Ljubljana

I’m excited to write about Ljubljana because I had no idea what to expect from the city and it was amazing. Despite being the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana has a small-town friendly feel, especially in the old part of the city.

We found some great places to eat in Ljubljana, although I did struggle a little as there was a lot of venison, veal and lamb on the menu, which I don’t eat.

Eating fresh, homecooked food is a big part of Slovenian culture – they have a market every day in Ljubljana selling all kinds of produce and you can really tell that Slovenian’s pride themselves on the quality of their food.

Open Kitchen

If you’re planning a trip to Ljubljana then make sure you are there for a Friday. They have an incredible food market where restaurants from all over Slovenia come to the city and set up a stall. It’s the best place to eat amazing, and cheap, food in Ljublana – plus your dining choices are almost overwhelming.

We went there for lunch after we had done the free Ljubljana tour, and then in the evening we walked around looking at restaurants and eventually ended up back at the food market having shrimp noodles and chicken from two different stands.

Hood Burger

We had heard that Hood Burgers were the best burgers in Ljubljana – but they were based a little further out from the city than we want to walk. So when we stumbled across the Open Kitchen we were even more excited to discover there was a Hood Burger stall.

For just €5 I had one of the most delicious burgers I have ever had – I went for a cheeseburger while Chris had one with bacon. If you don’t make it to their Open Kitchen stall on a Friday I would definitely recommend making the trip out to Yams Road 105, Ljubljana.

Klobasarna

On one of the main streets in the old town, look out for the giant sausage hanging in the air. Here you can sit outside in the street enjoying the sunshine and eat delicious, traditional Slovenian sausage.

We both had half a sausage with mustard, horseradish and bread for just €3.50. Klobasarna is the ideal place for a quick lunch in Ljubljana.

Most

The riverside in Ljubljana is lined with restaurants and bars, and it’s a beautiful setting for an evening meal. All of the restaurants had great menus and we had a hard time choosing where to eat. Eventually we decided on Most, which is just next to Butchers Bridge. They have plenty of tables outside where you can enjoy the buzzing atmosphere along the riverside, but if it’s cold they also have a huge inside seating area.

We both had the Beef Broth with Noodles to start, as we had seen it on almost all the restaurants’ menus. When it arrived it looked watery, but the flavour was strong and delicious.

For the mains I had a really difficult time choosing between the Home-made Buckwheat Ravioli filled with porcini mushrooms and truffles in a leek and shrimp sauce, or the Spelt Spaghetti with Smoked Trout with champignons and semi-dried cherry tomatoes. I settled on the spaghetti (despite having sworn off pasta and pizza when we left Italy), and Chris went for the Tagliatelle Most with chicken breast, green peppers, home-made basil pesto, plum tomatoes, and roasted pine nuts.

The pictures don’t do them justice, but both dishes were delicious, and you could taste the freshness of the ingredients. The combination of trout and curry flavours with the pasta made it a completely different dish to the pasta that we over indulged in in Italy. If I ever make it back to Ljubljana, I will definitely be going back to Most to try the ravioli.

Take a look at Most’s menu here.

Cat Caffe

Not strictly somewhere to eat, but we loved Ljubljana’s cat cafe so much that we went twice in the two days we were in the city! It’s a little way out of the main area in the old town, but it’s worth the walk.

The cat cafe is a great place to sit down and relax with a glass of local Slovenian wine, in the company of five lovely cats – perfect if you’re having feline withdrawal.

Travel Tips and Recommendations

I can’t recommend enough the Free Map for Young Travellers for Ljubljana – pick up a copy as soon as you arrive! We had no guidebook and very few recommendations, so this map with useful tips and places to see, eat and drink was indespensable.
Do the Free Ljubljana Walking Tour – they run every day at 11am, starting in front of the pink church in Preseren Square and take about two and a half hours.

Rome

Travel food

I love nothing more than excessive amounts of pizza, loaded with cheese and delicious toppings..so a trip to Italy has been heavenly.

Here’s where I ate and what I found were the best places to eat in Rome on a budget because even for amazing Italian food I’m not willing to break the bank.

Tomoko Tudini

Via Principe Amedeo 27, 00185 Roma

We left Bristol at 6am and by the time we arrived in Rome at midday we were absolutely ravenous. So we dropped our bags at the hostel and headed out in search of some hearty Italian food.

Walking down from Termini Station we stumbled across Tomoko Tudini on a little side street with tables outside.

The ‘tourist’ offer of margerita pizza or lasagna with a glass of wine and tiramisu for €8 might give you the impression that the food will be quick and cheap.

However, the lasagna was well presented and tasted delicious. The layers of pasta were soft and there was plenty of cheese – so I was content! It was absolutely ideal for a relaxed, casual lunch at a great price.

Florians

Piazza dell’Independenza, 9, 00185, Roma

Again, we left finding somewhere for dinner until we were starving, and also pretty tired. So we just wondered around the corner from our hostel and happened on Florians.

Sitting outside on the pavement the restaurant had a laid back, friendly atmosphere. We went straight in for the pizza, I had the Cappriciossa and Chris had the Pizza Paza (salami).

As our first experience of genuine Italian pizzas it was pretty good, the edges were crispy and the middles were laden with cheese and toppings. My only dislike was the toppings not being mixed up, but that was easily solved and there was generous amount of olives which is always a bonus! The pizzas were around €8 each and a bottle of wine was €18.

All round a successful first day in Rome.

