Šestica lists a seasonal jota with Carniolan sausage for €12.90.
Bograč is a goulash-style stew named after the bogrács, a pot hung over an open fire; Gostilna Sokol lists a Prekmurski bograč among its traditional dishes.
Where to try it: Gostilna Sokol, Slovenska hisa Figovec
The word comes from the Hungarian bogrács, an outdoor cooking pot hung over a campfire, itself from the Ottoman-Turkish bakraç, a copper bucket. Prekmurje, the Slovenian region the dish is tied to, was under the medieval Kingdom of Hungary until the 16th century and mostly under the Habsburg monarchy afterwards. In Ljubljana, Gostilna Sokol calls its dish Prekmurski bograč and Slovenska hisa Figovec lists a bograč goulash with at least three kinds of meat.
Kraški pršut is dry-cured ham from the Karst plateau in southwestern Slovenia; salting, drying and maturing must happen in Kras to carry the EU PGI.
Where to try it: Gostilna Sokol, Slovenska hisa Figovec
The European Commission says the name became a protected geographical indication in 2012 and that a mild Mediterranean climate meets the cold bora wind from the north-east, whose steady breeze and low humidity suit the drying of meat. The ham comes from whole fresh pork hind legs dry-salted with coarse sea salt. In Ljubljana, Gostilna Sokol lists Kraški pršut with olives and Slovenska hisa Figovec serves Karst prosciutto with cheese.
Žganci is a Slovenian porridge like polenta but made with finer grains, from cereals such as buckwheat, and listed with cracklings as ajdovi žganci.
Wikipedia describes žganci as similar to polenta though prepared with finer grains, made from cereals such as buckwheat, and notes that the naturalist Balthasar Hacquet (1739-1815) mentions them served with sauerkraut in Upper Carniola. Ajdovi žganci with cracklings appear among Slovenia's traditional dishes. None of the Ljubljana places we checked lists a žganci dish on its own menu.
Burek is savoury filo pastry of Balkan origin and a widely available fast food in Ljubljana, popular among students and in urban nightlife venues.
Where to try it: Olimpija Burek, Cevapdzinica Sarajevo 84
Wikipedia says burek in Slovenia is a recognizable, widely available fast food, particularly among students and in urban nightlife, with cultural associations linked to its Balkan origins. Olimpija Burek on Slovenska cesta 58 says it bakes burek fresh every day, never freezes it and uses a recipe from 1979. Cevapdzinica Sarajevo 84 lists burek among its Bosnian pies, with sirnica and zeljanica.
Watch out for: Gluten
Cevapcici are small grilled minced-meat sausages from the former Yugoslavia, served in flatbread with onions and kajmak; Sarajevo 84 uses Slovenian beef.
Where to try it: Cevapdzinica Sarajevo 84
Wikipedia traces the name to Ottoman Turkish kebap and the dish to the former Yugoslavia, where it is considered a national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bosnian cevapi are hand-mixed from two types of minced beef, while Serbian cevapcici use beef, lamb, pork or a mixture. Cevapdzinica Sarajevo 84 on Nazorjeva ulica 12 serves Sarajevo cevapcici of 100% beef produced in Slovenia in a homemade lepinja.
Watch out for: Gluten
Kremšnita, or kremna rezina, is a cream slice of puff pastry, custard and whipped cream, best known in Slovenia from Bled and sold at Kavarna Zvezda.
Where to try it: Kavarna Zvezda
Wikipedia says the recipe was brought to Hotel Park in Bled in 1953 by Ištvan Lukačević, chef of the hotel's confectionery store, who came from Vojvodina where a similar cake was known; by October 2009 the hotel had baked 10 million. In Ljubljana, Kavarna Zvezda, which has made desserts since 1999 and now has a cafe at Park Zvezda, Kongresni trg 3, lists kremne rezine among its slices and pastries.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Ljubljana's signature dishes include Kranjska klobasa, Idrijski zlikrofi, Potica, Struklji, Prekmurska gibanica. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.
