Slovenia - Eastern Europe - page 659

Spajza SLOVENE/INTERNATIONAL When the restaurant was featured
on Discovery Channel's documentary about Slovenia, Spajza's reputation was sealed.
In summer you can dine in the outdoor courtyard, but at night you'll be drawn to the
romantic, slightly informal indoor spaces, divided into different rooms. All the
seafood is super fresh (it arrives daily from Croatia). Fish lovers could start with octo-
pus salad or the mixed-fish plate, followed by the excellent John Dory, prepared with
Mediterranean flair. But it is for its meat dishes that Spajza is known for, with horse-
meat the main specialty ( spajza means “horse”); s pajzin file s tartufi (horse filet with
truffles) is a particular highlight, or so I'm told. For more reserved tastes, there's beef
and veal, best topped with local mushrooms (jur c ki), or—a personal favorite—medal-
lions of venison with wild berries. Finish off with apricot and apple strudel, or home-
made lemon cheesecake.
Gornji trg 28. & 01/425-3094. Reservations highly recommended. Main courses 10 € -46 € ($13-$58); most dishes
are under 20 ($25). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Sat noon-11pm; Sun and holidays noon-10pm.

INEXPENSIVE
There's a friendly atmosphere at Haramba s a (Vrtna ulica 8, Krakovo; & 041-843-106 ),
which serves Bosnian pub fare in a space filled with antiques and junk—swords, cof-
feepots, and copper urns alongside postcards, newspapers, and Sarajevo sports team
shirts. Food is simple: C evapi v lepinji (pieces of meat with bread), sudukice (Bosnian
sausage), and pola-pola , a combination of the two, best with kajmak cheese. A filling
meal with beer and Turkish coffee (served with a cigarette) is under 5

€

($6.25).
Le Petit Café FRENCH/CAFE This ultimate Sunday-afternoon cafe has
a popular wooden terrace under a tree right on French Revolution Square; inside it's
a little like an intimate Parisian cafe, with posters against exposed brick. It's a fine place
for healthy breakfasts made with fresh ingredients, including homemade yogurt; in
summer the drinkable lemon sorbet is a great quencher; in winter, sample the mulled
wine. The menu is pretty casual, offering salads, pastas, and wholesome sandwiches
(only the latter are available after 8pm). Good choices include beef carpaccio with
truffles and Parmesan, served on rocket (arugula), gnocchi stuffed with rocket and
ricotta cheese, and grilled filet of salmon with Trevisiano chicory and mozzarella.
Daily specials are written on the blackboard.
Trg Francoske Revolucije 4. & 01/251-2575. Main courses 6 € -12 €

€

Value

($7.50-$15). No credit cards. Mon-Fri

7:30am-11pm; Sat-Sun and holidays 9am-11pm; may close later Fri-Sat.
WHAT TO SEE & DO
EXPLORING LJUBLJANA'S CENTER
If you don't dally in the art galleries, you could see the whole of the city in a single
day, starting at Ljubljana's Castle (reviewed below), which overlooks the entire city.
The best buildings are in and around the finely preserved Old Town, a fine mixture
of baroque, Secessionist, and neoclassical buildings around a curve in the River Ljubl-
janica, and heavily beefed up by the city's designer laureate, Jo z e Ple c nik. Life pro-
ceeds at a gentle, lively pace along and around the Lubljanica, defined by its cafe and
bar culture, and on and around the bridges linking the two banks.
A good place to find your bearings is Pre s ernov Square, centered on the statue of
France Pre s eren, considered the Father of the Nation, and the poet whose words are
now the national anthem (“A Toast”). Also here is Centromerkur, marked by an Art
Nouveau awning over the entrance; this is Ljubljana's oldest department store, in a