Ljubljana Food

We were in charming Ljubljana last September. Our favorite restaurant was Julija. They offer Slovenian/European cuisine. Excellent wine selection. Very popular restaurant. Resevations required. Weather permitting they have pleasant outdoor seating. We ate there 3 times. If you go, try the wonderful Pumpkin Seed Oil to dip your bread! If interested in purchasing the oil we found 100 ml size at Güjžina Restaurant. Enjoy Ljubljana!

We have a strategy for selecting restaurants.
We go out walking and stumble upon a restaurant that looks inviting.
Bring up TripAdvisor (also Yelp in some countries) and read some recent reviews.
Our goal is not to find the best, but to avoid an unpleasant experience.
This technique worked very well for us in España last year.

And, it avoids the: restaurant is closed on [insert day here], restaurant is no longer in business, restaurant is closed for vacation/renovation/private event, restaurant is closed between the hours of 0000-0000.

Along with the excellent Julija, there are a bunch of inviting looking restaurants near it along Stari Trg and then into and along Gornji Trg. Menus are out, there is outdoor seating on a pedestrian street with great people watching, and pick whatever looks inviting on the menu.

I was just in Ljubljana a few weeks ago and went to Marley & Me both nights I was there. The food was great and the waiter was so friendly and helpful. There are only a few tables outside so you may need a reservation if you’re dining after 7PM.

Thanks for the tips. Really looking forward to trying some of these out.

Yes, we second Marley & Me. The name was off-putting to me, but the place and food were great. Very small. We stopped around lunchtime to ask for an evening reservation and he said no, they'd already taken some and couldn't take any more. So we showed up early (6-ish) and were seated.

Edited to add: Romantika was our favorite gelateria.

Fantastic. Thank you. Yes the name is a bit odd. :)

Another vote for Gelato at Romantika!

If one of your days will be Friday, visit Open Kitchen near Triple bridge where all the best restaurants from Ljubljana and Slovenia have food stalls. Many different types of food from Slovenia and also international.

Forgot to add a tip - you can't find bad ice cream, gelato in Ljubljana. One of the best in Europe.

Another vote for Marley and Me!! Definitely have to have a reservation.

We ate at Gujzina Prekmurska Gostilna in the heart of Ljubliana on one of the main shopping streets. It was recommended to us by a Slovenian we met while hiking around Lake Bled, and we really loved it. They specialize in traditional Slovenian food and wine. I don't have deep knowledge of that cuisine but thought the food was excellent!

I second Janis' rec of Julija. We ate there twice during our 5 nights (2 years ago) and really enjoyed it. We also did a great food tour we really enjoyed as well. If you're interested, I'll see if I can find the name of the company we used.

Excellent food tour I did = https://ljubljananjam.si/

You get an e-booklet with restaurant recommendations from the tour organizers when you book a tour.

If you like Indian food, we enjoyed Namaste. On the canal, just down from French Revolution Square. We had all our breakfast at Le Petit Cafe between French Revolution Square and Namaste. Very good.

Another vote for Julija - ate there 2x's during our stay.

We enjoyed several wonderful meals at Hisa Pod Gradom during our five night stay in June 2018. They had a wide variety of options. Their cheesecake is the best I’ve ever had! We ate there twice for dinner, and once for breakfast. We were staying in an apartment across the street.

We just returned from Ljubljana. So many good places to eat! A surprise favorite was Pop's Pizza - all ingredients sourced from Italy with the most delicious chili oil to dip your crust in! We had a perfect Christmas dinner at Julija and a lovely breakfast at Landerik, also on Stari Trg. We also enjoyed Second Violin - especially the platter of traditional Slovenian food. For a quick, to go meal or snack, we loved Olimija Burek stand! The drinkable yogurt is perfect with the apple burek.

afranks
It's always great to read a follow up report about Ljubljana. How special to have Christmas dinner at Julija (our favorite restaurant). It must have been magical during the holidays.

Here's a second vote for Gujzina Prekmurska Gostilna. We ate there specifically to try Slovenian cuisine and it was really good. Make a reservation, though. And, as noted above, every Friday from mid-March to October, Ljubljana has its "Open Kitchen". There's a big variety of restaurants, chefs, and tourist farms (like agriturismi in Italy) participating. It's a great way sample a bunch of different foods and to meet Slovenes and other tourists. Information about it is on the visit Ljubljana city website, https://www.visitljubljana.com/en/visitors/plan-your-visit/events/open-kitchen-food-market/