Falmouth

Travel food

The choice of restaurants in Falmouth is almost overwhelming, so here’s a few of the places we ate during our short holiday in Cornwall:

Rick Stein’s

You can’t book a table at Rick Stein’s so you just have to turn up and keep your fingers crossed that the queue isn’t too big. We went with the intention of going elsewhere if the wait was long, however once we were inside, and we smelt the fish, we couldn’t resist.

After about 20 minutes and we were sat at a high table near the kitchen. The atmosphere is laid back and casual, but definitely a few steps up from your local chip shop at home.

We were all tempted in by the three courses for £20 menu. To start with I had the Amritsari Fish, which was fried sea bream in a chickpea batter, garlic and ginger sprinkled with chat masala. It was the perfect combination of flavours – the pieces of sea bream were quite spicy but you could still taste the flavour of the fish and it was served with a cool cucumber raita dip.

For the main course we all went for the cod and chips.All of the other main courses sounded, smelled and looked brilliant but it seemed like Rick Stein’s is THE place for fish and chips in Falmouth. The batter was delicious and crispy, the chips were chunky but not too big and even the mushy peas looked good.

For pudding there was a choice between strawberries with pouring cream, Lemon Posset with mixed berry compote, or sticky toffee pudding.

I chose the sticky toffee pudding, which was delicious but also a mistake. After all the food I should have gone for something light.

Rick Stein’s is definitely worth the wait, but the dishes are large so if you have a small appetite stick to a main dish.

The Shed

If you’re looking for somewhere to eat in Falmouth, then Discovery Quay is a good choice – you have your regulars Pizza Express and Zizzi’s but also three sister restaurants The Ranch, The Shed, and The Shack. They all cater to different tastes, but they’re all great for a lunchtime or evening meal in Falmouth.

Half cocktail bar, half restaurant The Shed’s menu is very simple but it had captured our attention and I was excited to try the Shed Burger.

Cornish beef, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, a big slice of pickle, onion rings, and BBQ sauce served in a brioche bun with fries. It was just as good as it sounds. The only, only let down was the small amount of BBQ sauce – I completely forgot there was supposed to be BBQ sauce until I tasted in some in the last few mouthfuls. But, it was still perfect.

The Shack

You can order Oysters individually for £2 each.

I had the Sea Bass with sweet potato mash, green beans and capers. I can’t quite explain how good it was – the fish was perfect and the combination of flavours was incredible. And it was relatively healthy so there was no over-eating-regret afterwards.

Lunches
We also had some really delicious lunches while in Falmouth, in between pasties, which are definitely worth mentioning.

Trelissick
Trelissick is a beautiful National Trust property that runs down to the River Fal, and it’s also a great place to stop off for lunch. Entrance to the gardens is £8.50 for non-member adults, but you can park for £4 (or free for members) and enjoy their lovely cafe as well as take a look at the art gallery. They have sandwiches, toasties, pasties and hot food options – all very delicious looking.

I had a bacon, brie and cranberry toastie – this combination is my weakness – and it was amazing. The only downside is that on a sunny day there can be a lot of wasps flying around the outside seating.

Truro Arts Cafe

On the Wednesday we were staying Falmouth we got one of the FalRiver Enterprise boats that goes from Falmouth to Truro (stopping by St Mawes). The trip takes about an hour and a half – two hours, and is definitely worth the time and money!

In Falmouth we sat outside the Truro Arts Cafe which is next to the Royal Cornwall Museum and had some great smoked salmon and cheese sandwiches surrounded by lovely flowers and a good view of the street to people watch.

Charlotte’s Tea House

Located upstairs in the Coinage Hall, Truro, Charlotte’s Tea House is a step back in time to the Victorian era with traditional cream teas and a selection of homemade cakes. They are only open until 4.30pm though!

Pasties!

Lastly, you cannot go to Cornwall and not eat at least one pasty. Rowe’s bakery had some amazing combinations, including pork and Ratler cider, and steak and Doombar. My favourite was the extremely cute, and delicious, Pixie sized traditional pasty from Oggy Oggy.

Barcelona

Travel food

Not wanting to waste any precious eating opportunity on poor food, I did a little research before we arrived in Barcelona. The first place we eat was one of the places recommended in a Telegraph article

Lúzia
A modern but cosy little restaurant just a couple metres down a side street off the bustling La Rambla. There wasn’t a large amount of authentic Spanish food on the menu, in fact there wasn’t a whole lot on it at all, but we decided to both order the beef sandwich – as recommended.
It wasn’t the biggest sandwich I’ve ever had, but I have to admit it was probably the best. There was a pretty generous filling of roast beef, gherkins, mortadella and mustard in slices of lightly toasted brown bread.
If you’re after a hearty meal then this isn’t it, but it does suit for a light lunchtime snack, even if it is a little pricey at €11. It was a tasty sandwich, but I’m not sure I would recommend going out of your way to try out Lúzia.

Rita Blue
Having wandered all the way to the beach and then back up La Rambla, we were getting to be ravenous again. We were nearly tempted into one of the many street seating, picture-filled menu, restaurants on La Rambla.
We resisted and took a turn up a side street leading us to Placa Sant Agusti. There were stumbled upon Rita Blue.
Seated outside in the shadow of the church building it was a perfect, quiet corner of the city. We didn’t look at the menu and just ordered the Paella advertised on the board.
There was quite a bit of a wait for be food, but a delicious looking paella for two eventually arrived.
Overall it was a tasty meal, though it was very, very salty. A slightly odd little place, but worth a go. And the cocktails looked brilliant, though sadly we didn’t try one.

Verity May eats

Always hungry, always eating.

holiday

Ljubljana

Rome

Falmouth

Barcelona